JBI[/b]MS hosts Mr. Nitin Seth, Head of Car Products Group, Tata Motors Ltd for [/b]a session on “Marketing and Branding”[/b]
Continuing its endeavour to have the best possible people from corporate India on campus, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies recently hosted Mr. Nitin Seth, head of Car Product Group, Passenger Car Business Unit at Tata Motors Limited.
The topic of the discussion was “Marketing & Branding”. The lecture was organised to help students understand the salient features of branding and the Unique Selling Points of a brand that helps it differentiate from others, and the strategies that can help in building and retaining the brand value of a product. Mr. Seth started by talking about the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ in which, with the help of various examples, he discussed how businesses could capture and create undisputed territories in a market to achieve profits. He explained how most of the businesses have an extremely myopic view, and only those companies that are able to think differently tend to succeed. He gave an example of ‘Starbucks’, the coffee house, which captured a significant amount of market share by delivering not just a product, but an exclusive and luxurious service.
At the other end of the spectrum, he spoke about the cost leadership strategy using the Walmart example. He spoke about how Walmart had positioned itself as a store where one can get products at the best price throughout the year. Walmart does this successfully by purchasing goods in bulk and achieving economies of scale. To support this, it has also developed one of the best supply chain distribution networks in the world. One of the other distinguishing strategies that Walmart uses is the location of its stores. They strategically select locations far away from the city in order to induce customers to buy in bulk, since they would want to buy everything in one go and avoid visiting the store again.
Continuing on the same line, he spoke on the importance of innovation, and the fact that Indian companies do not encourage innovation to the extent that American companies do. Mr. Seth explained how innovation in the mobile industry led to the rise of the iPhone and a complete shift in the market dynamics.
Further, he spoke on the importance of brand image, and the fact that customers buy brands, not products. Harley Davidson represents a cult which reflects luxury and elitism. Selling it at a cheaper rate kills the core values for which the brand stands.
The session was a highly interactive one and at the same time, of immense learning value to the budding managers who were present in large numbers. Mr. Seth then closed the extremely insightful and lively hour long session by urging students to think differently and not be scared of taking risks, as they pay-off highly in the long run. Needless to say, these valuable words of wisdom coming from an illustrious corporate leader met with a resounding ovation.