Discussion on developing, managing global brands

The Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) hosted an insightful session on “Developing and managing global brands” featuring eminent academician and the Director, IIM, Rohtak, Prof Dheeraj Sharma.

The evening began with address by Amritpal Singh Riat, chair–membership, LMA, who spoke about opportunities and advantages of building global brands, while underlining importance of the session.

In his address, Prof Sharma emphasised on the movement from a strategic to a tactical perspective in brand development and introduced the “Theory of self”, explaining how marketers create a bridge between the actual and ideal self. He highlighted the power of cinema in shaping brands in the Indian context, discussed the importance of defining a brand’s value proposition in terms of “when, where, and how,” and underlined two key opportunities in branding — building or acquiring affordable brands or investing in research and development to offer innovative solutions.

He further said, “India, being a price-sensitive market, values variety and longevity. Hence brand perceptions must be carefully adapted.”

The discussion was followed by an engaging question and answers session, during which the audience actively interacted with Prof Sharma. In his closing remarks, Gaurav Munjal stressed on the significance of brand storytelling, adding that technology today was no longer a support, but the very core of brand building.