Bits & bytes
Brainstorming with brand managers

Be a brand manager for a day’, that was the call of Ikshaa, ISB Marketing Club’s flagship event, held recently in Hyderabad.

Ikshaa, which literally translates into ‘looking ahead’ in Sanskrit, was indeed a forward-looking conclave. It brought together some of the brilliant minds of corporate India, addressing pertinent issues, facing global marketers in the Indian market.

In synch with the favourite topic of India’s presence in global economy, the theme of the event was "Think Global, Act Local." The event proved to be a ready platform for students at the ISB to interact, brainstorm and pick up trade tricks from leading corporate brand managers across India.

The one-day programme was a mix of presentations by students and panel discussions, which focused on how companies manage their global vision, while at the same time customizing their product and services to retain the Indian flavour.

Further, in a unique workshop, pre-selected ISB students worked in teams of six, along with a brand manager. Each team worked on a case presented to them on broad themes of retail and telecom and an alumnus mentored them. The teams analysed the given issue and presented several interesting recommendations before the panelists, comprising Vijay Ramachandran, Head, Marketing, Citigroup, Elango T, CEO, A.P Circle, Airtel, and D Shivakumar, MD, Mobile Phones, Nokia India, and Nirmal Dayani, Director Marketing, ESPN/Star Sports. From suggestions about a zero-cost handset, to developing a retail work force, to a hub and spoke model for the Indian retailers, the students displayed innovative ideas, all backed with scalability, and taking into account all local concerns.

Guest speaker for the event, Dipak C. Jain, Dean, Kellogg School of Management, delivered the concluding address. "A better phrase for ‘think global, act local’ could be ‘Global presence, local relevance’," he suggested.

He said that world today is becoming bipolar and that we need to go beyond ‘global’ and ‘local’ and think not in terms of geographical areas, but changing demographics. — TNS

NIIT, Asia’s leading IT trainer has announced the country’s largest IT aptitude test, NITAT to identify students with the potential and aptitude for a career in the booming IT industry.

The 3rd National IT Aptitude Test will be simultaneously conducted by NIIT, in
over 130 cities in the country, on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Students can register for NITAT, online on www.niiteducation.com/NITAT or at their nearest NIIT centres.
Considering that the IT industry needs 8,50,000 skilled professionals jobs by 2009 (as per NASSCOM), a huge talent shortage is expected in the years to come. NITAT is aimed at enabling graduates and students pursuing their studies in engineering, arts, commerce and science streams to gauge their aptitude for a career in the IT sector and take up a large number of unfilled jobs, according to a Press release.

Announcing the launch of NITAT, nationally, G. Raghvan, President of NIIT’s Individual Learning Business, said, ‘’NITAT is the doorway for all those who aspire to be part of the booming IT sector. It is a test to identify the best talent and facilitate the IT industry in satiating its constantly increasing demand for IT professionals. " — TNS