Srijan'08 came next in line, after the tremendous success of the college’s Finance and HR summits. The event kicked off in style, with Mr. Sanjeev Jain, (Managing Director, Parasvnath Developers) lighting the ceremonial lamp. He then delivered an insightful speech highlighting the nuances of real estate development, and the role of the future managers in it. First in line was the panel discussion on Innovation in Sales and Distribution.

It was graced by the presence of luminaries from the corporate world, like Mr. Samik Dasgupta (VP, Yes Bank), Mr. Rahul Goel (National Sales Head, Sony Ericsson) and Mr.Apoorv Varma. (Corporate advisor, CEEZAY Trade Mart). Mr. Varma discussed the various challenges faced in the development of novel sales distribution channels. He stressed that execution of ideas is of paramount importance, than their formulation. Mr. Goel then carried forward the talk by urging the budding managers at IMI to focus on business fundamentals, and also advised them to be open to change. Mr. Dasgupta emphasized the importance of customer feedback in any business.

The panel discussion for the second session of day 1, on Innovative Brand Building, was initiated by Mr. Apurv Nagpal, (Marketing Director, Sab Miller-India). Mr. Apurv emphasized the importance of adapting to the markets while innovating, by analyzing how he modified the flavor of Miller beer to be accepted by Mexican tradition. The dais was then taken over by Mr. Sanjeev Katyal, (Marketing Director, McDonalds India). He started off by dissolving some myths about brands, and then went on to define a brand as a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or an organization. Day one ended on a high note with Mr. Princy Bhatnagar, (National Director of Xerox India), sharing his insights on Why Innovation in Brand Building does not happen. The second day at IMI saw the likes of Mr. Vishal Bhatia, (VP marketing- Pepsi), Mr. Ashwini Aggarwal, (Country Category Manager- HP India), Mr. Baljeet Singh,( Head Sales Support - Apollo tyres), and Mr. Sanjeev Nimkar, (Business Head – VMA, Phillips) on stage. They spoke on an all time sensitive marketing issue – Pricing. Mr. Bhatia opined that to get the customer vote in the current market scenario, producers need to come up with value-for-money products. Further ahead, Mr. Singh explained the various non-price factors employed by Apollo tyres to ward off competition. Mr. Nimkar commented that the pricing policy of a firm will depend on the structure of the industry.

The last session of the summit had Mr. Sandip Tarkas (Head-DCM, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd.), Mr. Gaurav Saxena (DM-Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd.), and Mr. Sukhpreet Singh(GM-Marketing, Whirlpool) speak on the topic of “Retail in India: Revolution or Evolution”. Mr. Lakshmi Goyal, Chairman, Zee News, concluded the event by sharing his thoughts with an enthusiastic audience present at IMI. "These type of activities help students learn the insights of issues at hand, making students ready for corporate" said Dr. S.R. Singhvi, senior professor of Marketing. Spread over two days, this massive student driven activity of IMI ended on a high note.

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Established in 1981 with support from IMI, Geneva, International Management Institute (IMI) is India’s first corporate-sponsored management school. The principal mission of IMI is to impart world class education relevant to professional and entrepreneurial development. IMI enjoys a place of esteem among the leading management institutions and has been consistently ranked among the Top-15 business schools in the country. IMI also enjoys the patronage of reputed business organizations in the country.

The strengths and specialties of IMI are further enhanced by its network of national and international affiliates with renowned academic institutions and industrial organizations. IMI has collaborative arrangement for student and/or faculty exchange with 10 institutions in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. IMI offers a wide portfolio of postgraduate and post-experience programs in the areas of business and management. For details please visit www.imi.edu.