Published on October 11th, 2009 | by Saurabh Pandey

Seminar on Role of Social Neworks in Marketing @ New Delhi Instiute of Management

When I received an email from Prof. Anita Saxena of New Delhi Institute of Management, inviting me as a speaker in their annual marketing seminar, I was pleasantly surprised. I was surprised because it was great to hear that an academic institution understands and appreciates the value of Social Media in the field of marketing.

My personal belief is very clear- any MBA student who doesnt’ have an orientation of Digital and Social Media Marketing is already obsolete.

This holds true also for existing managers who do not have a basic orientation and understanding of digital and social media and are still unwilling to unlearn and relearn.

So, I was happy to be the trigger, that can motivate young students to appreciate and adopt this field of study, and gladly accepted the invitation.

My next job was to create a presentation which was not academic in nature but very interesting, thought provoking and which could define and explain marketing through social networks with the help of various examples.

Ibibo is a living institution and example of marketing through social networks- and I am fortunate to be a part of this laboratory of social media in India, hence apart from a few international examples I was tempted to include the Dove endeavour on ibibo as one of the hallmark examples.

Finally on the d-day, 10th of october- I visited the venue @ Jamia Hamdarad Convention centre, and interacted with speakers like Yogesh Bansal, CEO of ApnaCircle, Tanvi Jain, Group Head Isobar, the faculty and students of NDIM. (Other speakers included- Naveen Luthra-CMO, Diginatives; Vivek Khare- Sr. VP, Infoedge; Sundarmoy Sen- Principal Consultant, Mc Kinsey Knowledge Centre)

My session was just before the lunch, and I feared low turnout , but that was not to be. The session outstretched it’s 30 minutes schedule-I was also amazed to see a very involved and engaged audience, which was very motivated and responded frequently to my cues and questions. Throughout the talk the convention centre was full to it’s capacity (I think about 250 people), and the experience was really fulfilling and enriching.

I was happy to see these young MBAs, faculty members as well as the Dean and Directors so positive about Social Media and it’s scope in marketing in India. I am hopeful that with similar support and motivation of the faculty we would see a new breed of young managers and MBA who can drive the social media to new frontiers.

You can download a copy of the presentation after filling the form below. In the meanwhile if you have any questions do reach me at saurabh@atomthought.com

Tags: NDIM, role of social networking sites in marketing, Social Media