The Marketing Society of the Faculty of Management Studies,University of Delhi,organised its annual Marketing Conclave on Sunday. In its two sessions the conclave discussed Marketing Tools in Recessionary Times and Advertising is the answer. What is the question In his keynote address Professor of Marketing,H V Verma,questioned the very existence of downturn. He also emphasised on protecting revenue rather than expanding the revenue. Ravi Kiran,CEO (South Asia), Starcom MediaVest Group,while admitting that the economy is currently going through a downturn,said that Indians are known for their resilience and will come through it. Meanwhile,Vivek Sharma,CMO, Philips Electronics India Ltd,said during downturn a companys focus should be on improving the value for money,rather than lowering down the price of the product. And Manasvi Rasgotra,Marketing Manager, Nestle Professional,said recession is the right time to increase market share since companies tend to cut marketing expenditure. Kishore Chakraborti,VP,Consumer Insight, McCann Erickson India,spoke on how brands,liberated from the confines of products,are trying to enter lives of the consumers and become part of it. The Indian Express was the media partner for the event along with the Exchange4Media group. MediaVest Worldwide and Polo Towers were other sponsors.
