Industry Visit for International Business Management batches – Apr’17

Indian Institute of Learning and Advanced Development (INLEAD) organizes various Extracurricular activities for student’s development. As a part of this, an industrial visit has been organized to Parle manufacturing plant, in Neemarana, Rajasthan on 20th Nov 2017. The main aim is to go beyond academics in all possible ways; also it was focused to make students aware about how various activities related to planning, procurement, inventory management, marketing, financing and human resource are carried out in company and organizing an Interactive session with the officials of various departments.

Parle G is an Indian private limited company. It owns the famous biscuit brand Parle G. Parle Biscuits Private Limited is manufacturing a wide range of biscuits – Parle-G, Monaco & Krack Jack as well as other confectionery products like wafers, Fulltos, Namkeen etc. It has factories in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu.

As the students reached the plant,  HR Executive from Parle explained the working of the plant and gave an insightful presentation related to the working of the plant and its production. She also described the functions, benefits of the product and its presence worldwide. They also explained the automation of the plant which follows the highest hygiene standards. Students were taken around the manufacturing plant and were explained about the production and packaging process. They were explained that Parle G has Asia’s largest biscuit baking oven. 

Students also interacted with the staff of the Parle G Plant and were shown videos and presentation of its products. The process in the making is totally automated and is internationally designed keeping in mind the hygiene standards. During the Interactive session, students & faculty member actively participated and asked many questions to clear the concepts. Students also got additional information about recruitment, waste management and CSR policies of the company.

Ms. Jyoti (HR Coordinator- Parle, Neemrana): “INLEAD students are a very enthusiastic bunch & an extremely excited lot with many questions put forth by them.”

Feedback: Student:

• Sakshi Bhatnagar, MBA in International Business Management Apr’17: “I got to know about the entire process and the huge oven which was 250 feet long was very fascinating.”
• Ankita Rajput, MBA in International Business Management Apr’17: “The best HR  practices of Parle was very interesting and the fact that the decision making is centralized from Mumbai”

Industry Exposure for all GMTP Events Management

The activation venue forum is in itself a big event which actually does not need any introduction about it because people who belong to event industry know about it.

It is platform which provides all stakeholders, event management agencies, different venue owners, and different brands to come up and share their opinion and experiences about the trend, new technology, new ideas and their suggestions about the industry, and to interact about creative ideas and innovations which helps them to grow in many possible ways which lead them towards success.

Students of GMTP Events Management got a chance to participate in TAVF 2017 organised on 8^th November’17.

The event was held at “The Veda” on 8^th of November 2017, it was a tremendous effort or initiative which was taken by ‘The Umbrella Ageas’ associated by ‘Q events’ supported by ‘EEMA’.

This platform provided students with the opportunity to network with all talented heads present over there, to learn about venues and their different types, how to select a perfect venue for the particular event, to know more about technologies.

TAVF was a first experience for the students as a corporate event and they made the best out of it, and yet many more in que to learn more and gain experience.

Talking about the event it was well organized by Umbrella Ageas, they planned everything accordingly so that they should not lose the connect with the audience, many key speakers were there to share their experiences and guide the audience that how to work efficiently and effectively.

Some of the Key speakers for the day were:

• Mr. Sabbas Joseph (Founder and CEO of Wizcraft)
• Mr. Manish Advani, (Head of Marketing Mahindra, Mahindra ssg)
• Mr. Yogeshwar sharma, (Executive Director of Select Infrastructure Pvt Ltd)
• Ms. Pushpa Bector (EVP DLF Malls)
• Mr. Sunil Shroff (CEO of Viviana malls)
• Mr. Bertrand, (Cam of Musion Canada)
• Mr. Alexander Koth (Managing Director and Founder of Minodes)
• Mr. Arun Samuel (Director of Q Events) 

The Event was very well organized and the audience was suitably entertained by the emcees Asif & Aisha, who engaged them in all the activities and entertained them to the best they could. According to our students this event was totally successful in providing a good platform to network and to learn about new innovations and the message which they wanted to convey they did it absolutely amazing.

Quotation / Feedback: Student

Geetraj Sandhu, Sept’17; EM - GMTP: “The event gave us an opportunity to speak with people who are big names in the Events Industry.”

Krishnika Dubey, Sept’17; EM - GMTP: “I loved the fact that before the event started, we got an opportunity to back-stage and understand the importance of Setup.”

Ensuring a Long Lasting Relationship

At workplace, where the war for talent makes it difficult to find good workers with required talent, the need to retain the talented individuals increases. Great businesses understand the importance of retaining talented individuals. They are well aware of the fact that replacing employees require time, money and energy. According to the ‘Center for American Progress’, it costs roughly 20% of an employee’s salary to replace that individual. So when the employees of an organization constantly leave for greener pastures, the organization is forced to spend the equivalent of over two months’ worth of salary just to find someone to replace them.

Retaining top talent is a struggle for many businesses, but there are several things an organization can do to increase the likelihood of its talented team sticking around a little longer than average.

Hire the right Talent- An employee is not able to perform well if he does not fit in the organization’s culture. Therefore, it becomes really important for the employer to ensure the alignment of skills of the new entrant with that of the organization’s culture.

Provide Growth Opportunities- An employee joins an organization with a vision to grow with it and expects challenging positions to showcase his talent. In the case of limited advancement opportunities an employee becomes demotivated and starts to look for an alternate. To avoid such situations, an organization must provide challenging opportunities to its employees. This will not only motivate the employees but also provide a positive and hopeful atmosphere to its people. 

Recognition- Sincere and positive recognition strengthens the bond that an employee has with its organization. Constant and constructive feedback ensures that an employee is motivated to put in his hard work. Day to day interactions with the superiors can directly impact on motivating or losing a key contributor.

Handsome Compensation- Scarcity of talented professionals is an alarm to the ever expanding industries. In the event of non-availability of surplus of talent, an organization needs to deploy strategies to retain the existing talent with the organization. Understanding the worth of a talented employee and providing him the required compensation may help in retaining a contributor within the organization.

Eliminate unnecessary barriers- Unnecessary barriers not only irritate the employees but also prove to be a major time waster.  Providing the right amount and quality of tools can ensure the correct and optimum usage of employees’ time and potential.  

Conclusively, if an organization continues to nurture and support its talent by offering them ongoing opportunities for professional growth and development along with constructive feedback while showing them that their opinions and efforts are heard and valued, it can ensure that its relationship with its employees will last long.

By:
Ms. Priyanka Trakroo - Faculty
INLEAD

The World of Mouse

The invention of internet has created a paradigm shift in the traditional way of shopping.  The behavior of Buyers is changing rapidly and thus leading to a change in how brands are trying to capture the target market across all verticals to adjust and conform to the interactive world. In the current scenario nearly all the consumers have shifted  their  regular activities to  digital in some way — from listening to music, to shopping, to booking restaurant,  ticket reservations and so on.

Increased use of smartphones, health and environment concerns, technological innovations and the rising complexity in the decision-making process are some of the key areas of change that will impact retail businesses.

We are living in a consumer- driven market, where marketers are trying to understand the needs and wants of consumer and do business across channels and devices.

These days, brands are recognizing the importance of customer satisfaction and trying to ease the buying process.

• One-on-one communication – The focus has shifted from advertising to improving the customer experience by understanding the needs and wants of customers throughout the purchase cycle.
• Availability of various media channels – The number of media channels available in the market has created a big problem for marketers to determine when and where there is a customer is located.
• Make the experience easier – The marketers are trying to create platforms which are easy to access and provide all the relevant information to the buyer.
• Availability of Various payment methods – with the increase in number of mobile wallets the marketers are trying to ease the buying process.

India has come a long way in regulating its policies and promoting ease of doing business, and has huge potential for growth in this sector. As per the report, the Government is working on policy reforms by liberalising foreign investment norms and creating a single window clearance policy to facilitate business in the country.

By:

Sakshi Vig  -Faculty
INLEAD

Career Opportunities in Digital Marketing

Had this been 2007, you would have been laughing at me for writing an article that focuses on job opportunities in the field of digital marketing.  Till a few years back, it was almost impossible to find a job in digital marketing. The organizations were mainly stuck with the traditional promotional activities that aimed at spreading their product’s awareness and enhancing the bottom lines. Nevertheless, the tables have turned in a decade’s time. Today, the organizations are highly inclined towards adopting the contemporary techniques of promotion that does not only maximize their revenues but also focuses on revitalizing their brand.

From an unnoticed niche approach to one of the most persuasive contemporary marketing tactic, Digital marketing has grown in leaps and bounds in the last once decade. Along with the growth of digital marketing, the numbers of job opportunities have also increased. Hence, the aspiring managers should eye the varied opportunities in this sun shining field. Following are some of the job opportunities that should be considered by management graduates –

• Search Engine Optimizer – Who would like to spend money on Google AdWords when you can conveniently get free traffic on your website? The key responsibility of a SEO executive is to carry out keyword research to support new client pitches and existing client SEM campaigns.
• Social Media Marketing Expert The key role of SMM is to promote an organization, its products and services with the help of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter etc.
• Content Writing – If you have a good command on language, content writing is surely your cup of tea. The job responsibilities include writing blogs, updating websites, developing interesting content for promotional campaigns and drip marketing campaigns.

Source: www.digitalmarketingeducation.com

• Conversion rate optimizer – Yet another job opportunity for the aspiring managers is CRO. The key job responsibility of a CRO is to enhance the conversion rate and enhance revenues. Other duties include defining and executing a CRO roadmap, market trends, implementing CRO best practice, comprehending the customer feedback and analysis.
• Search Engine Marketing Executive – The job description involves tracking and analyzing the efficiency of digital campaigns, targeting high number of leads, keyword research, landing page selection, split testing the ad campaigns etc.

Hope this information will be useful for the young managers who are looking forward to build their careers in digital marketing. In the upcoming posts, we will explore other interesting job opportunities in the field of digital marketing. 

By:

Dr Priyank Azad - Senior Faculty

INLEAD

Wellness India 2017 Expo

“Wellness India 2017 Expo ”  (Health India Expo+ Biotech India Expo+ Organic India Expo) opened its doors from 29 Aug - 31Aug’17. Wellness India 2017 Expo, integrating organics, health and biotechnology, is a favorite for all ages! Attended by multitudes, it was buzzing with a wide range of exhibitors, booths, seminars and dynamic workshops. The expo opened up vast opportunities for participants to enjoy wellness wisdom in groups and individually. At the creative entertaining workshops, participants learnt about the potential applications of various health therapies, and practiced yoga, mindfulness and naturopathy, amongst others. 

Being Students of Indian Institute of Learning& Advance Development (INLEAD), we got the opportunity to explore “Wellness India 2017 Expo”, free of cost, and we really learned a lot.

The expo started on Tuesday, August 29, in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, where major companies showcased ground–breaking technologies and services related to health, biotechnology with new organic product launches, Organized by the ITPO (India Trade Promotion organization), Exhibitions India Group, the Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Skill development & Entrepreneurship, along with Ministry of Tourism.

We tasted, sampled and experienced organic and natural products from exhibitors nationwide including rice, vegetables, fruits, processed food, skincare and cosmetics, cotton, as well as health and beauty services from leading fitness centers and spas. 

The captivated audience at the conference sessions heard industry leaders on what it takes to break into and succeed in the wellness industry, while having a massive impact by transforming the health of their communities. Discussions also centered around strategies on how to build your brand, become a leader in your field, and leverage industry relationships to launch and sustain a successful business in the organic, health and biotech sectors.

Wellness India 2017 expo, incorporated Health India expo, Biotech India expo and Organic India expo, & is an excellent platform to know what’s new in natural remedies, alternative medicines, Ayurveda, nutrition, organic, herbal and natural personal care products, biotech and so much more! The event provided a unique opportunity for gaining invaluable industry knowledge, building new contacts and networking with thousands of attendees including government representatives, industry pioneers, large corporate, leading technical universities and research institutes, health practitioners, SMEs and a new generation of innovators shaping the future of healthy and sustainable products.

Witnessing this gala event we are pleased to note that India is going Organic, is concerned about healthy living & is moving into highly aimed biotechnological era. We are in throes of a transformation which will make us a global organic powerhouse. “The 2017 Wellness India” initiative from Govt. of India will surely empower and equip the ordinary citizen in a way that will clearly be revolutionary.

By: Aniket Patil - Student
INBM - Jan'17 Batch

INLEAD

The brass-tacks of Social Media

When we feel bored, when we feel a little unwanted, when we feel like reaching out to the world, we often turn to our favorite partner in crime, Facebook! Our day starts with clicking on it & our day ends with a post to the world or rather to our friends & followers. The incessant messages, images & videos that are forwarded to us over WhatsApp, the retweets that keep getting pinged, the videos that are shared by the groups we are part of, keep us rather busy clicking away on our smartphones. I often wonder: is the smart phone making us dumb! Or is it making us addicted to an instrument that seems to dominate our senses? Nevertheless, we cannot deny the fact that the Social Media while it may have its drawbacks, there’s a huge surge in the utility of the same.

What makes the social media so useful? In this blog, let’s analyse FACEBOOK, India’s favourite social media platform.

As of July 2017, FB has reported a total “potential audience” of 241 million active users in India, which is higher than Unites State’s 240 million. The absolute numbers seem exciting, but it’s just 19% of the total country’s population. USA’s penetration stands at 73%, with the world average being 73% (source: livemint.com, accessed 4^th Sept’17). Men outnumber women on FB in India, while it’s the reverse in US, where 54% of the platform’s users are female. Another factor that makes a huge impact is that the age group predominantly on FB is younger than 25 years of age.

Monetizing FB as a platform and upgrading it to a business tool has been an uphill task for Facebook Inc. They have moved away from being just a social media platform to an advertising medium, with promoted posts, promoted pages, & pay per click adverts. Your timelines are now resonating not just your friends’ posts but also with promoted newsfeeds, stories, videos, images, etc. Engagement with the audience is something very challenging for FB. They have to not only get Likes, they have to ensure Shares, comments, tagging of people, as also posting of requests. Only when all these are done, is there true engagement with stories shared on FB. Paid promotions which are known as boosts, cost but they lead to increase in likes for a post or for a page. Once all the above tools are put to use, an anlyst needs to check on FB insights as also on the Analytics of FB to track the growth, dips, engagement & disengagements over time.

Facebook has found its place amongst corporate budgets for digital promotions and they are increasingly leaving positive footprints for businesses to come. From setting up a company page, to reaching out to target audience, to raising charity money, even SMEs and NGOs are making a mark here. Facebook is here to stay for sometime now and with increased penetration we will see a gargantuan market opening up for those online. So much so now we may add a verb in our dictionary: “facebooking”!!

In another blog we will look into other social media platforms that are becoming popular in India. Keep reading!

By:

Monica Mor-Senior Faculty
INLEAD

Training the Heroes

Behind a successful organization, there is always a team of Superheroes working hard & in harmony for the benefit of the organization. Sometimes it takes much more than just employing their skills and hoping that somehow they will figure out how to work things out together as a unit for the betterment of the organization.

In this competitive era, an employer understands the importance of training and development to boost the morale of the employees and ensure the organizational success.

On the Job training and development programs is one of the best tools used to train and then extract the very best from employees. Training can come in many different forms and can be very beneficial to your business where employees increase the capacity to adopt new technologies and methods, helping staff develop their skills and knowledge, thereby leading to improved performances and therefore increased productivity.

Employers know the importance of right training at the right position and thus organize various engaging training and development programs for the employees at different levels of authority. There are alot of corporate consultants that offer comprehensive trainings, development programs, team building sessions to organizations. These consultants are experienced professionals and thus are proved to be very helpful in terms of achieving the targets

Some of the benefits of employee training are:

• Increased Productivity -Employees who are well trained are more likely to produce higher-quality output the first time around, thereby minimizing mistakes.
• Increased Motivation - Investing in your staff will show that they are a valued member of the team, which can lead to an increase in morale. This could develop more loyalty and improve staff retention
• Employee Engagement -Training is a good opportunity for employers and staff to get to know each other better, which can lead to stronger working relationships.
• Healthy relations at work- Corporate training tries to bridge the gap between one employee and another to create a better understanding of each other thus promoting harmonious working beyond the differences.
• Increased Efficiency – Training can be done as per the specific needs and requirements of the organization, resulting in increased efficiency in terms of meeting the market demands.
• Stay ahead of the competition – Training for working professionals also comes in handy in helping with changed management and market innovation to ensure that your company stays ahead of the competition.

As the saying goes, “If you think training is expensive, try ignorance.”

Corporate development programs create a “learning environment” where employees are not limited to their current role, but also take initiative to try new things.  Training helps to nurture the best leaders from within for the success of the organization and when you are able to embrace change and innovate, and then your future can only flourish

By:   

Sakshi Vig - Faculty
INLEAD

Talent Management- A strategy for the Aspiring Organizations

Organizations are required to make continuous efforts to ascertain that there are right people, at the right place, at the right time to accomplish its mission. Locating, recruiting, hiring, and developing the best talent is crucial, not just to support organization’s strategic planning, but also to contribute to a thriving work culture. Talent management is an organization's commitment to recruit, retain, and develop the most gifted and trained employees available in the job market.

While HR has been around since the dinosaurs, talent management is a relative newcomer. It is an important term as it comprises of the entire work process and systems that are related to retaining and developing a superior workforce. Failures in talent management are an ongoing foundation of pain for executives in modern organizations. Over the past generation, talent management practices, have by and large been dysfunctional, leading corporations to lurch from surpluses of talent to shortfalls to surpluses and back again.

An organization is able to attract and retain its best talent by entrusting its employees that they will have enormous opportunities to develop professionally within the organization. However, well before that an organization needs to be sure that it has the right pool of talent. Organizations, in order to never go wrong with the choice of talent and its management, need to follow simple process of Talent Management that is -

Step 1- Firstly, the organization needs to be aware of the type of talent that it requires to reach the goal of the organization. It is essential to align the talent management strategy with the business strategy of an organization.

Step 2-The Next step is to identify the essential skills set that each profile working for the organization requires. This step is achieved by structuring the levels of the organization and creating clear and coherent job profiles for each level.

Step 3-Later, the organization is required to identify the talent gaps within the system and to fill these gaps with the best suited talent.

Step 4-Once the right talent has been identified, the process of performance management needs to be applied, where the organization monitors the performance of each contributor and recognizes the achievements of its members.

Step 5-The last and the most important step of the entire process is managing the talent and retaining them with the organization. For this process to be effective, the talent needs to be provided with developmental opportunities and structured career paths.

Organizations with right set of tools and good talent management practices often have employees who are actively engaged and more satisfied with their roles. A strong and well aligned talent management culture also favorably impacts on how employees rate their organizations as places to work.

By:

Ms. Priyanka Trakroo-Faculty
INLEAD 

TA – TA Nano – A Shattered Dream?

‘Predicting future is Mission Impossible….. But not for the Gen X Nano’. If reports are to be believed, Nano will soon be discontinued in India owing to its falling sales and negligible market share. Introduced in 2008, Tata Nano swiftly became a global attraction. Despite its well-engineered design, Nano failed to transform the face of mobility in the country. This was primarily because of weak positioning, security attributes and lack of magnetizing marketing activities. Nevertheless, Tata Motors was quick to rejuvenate the product and re-introduce the Gen X Nano. In a market that is highly dominated by competing brands, Tata Nano created its own distinct image as a consequence of its pricing strategy. However, this fame was short-lived. Over the years, gaining market share and enhancing the bottom line has proved to be a daunting task for Gen X Nano.  Following are some of the most plausible reasons for Nano’s failure –

• Branding – Tata Motors tried its best to create a positive brand image for the Gen X Nano. However, the organization failed to position the product on the basis of its style and comfort.

Despite Tata’s constant marketing gimmicks, the consumers continued to see Nano as a low cost ‘cheap’ product, an image that the company itself created in 2008.

• Falling sales – Initially, Tata Motors was excited to see consumer’s positive response towards Gen X Nano. However, the organization failed to notice that Nano was again becoming a synonym to ‘Cheap’. Today, Nano sells less than 1,000 units on an average, which isn’t good news for a mass market car manufacturer (Financial Express Report, 2017).
• Flanking attacks – Since its launch in the year 2008, the competing brands have also focused on revealing the dark side of Nano.  Competitors such as Maruti, Hyundai and many more have focused on ‘competitive advertising’ that showcased the weak points of Nano. This further strengthened the negative perceptions of the consumers.
•  Availability of substitutes – With renowned individual brands such as Alto, Eon, Kwid, Datsun Go and many more, Tata Motors faces a stiff competition in the market. This is a roadblock that Nano is unable to overpower.

Regrettably, in a young and ambitious country like India, Nano was not the right recipe for success. With numerous challenges facing Nano, the future of Ratan Tata’s dream project appears to be in a fluid state.

Evolution of Sales as a functional area

A typical day in a salesman’s life starts with fixing appointments and following it up with meetings to close the leads generated with the help of the tele calling team. The trips in the city, the innumerable phone calls and finally filling of a Sales log, are highlights that mark the day. It’s a long & tedious day, but the efforts are all compensated by a sizeable salary & associated perks. There have been books written by umpteen star salesmen and management gurus on how to be a better salesman. Authors like Zig Ziglar have made millions by just selling their books on salesmanship.

Times are now changing and ‘sales’ is no longer the tedious set of activities it used to be before. The profile has received a massive upgradation in terms of the paraphernalia that has got associated with the job responsibility of a salesman, thereby rendering it a highly desirable profile across different industries. By paraphernalia, one tends to imagine equipments like gadgets and collaterals. Those are just some of the many. Sales calls are now done over Skype and video conferencing since travelling has become very time consuming these days. Detailed discussions are put in the form of bullet points and shared over emails formally, while multiple mini - discussions are followed up via informal WhatsApp conversations.

Sales earlier had connotations of personal selling, which required meeting clients on a regular basis to keep them connected, nowadays, there’s a team of pre-sales people who are responsible for all customer relationship activities. There are e-CRM softwares that assist the sales team to keep a track of the levels of interaction with a client pre & post sales closure. The after sales services are vital to ensure that the customer remains loyal and doesn’t start looking for options. This implies that just one salesman is not expected to be involved in the entire cycle from pre to post sales. He/she is assisted by a team from sales operations that are efficient in MIS management for all requirements of a client.

Digital platforms have further lessened the requirement of face to face interactions. Connecting with vendors via Twitter and ERP softwares, connecting with front end clients via CRM softwares has lowered the burden on a salesman, who is now just required to close leads and ensure customer satisfaction via provision of requisite services. We thus say that salesmanship has evolved to a level of “Consultative Selling” and “Relationship Selling”, where clients find it extremely convenient to remain in touch with their respective relationship managers to derive full benefit of the products purchased and services availed, after their initial interaction with the salesman. Thus we can say that the era of a Salesman has kind of come to an end and we can now talk of Business development managers, who bring revenue to their company and also ensure that the customer remains associated with their company such that the company can derive the Life Time Value from each of its customers.

 

Going further, in subsequent blogs, we will look into what terms like Consultative Selling and Life Time Value mean. Till then, be that bright spark that can help you succeed in all your endeavours.

By:

Monica Mor - Senior Faculty
INLEAD

A Craft called Digital Marketing

Social media, Search engine optimization, Pay per click, Websites, etc.. have become words/phrases used in common parlance. Yet there are many who are not tuned to these words. They may have access to smart phones and maybe watching videos or listening to music online, yet are they truly familiar with the business model of Digital Marketing?

So what according to them is digital marketing? Majority would answer with statements like “I can book tickets online”; “I can post pictures on Instagram”; or “I can Snap Chat or WhatsApp with my friends”. Yet the true meaning of Digital Marketing comes from the second word in this phrase, i.e “marketing”. Digital implies the online platforms that are at our disposal these days. Ranging from the ubiquitous Facebook to the selectively used Apps like Viral Shots. The term “digital” also deems it imperative that there has to be internet connectivity, and since it’s an era of smartphones the availability of adequate amount of “data” is essential. Marketing on the other hand refers to the monetization of all sources of media, online or offline to ensure that the outreach to prospective or existing customers is successful. Does that result in increased sales, is a matter of separate discussion, but the narrative around Digital Marketing primarily focuses around increased eyeballs and better positioning of the brands or products or services in the minds of target audiences.

Definition of Marketing Management, according to Kotler & Keller (2008) is “the art & science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping & growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value.” If we look deeper into each element of this definition it will reflect the enormity of the definition and that of each word in its singularity.

The first question that arises when one reads this definition is the usage of the dyad ‘art’ and ‘science’. Art has its connection with creativity and the craft associated with marketing, whereas Science is all about the logical and numeracy aspects of marketing. Yet the twain has to meet and it does especially with advertisements and the design aspects of the product or service. There can’t be a better and more effective, monetarily as well as creatively, platform than digital.

As we explore the definition more acutely we come across the phrase ‘superior customer value’ and we are immediately drawn to the images and texts that are put together like stories for consumption by target audience. For a customer who by the click of a mouse or a scroll along the phone screen can decide what content he or she wants to associate with, it’s become quite a tedious task to keep them engaged effectively. Where the traditional forms of marketing like TV commercials are becoming slightly laggard in their approach, digital is slowly & steadily racing ahead in correlating with an increasingly young audience. Superior customer value therefore, in the case of digital marketing does seem achievable as digital marketing itself evolves to touch new heights of glory and innovation.

The canvass for Digital marketing is wide and bright, and new players in the market are writing new discourses and are breaking more & more barriers while effectively reaching out to the right audience at the right time. Many would also argue against Digital marketing especially due to the presence of a humongous quantum of online platforms and easy accessibility to unwholesome content, one of the worst examples being the Blue Whale Challenge, the jury is definitely out there on the utility and successful utilization of Digital marketing.

Watch this space for more such discussions on this effervescent & intriguing topic of Digital Marketing.

By:

Monica Mor - Senior Faculty

INLEAD