Confluence '11 - Part 1

The Idea series-Confluence 11’, the much awaited business colloquium of Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi was conducted on 12^th of March. The event saw two sessions, a morning session having various industry leaders sharing their thoughts on the theme ““Rebranding: Mere Wardrobe Change or Absolute Personality Change””, and an afternoon session dwelling on “Mergers & Acquisition: Yielding Synergy or Exhausting Energy”.

Dr. Mahim Sagar, Assistant professor of marketing at DMS, in his opening note as session chair for morning symposium posited the three main challenges in the field of marketing viz. Inclusiveness, Sustainability & Innovation. “An organization should not only be able to sustain development through inclusiveness but also focus on constant innovation” said Dr. Sagar. He further added that rebranding should cover all the aspect of an organization’s business model.

The first speaker for the day Mr. Prasun Banerjee, Director Consumer Electronics at Haier Appliances, in an interactive approach filled with ample examples emphasized the need of maintaining the crux of the products and its original genetics during rebranding exercises rather than just cut-paste new ideas and practices.

Mr. Debashis Paul, Chief Growth Officer for India in the McCann global network was the next to speak. Mr Paul said that rebranding is the change of internal body with external phases like processes, leadership change, new business acquisition and merger, managed and directed by conscious and planned decisions. He concluded with the note that rebranding is not only mere personality change but it’s about a holistic change that marks a change in attitude as well.

Up next was Mr. Lakshmikant Gupta, CMO - LG electronics India. Mr. Gupta started off from the very basics of branding. “Organizations should be aware about what stage of product lifecycle are they, before going for rebranding” added Mr. Gupta. He emphasized on the fact that companies should identify all ‘touchpoints’ of consumer–organization interaction and take them into consideration while going for rebranding. Mr. Gupta finished off by pointing that rebranding is not just about changing the physical identity but managing and updating the customer’s experience as well.

The last speaker of the session was Mr. Krishnan Chatterjee, V.P. and Head of Global Marketing at HCL Technologies. Mr Chatterjee talked about the four basic layers in which rebranding can be done- Brand Identity, Brand positioning, Brand proposition and lastly Brand campaigning. He concluded the topic by stressing on the need to change the brand because the world is changing and Brand is becoming the business model.