Rajiv Kumar, IIM Kozhikode

1.
More than just a lip-service
Many banks claim that they support small businesses, but 1stBank in Colorado seemingly put their money where their mouth is. They set up several rotating displays in busy areas covered with business cards of their small business customers, plus the tagline "We care about small business." Now that is more than just lip service.

2.
Breast Cancer tumor in your way
If you walked through a city and noticed a big tumor blocking your path, it would most likely catch your attention. That was the work done for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and they used huge inflatables to promote the campaign "The longer you wait, the bigger the problem gets."

3.
Melting away
To bring more attention to the climate change in the arctic regions and the melting ice, the German World Wide Fund for Nature placed 1,000 ice sculptures in the shape of sitting humans on the steps of the German capital at noon. As the sculptures slowly melted away they left quite a sad impression.

Vinamra Agrawal, SIMS

Akash, MICA

Sundernarayan, MICA

“Maldhenu Bhabhi” – A Value Construct

An hour glass she was, draped in a translucent chiffon sari, her curves accentuated by the shimmery cascade of softness. She lay on the couch, her form a languid, tantalising oasis waiting to quench the thirst of weary travellers. Her eyes were the colour of a witch’s oils, sparkling, fiery and passionate one moment; cajoling, demure and melting the next. As she gazed on with an innocent impish smile, her delicious lips delicately parted to reveal a beautiful strawberry mouth, nobody could have guessed the years of expertise hidden behind those eyes. Maldhenu Bhabhi, she was fondly called; loved and admired by capable men of all ages (TG – All SECs, age 18+, promiscuous, potent and adventurous male) , revered as the contemporary ambassador of the world’s oldest profession. She had an illustrious family lineage, Saveetha Bhabhi being one of the most prominent amongst them. As Bruce Wayne is told in Batman Begins, “It is not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you”. It was a dialogue originally scripted with Maldhenu Bhabhi in mind.

An astute marketer, she was an expert in below the line promotional activities. Above the line was very impersonal and Maldhenu Bhabhi believed in maintaining very intimate relationships with her customers and hence always preferred below the line. She was an expert in delivering customer value and her value proposition far exceeded that of her competitors. The value proposition included superior product benefits and she created an irresistible urge for repeat visits. Her core competency was her ability to put the customer on the spot, involve him in the process and make him experience the benefits of the product. It was a business model fully dependent on co-creation and the amount of satisfaction the customer derived fully depended on the input he put in. She targeted the topmost level of Maslow’s hierarchy – self actualisation. More often than not most of her customers reached their break-even point and this was the point from where she sketched her business. Experience ensured that she swiftly reached breakeven in each of her transactions and this was why her stakeholders invested heavily in her. It was an investment for sure, an exercise in relationship management.

The mouth figured very prominently in her profession! It was by word of mouth that she increased her reach, to unpenetrated markets and with such ease; the mouth (word of mouth) was the only tool that could take her closest to her customers. Apart from word of mouth she also believed in guerrilla marketing in the true sense. Parks, railway stations, subways, lodges; her agents could spring up everywhere.

Maldhenu Bhabhi was not just a value construct; she was the manifestation of all the values any man craves for. She was not just a grid in a two cross two matrix, she was equivalent to a power grid ready to electrify anything that dared to cross her way. She was not just a consumer durable, she was more durable than most of her consumers. Rightfully so, she was called “Maal-dhenu“, the cash cow!

***A “Kinky Kotler” publication***

Shriram Parthasarathy, JBIMS

Playing at the WoodMock

Spearing Morello riff, and the drummer loses his stick with his ears set on fire, thanks to the extended hand of Mr. Burns, and the rest stay close to a moment to witness the midnight sun. Welcome to the Rail House of Cushion-Park, where every one is a musician, and the most famous band called “The BlackJack Murphies” are getting their act together to win the most coveted prize in the history of music, that’s playing at the WoodMock festival.

Led by Timmy the tea toddler, the band has Homer, the horrific on the base and the backup vocals, Cartman, the anorexic gem on the lead guitar and Lisa, the levelheaded on the drums. The practice would take place every day, and here we are on the penultimate day of rehearsals before the ultimate showdown. If the band’s history is to be narrated, then it will take the airtime of a full symsons television series. Timmy had a problem with catching the verses with the encircling words stringing it together, that is when singing them. It would so happen, that he would remember and push through his diaphragms struck by constipation of the highest degree experienced by the folks in Timmy’s homeland, the soul title of the songs sung by the band, which happen to be products as the result of portraying a feeling of over-inspiration. Here they were, practicing on of the originals titled “Holy Cash Cow”. The back-up vocalist Homer, would take the forefront of the stage act of the band, and would indulge himself into a verbal war with Timmy, which to the audience would sound like a proper symphony.

The WoodMock festival is a distant cousin of the real thing, the Woodstock. This is meant for the up-coming bands from the lands unknown and unheard to at least 1/3 of the total world’s population. The fest is attended by the cereal convicts of the highest degree, spirits of the famous butlers from the English-rich novels and a whole lot of gamblers who could never make it to Vegas, as their perception of money is not accepted by the real world. The day finally arrives, and The BlackJack Murphies take the stage. In the audience, there is a man called Patrick Cash who happens to be the man behind 42 murders including the assassination of JFK’s pet goldfish and Castro’s old reindeer. He was accompanied by his Italian pet cow named “Ciao”, but pronounced “Cow” thanks to Pat being a native of one of the far stretched pastures owned by the Yanks. The band begins to play their original, “Holy Cash Cow” and the Cash Cow duo stand fuming in the front row, thanks to them being a part of the brigade of soldiers of the evil forces which has continuously fought against the defenders of faith in God, right from the times of Jesus Christ. They take the stage and nock down the band members one by one, leaving Timmy for the end. Cow makes use of his lazy horns to knockdown Timmy by spearing through his diaphragm. No one from the audience could break an inch, as the spectacle like this was never witnessed in the history of the WoodMock Festival before. The fest comes to a standstill, and the handcarts are called for to take the band members to the place they call hospital. The whole media gathers around the band in their run up to the hospital and tries to get some words out of the band members. It was pointless to wait for Timmy to regain consciousness, as there is only one line that escapes his cavity. 3 days passed and Homer woke up to a Sunday morning, where he was met by a print reporter waiting to capture some words from him about the concert and the mayhem that took place. Homer had only one thing to say “Don’t let the dogs out, if you get what I mean”.

Gomathi Shankar, SIBM B

G2G MARKETING (GUERILLA TO GUERILLA MARKETING)
(This story is a work of pure imagination and crazy fiction)

Change is the only entity that doesn’t change. As the saying goes, change and evolution are integral to every other aspect of our life. Chimpanzees and guerrillas evolved into humans. Stone man evolved into the farmer. Farmer to trader, ruler, politician etc. As man evolved his needs kept changing. Exchange concept changed to production concept, then product concept, selling and now to marketing with niche areas such as B2B marketing etc. What if a new change arises and as a necessity to the man, a new trend niche evolves – the G2G marketing (Guerilla to Guerilla). Well, this is slightly different from the Guerilla marketing that we have today. In fact G2G can be told as a hybrid of B2B and Guerilla. Where a service markets itself to another service to serve an eventual end user very aggressively in the guerrilla style, except for the fact the primary client here are the guerrillas. Lets delve deep.

In order to tackle with the problem of human losses in warfare, armies of every country are thinking of out of the box solutions to find non-human soldiers nowadays. And with increasing terrorist threats and an implicit war that is on perpetually, the need for a reliable strong and non-human ally is essential to man now. The Americans are contemplating robots and are making headway. That is their nature to invent. What if a discovered solution is presented to the problem ? Indian army scientists have been doing this major operation undercover for so long and have come up with substantial evidence of late. Soon the use of guerrillas – literally guerrillas – as part of an army regiment will be approved by the Indian government.

A small peek into the classified research by the Indian army : Seven years ago, when a group of six elite scientists gathered in the military head quarters to find some out-of-the-box solutions to the issue, they chose to dig deep into the history. They were authorised to be crazy. History books did not provide the required amounts of craziness. So they dug deep into mythology and Bingo! They came up trumps with the perfect solution – the Ramayana – a master military strategy envisaged by Valmiki centuries ago to use monkeys as military troops. Whats more evidence shows that they had a great commander too – Hanuman !

They chose to proceed and evaluate the feasibilities. After much research, a feasibility report was submitted to the President. Rumour has it that the ex-President Dr.Kalaam himself was taken aback when he signed the feasibility report and gave them the green signal. The modern scientists are able to prove that our monkey cousins are possessing a higher degree of mental processing capabilities than most other animals and with repeated training and practice, can reach human levels too. Examples of chimpanzees speaking English and guerrillas playing football have made the headlines quite frequently in the world. Therefore training the guerrillas for military operations under command of humans is a certain possibility. Their superior physical powers and the tree-hide attack modes can provide them a competitive advantage over even human soldiers in some terrains.

How to induct the guerrillas into training first – seems a perfect HR problem ? Not exactly – there is a lot of marketing involved. Two target groups have to be convinced first! The animal rights activists and the guerrillas themselves! Who better to convince them than the current guerrilla warfare unit chiefs of the military ! Thus came the uniquely Indian G2G concept of military marketing . Convincing guerrillas will be done through negotiators handpicked from the forest tribes. The activists are to be convinced by pure human diplomatic procedures.

The following is the copy of the letter obtained after security clearance from the military sent to the activists.

Letter #1 :-
GUERILLA WARFARE REGIMENT – INDIAN ARMY
18th October 2009

To
The Chairman,
Blue Cross India.
Sir,
Sub. : Induction of guerrillas into the military regarding

The Indian Army proudly announced the findings of its top-secret G2G mission recently to the world media and you must be aware of the proposal. As a guardian of animal rights, it is our foremost duty to get clearance from your body before we recruit some soldiers. The scheme has impressed and got approval from Dr.Kalaam, a scientist himself.

The threat of militants is on the increase and the lives of military men are as equally important as the common men for us. Thus came the unique idea of guerrilla soldiers. You must have some idea about guerrilla warfare – a highly effective surprise attack military method. We learnt it from the guerrillas ! What if the teachers themselves come to write the exams for us ?

If you are apprehensive about the capability of guerrillas to fight for us, you should remind yourselves of the great Lord Hanuman who played a pivotal role in Ramayana. In stead of seeing the myth as a story, look at it as a military strategy. This move will further strengthen our army and provide us a tactical advantage in deep forest fights.

I assure you that we are not forcefully recruiting guerrillas for this. We are conducting negotiations through tribal leaders with the guerrilla leaders in the forests. We are expecting a positive response. Initial responses suggest we are making more progress than we ever made through human negotiations with our neighbour countries through our diplomatic means. Only after receiving the consent of the guerrillas will we proceed further. Every recruited soldier will do so with his full uninfluenced consent.

Besides we can set up a governing board and decide on the compensations and perks for these soldiers. We are open to include a member from the Blue Cross and a Genetic Scientist and a Wildlife expert in the panel. Training will be given through a carefully designed programme framed by wildlife experts and guerrilla warfare chiefs. Separate training facilities will be set up for the guerrillas in the jungles of Western Ghats. Perks include special diets and animal spas in the camp. After a training stint of two years, an assessment will be done to select the soldiers.

Their job description will be xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (classified information) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The animals will be treated with utmost dignity and care by us. Besides based on the initial outcomes from the tribal negotiations, we are able to decipher that the guerrillas are considering themselves to be possessing superior knowledge than fellow animals and looking forward for a competitive challenge to justify their potentials. As science advocates strongly, the mental abilities of a guerrilla are greater than a normal animal and they have the ability to decide based on reason too.

I sincerely hope you understand the ethics behind the issue and the benefits of its implementation. Feel free to contact me for any further negotiations.

Regards,
XXX
.......................................................................
What happened next ? Well , you saw the date on the letterhead , didn’t you ?
So dear Homo sapiens ... what do you think about a guerrilla figting to protect you?

Alekhya Chakrabarty, IMT Ghaziabad

The presentation was going perfectly according to plan-till I passed the baton to Ankit. Always a passionate speaker-cum-marketer, he launched into the barrage of ways he was going to make sure the marketing blitz was going to work for our team. Midway through the presentation, and I quote him, Ankit says: “Through mouth-to-mouth publicity we will ensure that all customers are informed of the delights our brand has to offer”. The class roared in agreement, the faculty was pissed beyond imagination (our grades proved the degree of her annoyance, who cares about grades anyway)-but it made my decision amply clear indeed–the confusing world of mouth to mouth, err..’word of mouth’ needed to be delved deeper into.

Word of mouth can have many a definition, but the most effective explanation in my book is given by Peter Senge in his pioneering work ‘The Fifth Discipline’. Here is how he explains word of mouth as an example of a reinforcing circle:

Reinforcing Sales Process Caused by Customers Talking to Each
Other About Your Product
This diagram shows a reinforcing feedback process wherein
actions snowball. Again, you can follow the process by walking
yourself around the circle:
If the product is a good product, more sales means more satisfied
customers, which means more positive word of mouth. That will lead to
still more sales, which means even more widespread word of mouth . . . and
so on. On the other hand, if the product is defective, the virtuous cycle
becomes a vicious cycle: sales lead to less satisfied customers, less positive
word of mouth, and less sales; which leads to still less positive word of
mouth and less sales.

Looking back, the Neanderthal man used word of mouth in his community to pass on the tool making skills and techniques to his successors. From those days to the age of Twitter, Facebook-word of mouth is surely here to stay. Especially in these days-it has become such an inseparable part of our life that even in our subconscious minds we become prey to the guile of word of mouth. Whether it is about trashing the latest Bollywood release, spotting the latest hottie on campus, identifying the latest fad in the world of fashion, locating the most happening hangout in town-we spread word of mouth knowingly or unknowingly.

That’s about the almost ubiquitous prevalence of word of mouth, but a little reflection on the term and its related aspects will make one realise some of the less obvious connotations.

1. 
   It is so insanely impossible to ignore. It chases you down like a cruiser missile-you feel left out of the social circles if you do not pass it onto the next person who is virgin of the content of the latest word of mouth.
2. 
   It spreads faster than the best quality swine flu virus, or the most vicious worm on the internet. Ask Shashi ‘I won’t twit again’ Tharoor to certify.
3. 
   It seduces as dangerously as good old gossip-one feels like his innards are going to burst if he doesn’t participate in the word of mouth campaign J
4. 
   The term itself is insanely infuriating. Word of Mouth-as if the words could emerge from any other orifice of the human body.

In the world of social media marketing, brands, especially new brands, can ignore word of mouth at their own peril. Popular Websites like http://www.mouthshut.com/ thrive entirely on the power of word of mouth. Word of mouth has resulted in deaths of many a product which have been ahead of their times.

To wrap it up, at the end of the momentous two years of one’s life spent in the hallowed halls of the B School, when one wears the graduation robe with his stomach full of the MBA lingo – the candidate who takes the crown for being the most vicious and omnipresent one is, you guessed it-word of mouth

Vikas Bansal, IIT Madras

Customer Value Creation: Give up the control and flourish!!!

Customer Value can be created through umpteen ways. I will be putting my perspective on how to create customer value by “Giving up the control”. Bizarre it may sound but I have a small story which goes like this.

Visiting big retail chain and watching thousands of products displayed elegantly has always been an exhilarating experience for me. One hundred types of Soups, great variety of organic food, stimulating collection of sausages has always given the kick to gourmet like me. I tried to explore the reason, why retail chains emphasize so much on display of products. Marketing aficionados told me that the reason is obvious, not even worth discussing. More product display means better exposure, which further coerce customers to buy products, which otherwise they would not have bought. I took the logic and convinced myself that the use of million square feet of floor space to display products is to stimulate latent customer needs and in process fuel sales!!! Phew…

But one day something happened which impelled me to question this fundamental (stimulate latent needs), which was nothing less than a gospel for me, till now. I was in the process of buying laptop from Dell. When I came to making a payment, the nice lady form Dell put on IVR system and I could make the payment in seconds without revealing the details of my credit card to anyone (though I wouldn’t have minded it giving to the lady ;)). I felt liberated, literally. I felt like a free bird, which can fly in any direction, anywhere. This event led to genesis of following hypothesis.

Displaying items alone can’t make customer buy anything. But the display of products in retails is meant to give control in the hands of customers. It makes them feel liberated. (S)He thinks that (s)he has been emancipated. This emancipation is manifested in his/her purchase behavior. She (generally!!!) ends up buying bizarre products, which otherwise he would not have bought.


Given an option to choose between two restaurants, one would tend to choose the restaurant with more choices, even though he may always order the same things. This happens because more options mean more control. More control aggravates his latent needs. Vending machines, Millions of tariff plans by telecom service providers; elaborated menu all put the control in the hand of customer and lets him decide their fate.

In short if you want to create a unique value of the customer, be ready to give up the control. Give it in the hands of your customers. They value it and will surely pay you back, generously.
What do you people think??? Does it make any sense or it’s just a figment of my imagination? Comments are invited.

Kunal Arora, NITIE

Customer Value

Bhakti Gajjar, GIDC Roffel Business School

Word Of Mouth

Shwetha, MICA

Word Of Mouth
The most powerful marketing tool
Which is easy to use and super duper cool
Sometimes people use this to make of others a fool
But it sure helps in building a money pool
No tension ka maamla it comes at a low cost
So u needn’t be worried or feel lost
Not many people know how it is to be used
This is something to ponder about and feel amused
Although very simple it may seem
You have to put in efforts to fulfill your dream
It can help you meet your business objectives, your goal
Toh use this tool bol beta bol
It is the finest way to attract consumers new
Since we trust people very few
All you have to do
Is create a product which is fun, innovative and new
So much so that it becomes the favourite topic for discussion
And there you have accomplished your mission
But if your product is not as ground breaking as it should be
You start talking about it whether you are busy or free
Slowly and steadily people will know about it
And hojayega maamla fit
So do you believe now
Why where and how
Word of mouth is the most effective marketing tool
Ekdum fundoo and super duper cool

Pranava Boyidapu, IIM Calcutta

Break Even Point
Neha sipped on her coffee slowly as she waited for Ajay to come. Thoughtful, she stared into the haze of the steam rising above the coffee. She had been waiting for this day for three years now. Finally it has come.

Jiya ran into her house along with her mother running away from all the press. Her father was to be arrested with regard to some money managing scheme that Jiya did not understand. Her mother cried her heart out all night and abused Mr Mathur for cheating them, while the police lowered took her father in.

Ajay was Neha’s client and they had previously closed a deal where Neha guided Ajay on a huge investment in real estate that cost him about 1.8 crore which was almost all his life savings. Even though Ajay was about seven years older than her, after the deal he asked her out since they weren’t maintaining a professional relation anymore. This made Neha even more nervous. She had never dated a client before. But even more importantly she had been waiting for this day for three years now. Finally it has come.

Mr. Mathur had taken a huge loan from Jiya’s father against his house in Gurgaon to start his own manufacturing paper manufacturing unit. It was later found that the house was not his and the papers that were signed were not real. But Jiya’s father could not escape from his lenders.

Ajay was happy to see Neha finally.

“Sorry, the traffic kept me up. But I’m glad we could find time for this little meeting of ours”

“Not gladder than I”, Neha smiled.

“So what shall we order before we start talking about each other?”

“Well, let’s see! A fraud investment?”. Neha looked steely eyed at Ajay.

“Oh! Cut the work jokes now Neha! We are on a personal meeting, like a date, you know…”

“Yes! Very personal indeed! I have some news for you. The island paradise where you bought land for your new hotel just now! It’s vanished!”

“Neha! You must be joking! What is all this?”

“Ok. Let me explain, the Indian Ocean keeps swallowing and vomiting every now and then. So last night it swallowed your little island of money.” Neha sneered at him.

Ajay turned ashen, “What are you saying?!”

“I am saying that your 1.8crore drowned in the Indian Ocean and there is nothing you can do about it! It’s a risk you took. Sorry, did I not bold and underline that risk clause?” Neha smiled innocently at him.

As Ajay was trying to grasp the essence of this, Neha placed her coffee cup down, got up to go.
“I guess it’s a bad time for a date Mr. Ajay Mathur.” And she was about to leave when Ajay called out to her.

“Neha..”

“The name’s Jiya! You might remember this news article!” She placed on the table a small paper clip. The paper clip was about scandal of Mr. Rajeev Agarwaal.

“Now here comes the point when I break it to you, that I m his daughter! Well I guess now we are even!”

Neha turned on heel and walked out leaving a dumbstruck Ajay.

Yuvraj Singh, SIMS

Abhijit Pachorkar, TAPMI

‘Guerrilla Marketing’ is very old and can be traced to our ancestors-Apes and to be specific- Gorillas. Hence the name Gorilla mara-mari. With the passage of time, it came to be known as ‘Guerrilla Marketing’! It was a type of marketing used by monkeys –colleagues of Chota Hanuman during the ‘Satya-Yuga’. As you all know, monkeys (Gorillas) are best imitators and attackers. They used to hide in trees and attack the trespassers carrying food who didn’t lend it to them. Similarly, in today’s ‘Kaliyug’, marketers intermittently attack consumers who enter the market with cash and don’t spend it purchasing their products/services. But as observed by revered Peter Duckling, Cotler, Jack Stout, All Lies and other great Gassing elements of Marketing, consumers are also becoming smarter and they too, now don’t carry cash. Instead they carry credit cards. In response to this change of preference, the marketers have started carrying the card reader/swipe machine and a young swine. They threaten the customers of swine flu and get their cards swiped.

Ultimately, who wins the war at the end is a matter of great concern.....Not for the marketer or consumer, but for the little swine because it will decide as to who will clear the swine’s shit and feed him!

Nakul Sud, MICA

Spotlight Finalists!

Selecting a few scripts out of the numerous MICANVAS received for Spotlight took the time it had to. The waiting now comes to an end. The results are as follows.

Finalists:

1) Sri Ram College Of Commerce (Maujood)
2) Maitreyi College (In The Name Of Honour)
3) IIM Ahmedabad (The Tree That Shook The Earth)
4) IMI (The Ladder)
5) MICA (Untitled)
6) Corporate - Johann Mathai (Reluctant Bastards)

Reserve:

1) DA-IICT (Broken Images)
2) ISM Dhanbad (Sara)

The finalists will be contacted shortly with further details of the competition. We request all the finalist teams to confirm their presence at MICANVAS 2009 latest by the 26th of October. In case we are not notified by then, the reserve teams will be called in your stead.

For any queries, feel free to contact:

Kanika Gupta
+91 9998337468
kanika8@micamail.in

Kunj Sanghvi
+91 9558816596
kunj8@micamail.in

Tech-A-Tete Stage I Results!

Yes, we finally have them! The finalists for TCS Tech-A-Tete are:

1) Amandeep Singh Kohli and Hitesh Patel (IMT Ghaziabad)
2) Sriram Narayanan and Ramesh Krishnan (MICA)
3) Anshuman Ghosh and Shubham Khurana (XLRI)
4) Piyush Maskey and Ammar Tambawala (IIMA)
5) Tanvi Gupta and Pooja Shevade (MICA)
6) Mayur Gupta and Saurabh Ranadive (IIT Madras)

The two teams in reserve are:

1) Gourav Sinha and Ruchika Rathi (MICA)
2) Ashwin Durga and Sidharth Mehta (SJMSOM, IIT Powai)

The finalists will be contacted shortly with further details of the competition. We request all the finalist teams to confirm their presence at MICANVAS 2009 latest by the 26th of October. In case we are not notified by then, the reserve teams will be called in your stead.

Phew! Believe us, narrowing the entries down to these selected few was no easy task. While we congratulate the finalists, we also thank every participant for making Stage I as competitive as it turned out to be.

For any queries, feel free to contact:

Kanika Gupta
+91 9998337468
kanika8@micamail.in

Kunj Sanghvi
+91 9558816596
kunj8@micamail.in

Cin-cinema-tti

**Stage I submission deadline extended to 28th of October, 11 59pm**

Shoddy film-making is something we have all been subjected to since the day we were born. How many times have we left a cinema hall wondering what inspired us to watch the film we just did, complaining about the acting, the story, the screenplay, the direction itself? Considering the amount the Indian middle-class spends on cinema watching today, we wouldn’t mind killing a director or two, would we?

But what is good film-making? To find that out, MICANVAS presents ‘Cin-cinema-tti’, the short film-making contest. So if you think you have a director in you, read on!

The event will take place in two stages. As part of Stage I, the participants (in teams not exceeding 2 members each) need to send in a short live action film (not excedding 5 minutes) on any topic of their choice. The videos should be uploaded on YouTube and the link should be sent to us.

The entries must be mailed in by 11:59 PM on the 24th of October 2009. All entries must reach us at cincinematti.micanvas@gmail.com.

From the entries received for Stage I, six shortlisted teams will be announced on 27th of October and these will be invited on campus during MICANVAS 2009 and will be given a topic on which they are expected to make a short film. The teams will be asked to present their films to a panel of judges the next day, followed by a Q&A session.

After Stage II, the team that comes out on top will win Rs. 12500 and the runner-up will win Rs. 7500. This is your chance to prove to the world that there’s more to direction than what the present lot has to present!

For more about the event, click here.

For any queries, feel free to contact:

Kanika Gupta
+91 9998337468
kanika8@micamail.in

Kunj Sanghvi
+91 9558816596
kunj8@micamail.in

Mudra Presents Mudra Spark!

**Stage I submission deadline extended to 25th of October, 11 59am**

Education has and will always be one step behind, won’t it? While we sit in classrooms and study theories, do case studies and presentations on various issues in the fields of marketing and communication, we little realise that the world outside is moving at its own rapid pace, that what is novel today is passé tomorrow.

This single fact makes it even more important that we concentrate on opportunities that can influence the thoughts of tomorrow rather than just reading the case studies of yesterday. MICANVAS and Mudra present 'Mudra Spark', where you get the chance to give form to the future.

The event will be conducted in two stages. As part of Stage I, teams (of not more than 2 members each) are required to submit a paper of not more than 2000 words with a clear and differentiated view point on ANY ONE of the topics mentioned below:

I. Brand Mythology – Is It A Marketing Tool?
Myths transcend time, geography and culture, surviving long after the people who wove them. If brand mythology is the cultural and contextual understanding of a brand’s past and present, can the mythology of a well-established brand influence its consumers or attract new ones? Are there any brand myths that have done exceedingly well, and what can we learn from them?

II. Sensory Branding In India
A complex media environment and consumers annoyed by interruption from marketers has made it challenging to build brands today. The idea that brands should engage consumers on a variety of touch points is not new, but to do it through the different senses is still an emerging thought. To what extent is this already being done in India? Does such a thought hold promise for Indian brands? Are there ways to touch the senses without invading them?

III. Advertising and the Cultural Divide
India is a diverse country and we see numerous national launches of marketing communications with regional adaptations. The North - South divide has been debated for years now. Expressions in Hindi passing off as ideas and translations that make no sense whatsoever for a Malayali or a Tamilian, the usage of caricatures and stereotypes like Rajanikanth or global ideas slapped onto advertising in India. Can this communication connect with its consumer? Is the world truly flat?

IV. Social Responsibility - A Cause Or A Charade
Consumers these days want to associate themselves with brands they feel good about rather than a product with functional utility. Recognizing this, many brands today espouse a social cause, and create campaigns that aim to bring about a social change. Are these ‘causes’ building better brands or eating into media budgets? Or are these campaigns only catering to the egos of people who created them? What should advertising do to make a real change?

V. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
Women are the most influential buyers yet most marketing theories were developed in the days when men were the key influencers at both the supply and demand end of the market. Women now play a large role in the workplace and the marketplace. Is there a need to recalibrate these theories? Should there be different marketing campaigns to communicate with consumers depending on their gender? What kinds of brands need to take another look at how they are talking?

VI. Rural India - A Market That Defies Logic
In a country where 70% of its population lives in rural areas, successfully marketing to the bottom of the pyramid presents a huge opportunity for marketers. While large companies have been winning on the back of their distribution strengths, the proliferation of Direct to Home television (DTH) services is a surprising trend. A nascent industry in India, 10 % of rural households have a DTH service while only 6% of urban India subscribes to these services. What drives this growth in the erstwhile media dark areas? How will this affect the story of marketing to rural India?

The entries must be mailed in by 11:59 PM on the 23rd of October 2009. All entries must reach us at spark.micanvas@gmail.com. The six best teams, whose names will be announced on the 27th of October, will be invited to the MICA campus to make their final presentations as part of Stage II.

A few things to keep in mind for the Stage I entries:

• Papers must have a clear and differentiated point-of-view rather than solely participating in existing debates
• Questions listed at the end of each topic description are merely indicative of the kind of discussion and debate your paper should generate. These are not mandatory questions to be answered
• A case in point has to be included, where you throw some light on either an existing scenario or a possible strategy to best utilize the insights from your opinion on the subject
• Even though you may draw from global examples, the work has to be relevant to the Indian scenario
• A photograph and five line biography of the author(s) is to accompany the paper

After the end of Stage II, the team which comes first stands to win Rs. 25000 and the runner-up wins Rs. 15000! The incentive’s there, also a range of topics to choose from, and the chance to shape the future rather than reading about it as history some years later. So, without wasting time, get ready to do exactly that!

For more about the event, click here.

For any queries, feel free to contact:

Kanika Gupta
+91 9998337468
kanika8@micamail.in

Kunj Sanghvi
+91 9558816596
kunj8@micamail.in

Metrotopia

Ah, those were the days! When the affairs of Batman and Robin used to take most of our time, when Spiderman captured and ruled over every part of our imagination, when Superman was what each one of us wanted to become when we grew up. None of us would ever have doubted that any of these superheroes were real, living super-human beings, and not just a figment of someone else’s imagination.

But it wasn’t just their imagination, wasn’t it? Most of the time, it was ours too. Most of the time, we gave our superheroes powers and characteristics we would like them to have. Well, this time around, you get the chance to do exactly that again. MICANVAS presents ‘Metrotopia’, where you get to create your own superhero! You decide what he looks like, what his superpowers are, and yes, whether he wears his chaddis inside or outside. Once you’re done creating your superhero, market him/her to us and if we like it, we’ll give you a place in the Metrotopia hall of fame – where superheroes unite!

The event will be conducted in two stages. As part of Stage I, you are required to conceptualize a superhero that is relevant to the current scenario and create a marketing plan for the same.

The participants (in teams not exceeding 2 members each) need to send in an entry no more than 1000 words in length detailing:
1. Name of the Superhero
2. Background Story
3. Superpowers
4. USP
5. Attire
6. City in which he is based (along with reasons for the same)

The judging criteria for the same are:

1. Creativity
2. Appeal
3. Relevance
4. Originality

Teams will be scored more highly if the superhero is relevant to the Indian context. The entries must be mailed in by 11:59 PM on the 21th of October 2009. All entries must reach us at metrotopia.micanvas@gmail.com.

On the basis of these entries, the six best teams will be announced on the 27th of October and invited to the MICA campus during MICANVAS to make a final presentation.

For doing something so enjoyable, there are prizes in the offing too! The team coming first will get two Nokia phones worth Rs. 15000 each and the runners-up will get two Nokia phones worth Rs. 10000 each. Now, what else can one possibly ask for!

For more about the event, click here.

For any queries, feel free to contact:

Kanika Gupta
+91 9998337468
kanika8@micamail.in

Kunj Sanghvi
+91 9558816596
kunj8@micamail.in