Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Cogito ergo sum


Let there be light

Filed under: MBA

That day...

I wake up at 9 AM. I am already late. Try to set a new record in getting ready. Trying to beat the record I set yesterday.

I am ready. It is 9.30 AM. The professor would be getting ready to enter the class now, as I leave my home and run towards my bike. 

I try to find the shortest and straightest route possible. Quite difficult considering the route I take everyday really is the shortest and the straightest.

I keep looking at the time on my bike's display, by now knowing which part of my journey cost me a minute and which part saved me one. I reach the campus and park my bike; wishing the parking was right outside my class!

I take an entire 2 minutes to decide if it is appropriate to enter or not. A couple more come along who believe it is their right to enter regardless. So I try to blend in and slyly make my way to the nearest vacant seat. The class ends.

I go near the canteen and try to spot as many people I know as possible. I know this is going to end soon. I go up to the third floor and enter my workplace. I go back down and attend more classes.

Once classes end, I go to work. Try to do what is possible, with my friends, right there in that room. We fight, yell, scream, laugh and play catch.

The sun changes color and the sky disappears soon after. I am still there. We are still there. I go back down, meet more people. Try to find out who is going where for dinner. Make a decision based on what combination of people and food suit me the most that day and tag along. It has normally got more to do with people.

With tummy half-full, I come back with them to the hostel. Stay till we hear the guard whistle. Say our byes and start walking in opposite directions.

As I make that lonesome walk, to where my bike is parked, all I think of is that I will soon not be lucky enough to say goodbye to friends everyday. Hop on my bike and take a relatively leisurely ride home. 

Reach home and fill up my tummy. Switch on my laptop and see all my friends yet again. All of them present, as mere names on my screen. All I think of is that I will soon not be lucky enough to see this screen full of friends again.

It is now 3.30 AM. I blink off to sleep, knowing very well that I have to set new records once I wake up. 

That day........was everyday.

Careers in Marketing

Following is a general and broad list of careers one can have in the field of Marketing. (Courtesy Prof. Ramki who is an MMS marketing faculty in SIMSR and BMS marketing faculty in colleges like Jai Hind, HR, etc.)

For obvious reasons, I would refrain from putting anything in detail and just put the list here. For more details, you can try and contact him as he provides guidance in this field.

So here goes:

  1. Sales
  2. Distribution
  3. MR
  4. Advertising
  5. Brand Management
  6. Retail
  7. Logistics & Supply Chain
  8. CRM
  9. FMCG
  10. Consumer Durables
  11. B2B
  12. Banking & Insurance
  13. Airlines
  14. Hotel
  15. Travel & Tourism
  16. Telecom
  17. PR
  18. Event Management
  19. Media Management
  20. Data Analytics
  21. Marketing Consultancy
  22. Entertainment
  23. Marketing Finance

There is a lot more to it than this list of course. Details like the type of jobs and skills required.

So, hope this helps you in some way.

What does a 'team player' mean?

I have seen this word in a lot of resumes. And being in the Placement Committee, I have seen more than my share of resumes.

Every person mentions this quality as his strength. Strength is supposed to be something unique that others might not possess, otherwise it is not something worth talking about. However, how many of the people who include it actually have it? And what do they think it means?

No doubt that this is a typical management jargon. However, it has been often used in fields as varied as sports and some other varied field I cannot think of right now. Moving on, the thing about jargon is, it is often open to interpretations. And with a jargon which has two words, you can never be sure. For example, anyone who plays in a team can be called a team player. Try and argue with that! But it is not that simple now is it.

According to me, a team player is someone who thinks about the team that he plays for when he is playing in that team. For example, I am in my class football team, volleyball team, some project team, the placement team and I guess you get the drift. All these teams perform and behave differently and have their own micro-culture and their own unwritten rules. This comes with the fact that the players in each team are different from the others. But, I need to differentiate my efficacy and draw a line between each team. And finally if at some time I am not performing for any of these teams, I should be the individual I actually am so that I can adapt myself to the next team.

While writing this post, I am not in any particular team, and hence I can write without any of my teams affecting the way I am writing it. None of my experiences in any team is influencing me in any way while I type this down. But, all of the experiences will influence me as an individual that I am. Go ahead, join more teams. Become a team player in each of them so that you become a better you.

Affiliate Marketing Vs Ambient Advertising

I am to write a 2500 words White Paper on Affiliate Marketing for a competition. I hope that with the little experience I have of working in the internet industry, it will give me some kind of advantage.

The other topic is Ambient Advertising and even though advertising does attract my attention, I think I can do more justice to Affiliate Marketing. However, if I do choose Ambient Advertising, I guess I will learn a lot more about something I don't really know a whole lot about. But I think it is not that broad a topic in the first place.

Help?

​