Horizons 2008 at IIM-K Saw Record Number of 25 Speakers Across 3 Industries Come Together

Horizons 2008 at IIM-K Saw Record Number of 25 Speakers Across 3 Industries Come Together

Mr. Deepak Chaurasiya quoted the story of Draupadi's Swayamvara in Mahabharata while comparing the present-day consumers' minds to the rotating fish that Arjun aims at, to win the bride. Deepak maintained that it has become very difficult to

understand the changing face of Indian consumers primarily because of the pace at which it is happening. He also stressed on the fact that although the average Indian consumer has become global, there is still a large section of population (the bottom of pyramid) which has not yet been addressed by many media companies.

"If my left leg is on fire and the other is on ice, then on an average, I am normal," quipped Dinesh Jain in jest while emphasising that analytical skills alone do not go into making a good media professional. With more than 300 channels, the industry has become cluttered, and hence, it is the people who have become the most important assets to any firm. Citing talent sourcing and retention as major issues impeding the fast growth of industry, he added that the right media professional is the one who is a fast learner, can adapt to change quickly, a risk-taker and uses both his left and right brain in good measure.

The last session of the day had Mr. Ashoka Holla, Giraffe Entertainment, who gave an interesting peek into the world of cinema. Ashok took the audience through the entire business side of the film industry talking about the entire movie-making process right from pre-production to the release of the movie. He said that film business is in critical need of a professional approach, which can be used to solve several problems which plague the industry.

The second day of the event concentrated on the Retail and the Real Estate sector with talks from a host of speakers from the industry giving insights regarding the sectors and their development.

Mr. T. V. Thyagharajon, VP, Reliance Retail, spoke on 'Understanding the Concept of Private Labels'. India, being in the primitive stage of development in retail, Mr. Thyagharajon explained on how organized retail will change the industry in coming years. Identifying how the role of brand changes as markets evolve, he noted that from being unbranded the consumers view brand as a personality and then view brands as icons. He viewed that local and foreign tie-ups and rural opportunities as the next big trends for retail development in the country.

There were two panel discussions that were held in the later part of the day. The first panel discussion had Prof. Anirban Sengupta, Mr. Susil Dungarwal, Colonel Upendra Sachdev and Mr. T. V. Thyagharajon discussing the topic 'How Healthy are Different Retail Formats?' The panelists aired their view on the current scenario of the 'mall concept' and scope for improvements.

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Contributed by -
Harshad Karandikar,
Media Cell,
IIM Kozhikode.

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