Nokia offers marketing lessons at IIM-C

The workshop, titled Beyond Voice, provided an opportunity to the students learn about marketing realities and interact with the industry leaders.
The key speakers at the workshop were Mr Raghuvesh Swarup, Head of Product Marketing at Nokia and Mr Manish Sabnis, National Operator Accounts Manager at Nokia. Mr Raghuvesh Swarup is a post-graduate from XLRI Jamshedpur from 1993 batch while Mr Manish Sabnis is a JBIMS alumnus from 1993 batch.

The workshop gave industry insights into the problems faced by a Fast Moving Consumer Durable (FMCD) company and the amount of effort and out of the box thinking it takes to create a brand like Nokia and the importance of advertising and brand building process. Workshop highlighted the finer nuances involved in the area of organized retail, the various challenges faced and the innovative strategies resorted to capitalize on the opportunities posed by growing organized retail market.

Marketing is a function where consumer insights play a great role and such insights are acquired only from experience. This workshop was thus an opportunity for students to go beyond classrooms and get a feel of the real world challenges, said Anupam Chaudhury, the President of Marketing Cell - IIMC.

The workshop also saw participation from other management colleges from Calcutta such as Army Institute of Management, IIFT Kolkata and IISWBM. The enthusiasm level among the students was high as they utilized this opportunities to have their queries answered by industry bigwigs.

The workshop ended with a case presentation competition where the five teams from IIM Calcutta, who were shortlisted initially on the basis of their analysis of a marketing case, presented their strategies before the Nokia panel and the audience. The best two teams walked away with the latest Nokia7500!