IIFT witnessed the culmination of the annual event of corporate interactions: TRADEWINDS. The various clubs active in the campus Blash (Trading), Brandwagon (Marketing), Cash-o-nova (Finance), Systemix (IT and Software), Catalyst (Pharmaceuticals sector) and Velocity (Auto sector) arranged enlightening sessions with distinguished corporate leaders. The students had an opportunity to interact with the most elite dignitaries in various organizations in the open forum presented by the clubs. The event represents an opportunity for the students to gain an insight into the working of the corporate in various sectors of the business world. They imbibe the knowledge from the experience and understanding of the most experienced and successful management gurus in the present scenario. With this understanding and exposure to the business world the students at IIFT possess the most advanced and up-to date erudition which has been appreciated by the visiting corporate and is reflected at the placements in IIFT. It is said that the interactions of TRADEWINDS are really the winds of change and learning, which help the young minds at IIFT to begin their journey into the future. 

Cash-o-Nova: Finance Club

“Super Winners” Indian Financial Services – Coming of Age

With the economy on an uptrend, the financial services sector cannot ask for more today. The industry is marked by new products, strategies and practices; increasing competition and ever-growing awareness and participation. All these have become instrumental in putting this industry successfully on the global map. As a part of the annual symposium at IIFT, the Finance Club Cash-o-Nova conducted its seminar on the above theme on Thursday, 28^th October, 2004. Mr. Prabir Sengupta, Director General of IIFT, declared open TradeWinds’04 with the financial seminar.

 To share their views under the umbrella theme, eminent speakers from different sub-sectors in finance spoke. These were:

§              Mr. Jamal Mecklai (CEO, Mecklai Financial and Commercial Services) Preparing for a stronger Rupee.

§              Mr. Ashok Tyagi (CFO and Business Leader of various divisions, GE Capital International Services) Role of Financial Services in BPO and the increasing inter-linkages therein.

§              Mr. Anil Rao (Head of Consumer Baking Operations, ABN Amro Bank India) Evolution and growth of banking in India, with special focus on one-stop shop banking.

§              Mr. Prashsant Sharma (Assistant Vice-President of Strategy and Planning, Max New York Life Insurance) Innovation and Competition in the Indian Insurance Industry.

 On this occasion Mr. Sengupta also released the white papers prepared by the students of IIFT on the various contemporary issues covered in the symposium. 

Systemix: IT Club

“Is India geared up to produce next Windows” 

Speakers

§              Mr. Sudhir Bahl, Country Manager, Wipro Healthcare (Mentor of Systemix IT Club at IIFT)

§              Mr. Shyam Malhotra, Editor in Chief, Cybermedia Digital

§              Mr. Vivek Agarwal, CEO Liqvid Elearning Private Services Ltd.

§              Mr. Ashish Sehdev, Head, China Operations, QAI India 

During the seminar each speaker gave a presentation on the topic for around 20 mins followed by open house discussion moderated by mentor. 

Mr. Shyam Malhotra

Mr. Malhotra discussed the issue of product development from a totally different perspective raising the question whether the Indian IT industry needs product development. He talked about the number of successful products and about the companies who are developing products. Product development is High Risk and High Gain investment. Here he illustrated how the macro economic factors of India have not favoured product development.

Mr. Malhotra also talked about various issues like long gestation period and software piracy, vertical knowledge and branding.  

Mr. Vivek Agarwal

As an entrepreneur Mr. Agarwal focused on Venture Funding Issues, problems faced in arranging finance while stepping forward for such initiative. He also brought on the topic of how to decide whether an entrepreneur should go for venture funding or not. He emphasized and suggested on the development of small products. Example PC/Mobile games for the upcoming telecom sector. 

Mr. Ashish Sehdev

Mr. Sehdev talked about the importance of quality in software development especially product development. He countered the point that processes kill innovation. Emphasizing the fact that processes give an organisation more time to think and innovate, he drove in the point that quality is a very essential ingredient of product development. Bringing on his experience in various geographies spreading across Australia, Asia-Pacific and China, he enlightened the audience on the growth and direction of the software industries in these economies. 

Brandwagon: Marketing Club

The Marketer’s New Maxim: Consumer was King… now he is GOD

 The new age consumer: How do we match up to his expectations?

The moderator for the day, Mr. Devangshu Dutta initiated the proceedings by emphasising the significance of the consumer in the present scenario. He proceeded to give some intricate insights into the way the consumer mindscape is evolving.

 The first speaker Mr. Shouvik Roy, Partner Alchemist Brand Consulting described the evolution of brands and how they contribute to a company’s success. He then elucidated the concept of “cult brands”, the virtual utopia for any marketer. His illustration of the concept using the Harley Davidson community was most appreciated.

 Mr. R.K.Dutta from Glaxo SmithKline, leveraging on his experience from contributing to the IT infrastructure for the company, spoke about the technical aspect of establishing a good Customer Relationship Management system. He also raised the important issue of always keeping the customer first in any CRM initiative.  

Ms Sangeeta Gupta, Director, ACNielsen ORGMARG, shared some of the consumer insights that her organization has observed in its endeavor to understand the Indian consumer. She highlighted the ten major trends in the Indian consumer mindset that any marketer worth his salt has to align its marketing strategy to in order to be successful.  

Mr. Mohan Krishnan spoke on how the number of parameters the consumer used to base his purchase decisions on, is expanding at a phenomenal rate. This is primarily due to the greater access to information the modern consumer has and the number of competing products available in the market. 

He also talked about the age-old Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is being defragmented as customers do not go from the bottom to the top in the need hierarchy, rather all the needs are becoming more and more enmeshed together. 

While the modern day consumer still remains an ever evolving enigma and a challenge for most marketing managers of tomorrow, the views of the speakers at the Marketing seminars at Tradewinds’04 did go a long was in providing the captivated audience with some valuable insights and once again proved to be a fascinating study into the dynamic field of marketing.