The True Mar Gods!

Paradox: an apparently true statement that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition.

Selling a predefined product/ service is a thing of the past. Marketers have been doing that; and they will continue doing so. But what do you do when you have to sell a paradox? How will you use a brand ambassador that is the complete opposite of what the product stands for? That was what the first stage of Concept2Creative, the event by the Marketing Association of XLRI (MAXI) at Ensemble 2008, asked the participants to do. Based on the creativity, marketing acumen and presentation of ideas, 6 teams were shortlisted. 1 more team was selected as a wild card entry through an online quiz at KitneBaje.com , one of the sponsors of the event. These teams then came to XLRI and fought it out for the grand prize and the title of The Mar Gods.

The final battle had two stages, which saw teams really put their creativity and marketing knowledge to test.

A manager has various tasks assigned to him in sales. A business development team designs the POP materials which attract the customers and result in impulse sales. This is a crucial component of sales. An efficient Business Development manager must know how to design an effective POP.

Teams were supplied with a brand name and product description. They were required to design POP material of any format telling possible customers about the product features and its benefits. These were put up in a MAXI stall on campus which was frequented by students who voted on their choice of Point-Of-Purchase materials.

Any role in business requires partnership with important stakeholders. Different fields of business call for different approaches for the same. A stockist is a key partner in distribution and among the main criteria for partnering are: Return on investment and 'bonding' between the organizations.
Each team had to pitch a product give to them to a major stockist through creative efforts, including skits, presentation and acts, all the while trying to convince the stockist why he should keep their product. Our major sponsor BIG FM was evaluating this round, with the Jharkhand station head as the prime judge.

With a prize money of Rs. 40,000/- and a participation of teams across India, C2C provided a fun-filled time among the serious PPTs going on in other events, all the while challenging the participants to forge ahead and become the true Mar-Gods! Team Want2Win from IIM Lucknow emerged the winner, with Team Swash from XLRI as the runners-up.

(- Sheeladitya Mohanty, Team MAXI)

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