Marketing Conference 2015 organized by the University School of Management Studies on the theme ‘Marketing in a Changing and Connected World’ was concluded on 20th March 2015 with the aim of providing a platform for a meaningful and vibrant exchange of ideas, perspectives, research and experiences amongst marketing executives, researchers, academicians and students on the evolving business environment, changing consumer behaviour and marketing imperatives in the contemporary context.

The conference was inaugurated by the introductory presentation by Prof. Sanjiv Mittal who emphasised on the idea that “nothing is static, everything is changing”. Guest of Honour Mr. Praveen Sinha shared his experiences as a founder of Jabong.com from the first difficulty, to get a right team, to the first learning, how to sell a dream and the challenges thereafter. “In this era, brands can be built as fast as they can be destroyed depending upon your approach towards reaching your customers” said Mr. Sinha. He also advised future entrepreneurs not to rush, as it is not about glamour, instead think and create your own backups for every decision to be made.

Chief Guest Mr. S.K. Sayal, MD & CEO Bharti reality, underlined the famous quote “To improve is to change; To be perfect is to change often.”- Winston Churchill. He emphasised the idea of a new world in which the first decade of the 21st century has been packed with dramatic shifts in the economy, technology, demographics, and the environment. With just a click of a button, consumers can gain meaningful insights about companies and their products. They can compare products, find lower prices, read reviews and even communicate with other users about product quality and buyer satisfaction. “It has become essential to create opportunities for customers and prospects to join your community, Build loyal communities through high value content, shared ideas, experience and advices” advocated Mr. Sayal.

Mr. Kishore Chakraborty said that in contemporary times, there was nothing in product instead everything was in technology as it was not only man to man communication but also machine to machine communication taking much of space. Today’s consumers are time starved and also the definition of consumers has also seen pragmatic shift from “one who consumes” to “target audience”. Today’s consumers are always in multirole mode, i.e. as an activist, communicationist, journalist, etc. and this is the most dangerous thing about them. Era of metamorphosis of mass communication and birth of storytelling has started. Marketers are sacrificing all powers and surrendering to today’s consumers, for example the Pepsi IPL advertisement where the consumers are called to create their own advertisement.