Participant Value Construct

Most of us agree that Kotler’s marketing principle textbook is the bible of marketing. Most of us also agree, however that we will never use a single concept we learn from that book when we go out there. I beg to differ. I will demonstrate to you the practical aspects of the value construct and simultaneously convince you to be a part of MICANVAS 09.

BENEFITS
Product: MICANVAS promises to be one of the best packages that you will come across. You will get your share of events, workshops, fun games, academic rigour and pure non academic awesomeness (Movie appreciation anyone?). Of course, the cherry on the cake is the live concert which promises to strike all the right chords (as well as power chords, base riffs and drum beats). And just when you think your legs have numbed standing and your neck has stiffened banging, you will be led to Ground Zero –the Mican equivalent of Miami, or Goa, or Las Vegas or..well you get the point. Get ready to dance and party your way through the night till the break of dawn and a bit after that. Rest assured MICANVAS promises to be everything you think of it and much more and some more than that.

Service: We promise we will neither leave you stranded at the stations, nor leave you with stars for company while you sleep nor let you hear the rats in your stomach battling it out. The entire MICAn population will be at your service from the moment you decide to join us till the time you set for your foot outside MICA.

Personnel: Hmmm 250 odd communication “professionals” will be there at any time of the day (or night) to interact with you, answer your questions, chat with you, guide you to and through your events and generally ensure that you have the time of your life. And in the unlikely event that you don’t, then we will surely be there to right the wrongs for you!

Image: Hey it is the best communications institute in the country and it is the biggest brand management festival in the country. But the image benefit truly reaches its peak once you join us. You will bring the brand of your institute and add it to the existing image of MICANVAS. And if this was not enough we also have several reputed international institutes sending in their best to participate in Colloquium- the international Conclave.

Money: We promise you that you won’t spend a single Rupee more than what you would spend on any other day hanging out at your college canteen or at the nearest Barista outlet. We will pay for your travel and accommodation. So you will have to shell out a bit for the food but we can guarantee that you won’t regret it. Looking on the brighter side (yes the earlier bit was the darker side), participating in MICANVAS will give you the opportunity to win a lot, and I mean A LOT, of money. If you happen to win one of the events, rest assured that you can not only treat all of us at the food court but have enough left over to take you back home in business class. So at this point I will depart from Kotler’s marketing bible and take the liberty of putting ‘Money’ not in costs but under benefits of the perceived value construct.

COSTS
Time: You will have to take three days out of your busy schedule if you want to truly experience MICANVAS in its full glory. It promises to be much more than the sum of its parts. But if you have to really get back your otherwise routine life of assignments, presentations and pfaffing...then well you can leave us early though we won’t like it (trying emotional blackmail :P). Whatever little, or more, time that you commit to MICANVAS, we can ensure you that it will be well spent. You will learn and you will earn; you will clap and be applauded; you will scream and get screamed for. It will be three non stop days of fun, excitement, suspense, thrill and maybe even the despair of just missing out.

Energy: Well this is where you really have to pull up your socks. Travelling from your home town to MICA will just be a warm up to what you are going to experience in those three days. From the moment you step inside MICA, the first thought that will pass your head will be –“How the hell am I going to do ALL this in just three days?” and after that it is going to be one big blur of events, people and madness. So I suggest you stock up on your red bulls or cloud 9s or homemade mother’s recipe energy drinks because you will need a LOT of energy. Trust me.

Risk: Oh there are a lot of risks associated with MICANVAS. You risk winning so many events that you will not know what to do with the earnings (I am talking to the freshers out there), you risk losing your voice from cheering for your college or your friends as they battle it out for victory, you risk over eating at the awesome food court set up for you, you risk not knowing the time fly by, you risk losing yourself in the concert, you risk..well I could go on and on but that is a risk as well since you might stop reading. The risk costs are high but are you ready to pay it?

Now I have put forward the facts before you. You can read it again, ask your friends, look up MICANVAS on the internet or you can just register yourselves for any of the events or show up at MICA on 6th of November and be assured that you will have an awesome time. Since we have all passed the CAT quite gracefully, I am sure you can do the math.

Signing off!

-Nikhil Pai