Jacob Joseph Kandathil - Class of 2009

On Marketing Myths and Mysteries

Honestly, I have been in the field of marketing for the past 6-8 months so probably not the best person to comment, but in this short time I feel so far Marketing is nothing but common sense. As a matter of fact a lot of things we do in our everyday life is marketing and sales, be it you inviting me to talk about myself or you representing the ISB. How we represent ourselves to the outside world is purely marketing. And to understand, one needs to be really guided by his/her common sense.

On Work and its Challenges

Managing Ray Ban means looking after the marketing for Ray Ban in India. From PR to advertising to focussed strategy for the brand, in one word being the Brand Manager for Ray Ban. This job by nature is demanding and challenging. The reason being, even though Ray Ban has good brand awareness, in marketing matrix terms, what does this brand translate to? Another challenge is working with the sales people as we work with long term objectives in mind and the sales team always need actions which translate to immediate results, though we need to balance the two finding the middle path is not always easy in practice.

The ISB Experience

Prior to the ISB, I was part of the Sales team at a Fortune 50 company. Sales being only a part of marketing I wanted to further increase my outlook and hone what I had already learnt. I wanted to get into the depth of marketing understanding finance etc. Therefore, I joined the ISB only to realise I had made a good decision. At the ISB it is not about the academics alone, but also the people you interact with. The most amazing aspect of the ISB is the presence of this huge diaspora of people from all over India and the world. That has given me a broad perspective as each and everyone has a different angle to the same issue, in short giving me a holistic approach. A simple example would be my study group, each one of us came from different backgrounds, one was an entrepreneur another chartered accountant etc. The meetings, projects, classes and even fun times were really enriching.

The second factor was the curriculum structure. A mix of theory, case studies and practical experience, just what any business student would ask for. This has actually fine tuned my thinking into a structured process. Not restricting me completely to a structured and blocked mode, but rather helped me think clearly and tackle problems rationally.

The theories and practical sessions helped me think in new ways and ideas. To analyse whether these ideas would work and what its effects would be. Decisions are made by the second, hour, days or even years but the ability and knowledge to boil down to a wise and sound marketing decision is an asset that I have acquired from the ISB.

Recession and Marketing

• I was on an international assignment from May (soon after graduating), which happened to be during the recession period, and this was a great learning for me. What I did notice was that, as expected the luxury and the fashion industry have been affected as well. But, at the end of the day, it is marketing basics that work. For a luxury firm being able to tackle the recession without affecting the brands it has built over the years is not easy. Like I mentioned before, marketing at the end of the day is common sense. Putting your feet on the ground, knowing there is an issue, accepting it and moving forward is more important than closing your eyes and saying “my brand” will not be affected. The other aspect is to keep an open eye and ear on stakeholders, the sales team etc. They are the true channels of information. As far as India is concerned, we have grown in the last year. Minus the feel bad factor, we have not really been severely affected.

  
  Balancing the Personal and the Professional
  
  I like to socialise and connect with people both at the professional and personal level. My approach towards life is to be active and enjoy whatever I do.