Markathon May 2012 Edition

Dear Readers,

With the scorching heat of summer and the daily routine becoming tiresome, the ongoing IPL is one thing that is keeping us occupied, to some extend for sure. Though the craze has faded over the years with shuffling players and unanticipated performances, but the cricket crazy nation that we are living in, nothing can make it less popular, not even its overdose. Marketers are utilizing it to the fullest to reach out to their targeted consumers, be it the cellular phone service providers like Vodafone or the leading soft drink providers like Coca Cola. In lieu of the ongoing craze, we too have highlighted IPL in few of our regular sections, hope you like it.

From the innocent days of galli cricket to the youthful college days spent in canteen, from the night outs in hostel to the coffee breaks at the ever demanding work place, life has never been easy. Something which has helped us keep going are the small entertainment packages that come along, be it in the form of the cartoon corner in newspaper or the recently released animation flick - The Avengers. In this issue, we have tried to cover one of the biggest source of entertainment to kids and youth alike i.e. the Animation industry.

As we try to adapt to the dynamic business requirements in this competitive scenario, captivating the customers holds the key to every challenge. Animation comes handy under such scenario where innovation is the lone driver. Thus animation having moved beyond entertainment is catering to the needs of many industries and businesses and helping them achieve monumental growth. The cover story “How animation drives businesses” explores this aspect of the appealing and engaging Animation industry. Emphasizing its use in the much talked about movies and advertisement space and the hidden applications in the form of content development and online marketing, it takes you back to your Disney days, gives you a ride with ZooZoos and leaves you with after thoughts on its unlimited scope in business application.

Our Vartalaap for this month features Mr. Sachin Gupta, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Johnson Cornell University and Professor of Marketing at the Johnson Graduate School of Management. With an expertise in Data driven marketing, his research focuses on interesting areas like measurement of returns on marketing investments. With special interest in prescription drug, consumer goods and hospitality industries, one among his many awards has been the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly's best paper award for his article on customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry. With valuable inputs on different industries and quantitative marketing techniques, readers would definitely not want to miss this interview.

With busy schedules for those enjoying their work lives and lazy vacations for those relaxing in the luxury of their houses, hope this issue brings about some variation in your daily routine and takes you back to the good old days of Mickey Mouse and Tom and Jerry.

Do give us your feedback about this edition and suggestions for the magazine at markathon.iims@gmail.com.

Sit back and enjoy this edition!

Regards,
Team Markathon

Markathon May 2011

Dear Readers,

The long, hectic cricket mania has concluded after the back to back World Cup and IPL, if only for a short while. The viewer’s attention will now shift to our country’s second obsession: Bollywood. We eagerly await some major releases to hit the silver screen in the weeks to come. Recently, Kay Kay Menon made a very interesting observation about the current crop of ‘commercial’ movies. He said“Marketing has taken over content today and I have serious objection to that. It is the job of marketing people to think of creative ways to publicise a film. Just adding an item number in the film is not marketing “. The marketing expenses of low budget movies are constantly skyrocketing. In some cases they are as much as the movie budget itself. Filmmakers realise the need to grab eyeballs and attempt to maximise their collections for the first weekend, which usually connote the efficacy of the publicity. Big budget movies rely on their star power for marketing gimmicks. But beyond that first week, it is solely the content that makes or breaks the movie’s fortune at the box-office. For now, Marketing is here to stay as an essential ingredient of a movie’s success.

As regards the realm of advertising, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry has, at long last, woken up to take some stringent action against “suggestive advertising”. This action was in response to certain deodorant and talcum powder companies resorting to ‘indecency’ in their advertisements. The Government’s moral policing, for once, seems valid, and hence agreeable. Some of the aforementioned advertisements undeniably cross all limits in demonstrating how ‘effective’ their products are. The ministry has asked the Advertising Standards Council of India to enquire into the matter and submit a report in 5 days. The advertisements are expected to go off air in most probability. Till then, there seems to be a flurry of these advertisements swamping the television channels. It might be a case of companies wanting to make the most of their soon to be curtailed freedom.

Moving onto our cover story, the editorial team at Markathon wanted to bring you an Industry which has been much talked about and is yet at the receiving end of numerous misconceptions. We zeroed in on the Pharmaceutical Industry, which is a lot more than just ‘generic drugs’. Our cover story for the month, The Pharmaceutical Industry in India : Demystified, walks you through the amazing success of the industry and how the major players have contributed to it.

For this month’s Vartalaap, we have Dr. Ajay Manrai , who is a PhD in Marketing from Kellogg School of Management and is also the recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Research Scholar award. Dr. Manrai gives us glimpses into the world of international marketing, competitive marketing in India for the next decade, and much more in a wonderful interview.

As always, we would love to hear your comments about the magazine. Write to us at markathon.iims@gmail.com.

Sit back and enjoy this edition!
Jitesh