D Shivakumar, Senior Vice President Sales, IMEA for Nokia, inaugurated the Marketing Club at the Mohali campus on June 4. His talk on the ‘Changing Rules of Marketing’ marked the beginning of the speaker series of the club.

Continuing his long relationship with ISB, Shivakumar’s talk covered the evolution of marketing in India while sharing insights into the future of marketing, interspersed with his own experiences and anecdotes. He began by stating his belief that Marketing is the heart of a great business, and that the main forces underlying marketing are the economy, infrastructure and consumer trends. “The Indian economy has experienced four major phases in the last 70 years - pre-independence, the ‘Hindu’ rate of growth, liberalization to the current economy,” said Shivakumar. He added, “As the economy has evolved, so have the country’s infrastructure and consumers. Industries like telecom, food, cinema, automobile and media have opened doors leading to a sea change in the attitudes of the Indian consumers towards brands. Currently, India is physically poor but digitally rich, and this is influencing markets in a significant way.”

Shivakumar brought into focus the contrast between the marketing strategies of the previous decade, and what he believes should be a company's primary strategies in the coming decade. In the last ten years, companies have focused on penetration – providing customers with what they need.

If the last decade was all about ‘Buyer Beware’ then Shivakumar’s strong belief is that the next decade will carry a theme of ‘Seller Be Prepared’. With an increasingly sophisticated consumer, brands will need to focus on increasing consumption by meeting customers’ desires, providing them with superior experience, design, convenience and retail impact.

Shivakumar closed his lecture by advising the aspiring marketers amongst the students to develop a strong sense of collaboration.  He formally inaugurated the Marketing Club by reading out the Charter and lighting a diya.