The Hindu Business Line : Focus on how to scale the `value spiral'

INCREASING competition puts pressure on every marketer to find newer ways to distinguish one's product or service from the rest, in order to attract and retain consumers.

In this search, people turn to formulae and trusted solutions or copy the competition and try to offer something similar, cheaper or a little bit better and different. Both benchmarking and incremental differentiation are of limited value in a turbulent, fast changing world.

Creativity and innovation within the organisation have to be tapped. Simply doing something differently is not an answer. So how does one find a way out? How to have an insight that could make a difference?

Mr S. Ramachander, an advisor to senior management and CEOs in strategic marketing, creativity and organisational change, will offer some insights to 120 students of the School of Management, Pondicherry University, on Friday when he will talk to them under the aegis of the BL Club. The theme of his talk is on the `Value Spiral', insights in strategic marketing. Also, on Friday, Mr S. Suresh Kumar, Director, Mindspark Consulting, will speak to 120 students of the Department of Management Studies, St Joseph's College of Engineering, Sholinganallur, on `Integrated Marketing Communications'.

The emphasis of the talk will be on how advertising goes beyond mass media and instead looks at how a brand interacts with the customer through various modes — directly or indirectly.

His talk will focus on how brand communications or advertising must orchestrate all brand touchpoints and cannot confine itself to think only in terms of TV commercials or print. Neither is good advertising only about clever lines and attractive images. Its basic task continues to be the same - addressing a marketing problem.