 |
MANDI: Learning Marketing Ideas the NITIE way Understanding of the pulse of the Indian consumer is often underrated but plays a very important role in the decisions and strategies of the business leaders. Management students need to meet and observe customers and understand them more closely as a part of learning marketing management, consumer behavior or personal selling. This has been met with some success in NITIE where a unique learning method has been implemented by Prof. T. Prasad for the first year management students. Mandi is a teaching method where 'Learning becomes Self Discovered'. Thus, the concept of "MANDI" came into being, "A Field Sales Campaign for Teaching Personal Selling Skills through Experimental Approach". The first year students of NITIE's Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management (PGDIM) course undertook this unique sales exercise and were seen dressed in one of its kind Mandi t-shirts selling toys in different parts of Mumbai on Sunday, the 24th of July. The students were given an inspiring speech by the CEO of Bayer India, Mr. Rajesh Agarwal, who also flagged off the event. The students were given the freedom of choosing their respective groups. As part of the exercise, they were supplied with educational aids used for teaching math and science. A total of Rs. 1, 00,000 worth merchandise was distributed for the exercise by a NGO named Navnirmiti. The products that were chosen for the exercise were: Jodo 3-D Wonder Kit, Tangram, Pyramid and Rangometry. These products were designed with a purpose of inducing a sense of creativity and innovativeness within a child. A group of two students were given goods worth Rs. 2,000 and they had to sell at least 30% of the stock. However, almost every group sold out. Together the students managed to make sales worth Rs. 74, 000. The highest collection by a single group this year was Rs. 8,000. Harsha Venkatesh, a student states, "Mandi provided us the opportunity to understand the mentality of the people. All the people were interested in the puzzles and games we were selling. We were surprised to see college students and young professionals also buying the toys along with small children. It only showed us that every individual has a child in him. Our entire stock of Rs. 2,000 was over in 2 hours at Phoenix Mills at Lower Parel." Contributed by - |
 |
|
|