Friday 7 September 2012

Marketing – straight from the horse’s mouth!




On 6th September, 2012, the students of IIM Raipur had a rare opportunity to interact with a veteran in the marketing domain, Mr. Kartik Raina. He is currently a Senior Advisor with YFactor, a firm which provides Management Advisory Services to FMCG Companies. Mr Raina completed his MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai and has extensive experience in sales and marketing with various MNCs such as P&G, Dabur and Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Healthcare.

Mr Raina enthralled the students with anecdotes from his days with Dabur, P&G, and Glaxo Smith Kline. He emphasized the importance of understanding consumer behavior, as it has a direct influence on the marketing strategy of the company. He recalled how, in his early days as a sales manager, he was required to observe customers buying Vicks cough drops at chemist shops. His observations made him realize that people bought Vicks drops not only to treat a sore throat but also to consume it as a lemon juice due to oral fixation. This realization led to the positioning of Vicks as a general lozenge, and not as a niche product with medicinal value alone, thereby closing the gap between the stated and secret needs of the consumers.

Mr. Raina then explained how the marketing concepts that we read about in Kotler can be implemented in real life scenario. He showed the flip side too-how some products fail despite having great expectations and stated that 70% of the marketing campaigns end in failure.

The students learnt a lot from this interaction, they clarified their doubts regarding developing brands, using controversies to sensitize masses, and various other concepts in marketing such as Self-referencing conceptual context etc., They were inspired to apply their theoretical knowledge in practical situations once they don the role of marketing managers.


Contributed By : Neha Khapre, PGP 2012-14, she can be reached at pgp12084.neha@iimraipur.ac.in

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