IIM-C to Host Its First Ever International Marketing Conference Today

Kolkata: The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) is all set to host its first ever International Marketing Conference from today i.e. from December 27 to 29, 2010. During the conference the institute is seeking to cover a host of issues which are not only relevant in present times but also in the days to come. Speakers at the conference include some prominent professors Rajan Varadarajan, Naresh Malhotra, Murali Mantrala, Ravi Dhar and D Shivakumar, Vice President and Country General Manager for Nokia India.

As per sources, the conference will focus on business to business marketing and sales management, channel management, consumer and industrial branding issues, consumer behaviour, cross disciplinary issues in marketing, marketing mix variables, new product development and innovation, quantitative techniques in marketing, relationship marketing, social marketing and public policy issues and strategic marketing.

Prasant Mishra, Post-Graduate Programme Chairman has said that on one hand, it will try and track emerging patterns and innovations; while on the other, it will seek to emphasize the role played by some classic theories and practices in areas such as communicating value, distribution networks, nature and means of gathering consumer insights and brand-building.

Mishra also said that the Internet and mobile technology have arguably been the most influential in our lives since the past decade. They have redefined the way people carry out their day-to-day activities. There is an information boom, which has both helped and confused people. He also added that this has opened up a lot of channels for marketers to exploit but like any new technology, they, too, have their skeptics. Marketers approach them with caution and measured steps, with not everyone ready to jump onto the online/mobile advertisement band wagon. This has given birth to the phenomenon called viral marketing. He said that with collapsing distances, word of mouth has gained new significance.

Furthermore, Mishra pointed out that these technologies have had a telling effect on distribution networks too. Online retailing has made many a brick and mortar store redundant. Centralized inventory management for multi-store retail outlets has become more and more commonplace. He also mentioned that the world, especially that of FMCG, is looking for newer markets. With urban markets reaching saturation, global FMCG giants have turned their focus on third world countries, where there is a huge untapped rural population. Solving the rural riddle has become the new mantra of every FMCG major. It has brought to fore a lot of ground-breaking revolutions in distribution like hub-and-spoke model and teaming up with rural focused NGOs.