IIM Raipur's Equinox'13 - Day 2

Case study competitions in Finance, Marketing and B-Plan competition set the day 2 for the Equinox ’13, IIM Raipur’s Annual Fest. Finalists from prominent B-Schools all over the country matched their wits against one another in this fest. The teams were evaluated based on their innovative solutions to the cases and their ability to convince the panel on the feasibility of the solution.

First event of the day was “Vardhushik” a pitch book competition to test the participants’ prowess in devising strategies on finance with respect to mergers and acquisitions. The judges of the event were Mr.Amit Shrivastava of Caps academy commerce and Venkat Vijay, faculty of IIM Raipur. The judges gave a deep insight into various methods of valuation and necessary precautions to be taken in due course. The runner up of the event was a team comprising Ellina, Swaminathan from NMIMS whose proposal dealt with the financial scenario in the television sector. The winners was team “Birbulz” comprising Akhil and Sanket from IIFT who focused on the financial scenario in the FMCG sector.

Winners of the B-Plan event

winners of viriddhi
 (event by Consultancy and entrepreneurship club of IIM RP)

The B-Plan event “Udyam” and an on the field event “VRIDDHI” were organized by the consultancy and entrepreneurship club. The B-Plans were from various domains such as telecommunications, health care, food services and online trading. The judges were Mr.Pratik Singhi, CEO, Lakshya Consultancy and an angle investor, Mr. Manjusha Pariyal from ANM consultancy and Mr.Manoj Agarwal, Founder and CEO of Fast Clean. The runner up of the event was Team “Ozone” from NIITE. Then winner of the event was team “Prana” from BIM Tirichy. In on the field event “Viriddhi”, the participants were given an initial amount of Rs.500 and given a day time to multiply their money in the city. A team from SIBM Pune “The Aces” amassed a whopping sum of Rs.6620 in a single day and emerged as a clear winner of the event.

Winners of Case files
Event by the Manthra (Marketing club)

Participants presenting their case study

The marketing event “Case files” was about identifying the means to revive the spirits of the nation’s youth to join “Indian Army”. The Judges of the event were Mr.Amitabh Pande, Vice-President of Marketing, Chhatishgarh region, Ultratech Cement and LLt.Colonel Jagdish Singh Virdhi. The event saw immense display of patriotism and vibrant emotions amongst participants. The runners up was team “WwW” from IIM Raipur and the Winners was team “Birbulz” from IIFT.

The day gave us lots of learnings and exposure just as it promised, and we are looking forward for the more action packed day 3 of Equinox, tomorrow.

Daikin Vice President (Sales) talks about Marketing Strategies

About the Speaker :: Mr. Rajesh Jain, Vice President Sales at Daikin Air Conditioning India Pvt. Ltd.

Worked as General Manager, Marketing at Voltas Limited

Worked as Customer Business Unit Head, Consumer Electronics at BPL Ltd

Worked as General Manager at Carrier Aircon Limited 

As part of IIM Raipur Corporate Interaction program, Mr. Rajesh Jain, Vice President (Sales), Daikin, visited the campus on 13^th September 2011. He briefed students about their marketing strategy in India. Daikin, a Japanese brand headquartered in Osaka is the global leader in air conditioner market. He initially informed about how acquisition of Italian brand McQuay have helped Daikin strengthen their presence in Chillers market.

Limiting his marketing discussion to Asia Oceana market, he cited the example of Singapore where in spite of stiff competition; Daikin has been able to capture a high market share of 40% due to its high quality promise. He informed that to increase their lead at the top they are concentrating on three major markets – China, Brazil and India where air conditioning industry as well as economy is in growth phase.

Coming onto Indian discussion, he talked about the 40 acre state of art plant at Neemrana Rajasthan, the only Daikin plant in India. He informed that Daikin is one of the very few brands which develop all kinds of air conditioning systems including Chiller systems for grand buildings. He cited the example of prominent Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai where it has been implemented. In India, he cited examples of EON free zone in Pune, Mumbai high court and Infosys building where Daikin VRV systems have been implemented. He also informed that EON free zone in Pune is the first water cooled building with LEED Platinum certification. He told that although the share of Daikin in Indian residential air conditioning segment is only 11% but in VRV segment it has strong presence with 60% market share.

Daikin as a brand has been present in India since last 10 years but the marketing operations have gained momentum in last one and half year. Earlier Daikin had a niche segment in high class customers and corporate offices but now they are targeting the growing middle class who demand high value for their money. He informed that in a developing country like India it is very difficult to sustain on high end customers only. They have changed their advertisement campaigns to specifically target middle class families comprising of husband, wife and two children. Along with it they are highlighting the minimum noise levels of their air conditioning systems. The number of dealers has increased from 300 to 800 in last 18 months most of whom now provide 0% finance. As part of promotional campaigns they have the largest billboard of India in Gurgaon on Delhi-Jaipur highway. Apart from this they are using radio cabs and residential colony gates for advertisement boards. They were one of the sponsors of cricket world cup 2011 and they also organized a promotional event in Mumbai in partnership with Economic Times. They also held VRV awareness seminars in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Some other means of marketing for them have been their newsletter and media clips. Mr. Rajesh while answering the questions of students insisted that they are not going to lose focus on the premium segment and they will regularly be coming out with cutting edge technology products.