Day 331 - 15th November 2011

Had a pretty relaxed day today with only 2 classes to attended. So decided to make the most of the free time by getting the bike repaired, that was on the to do list for way too long. Went to Bopal for a haircut as well. The CIM lecture was supposed to take place at 12 which got pushed back to 2 in the afternoon. The session was about ethnographic research, it also dealt with the ethical issues that arise from ethnographic research. Had a class on B2B marketing after that which dealt with market entry strategies. Not too great a class, mos of what was discussed seemed pretty obvious. 

The mess food was quite sad tonight as well, but have been having too many meals at Chota so had to settle for dal chawal. Since the bike is in working condition now, went to Bopal for an ice cream post dinner. Came back by 1030 following which there was some MCSA work that had to be done. Will see a couple of episodes of Futurama before calling it a night!

Day 330 - 14th November 2011

Third straight day of 930 class in the morning. Had two sessions of ROMI which covered the brand equity and customer equity school of thought. ROMI is a hotly contested topic in the industry nowadays especially when it comes to justifying marketing spends. Sometimes it is even referred to as an investment but the justification for the same is done through various models with each one giving a radically different outcome. Nonetheless, at least there is some theory in place. After the session on ROMI we were supposed to have a session on CCRM which got cancelled which meant we were free for the rest of the day. Made the most of this free time by taking an hour long siesta. Played cricket in the evening for about an hour and a half. MCSA work kept me busy pre and post dinner. Dinner in the mess was quite sad which saw a huge exodus of people to Chota for dinner! Have been watching Futurama for the past hour or so, have a late start tomorrow. Looking forward to sleeping in!

Day 329 - 13th November 2011

Had the second session on BA today. The session was more about how the human brain functions and also how context plays an important role for the brain to process information. Another interesting fact was that the brain reconstructs and doesn't retrieve information from memory. The sessions on BA were followed by Corporate Communications and Reputation Management (CCRM). There was a visiting faculty who was conducting this course. He was with Cadburys during the worm infested chocolate controversy. He gave a brief  theoretical setting before going into discussing how Cadburys tackled the issue. An important learning was how they tackled the issue internally as well, by sharing all information with employees and keeping their morale high.  That was followed by a session on media training called media training 101. It dealt what needs to prepare for if he/she is the spokesperson for his/her company. The session also had a few mock interviews which were quite interesting and some good learnings came out of it. Classes got done by 530, didnt have much to do after that. Have been watching futurama over the past couple of days. Munched on some midnight snacks from MICARE, continued watching futurama before calling it a day.

Day 328 - 12th November 2011

Had our first session on behaviour architecture (BA) today. The course is introduces the concept of neural marketing and how consumer behaviour can be influenced by marketers. Today's session was more about how the human brain functions. How much of our conscious and unconscious mind is used in making decisions was illustrated through a Sachin Tendulkar interview in which he explains even he doesnt know how he reacts and plays an incoming leather ball at 150 kmph. A good session overall.

Post lunch Kore, Kalkar, Apar and I went to the old city to meet a vendor for sweatshirts. The nights are becoming cooler now and sweatshirts will be required soon. Got back to campus by 5. Played a little cricket in the evening. Post dinner have been reading articles on the net about the prevailing airline crisis. Have also started watching Futurama. Will watch a couple of episodes before calling it a day. 

Day 327 - 11th November 2011

Another day with not too many classes. Had 2 classes of B2B marketing followed by a session of BFSI. The BFSI sessions covered non banking finance companies and their business models. Got done by 430 after which we played cricket. With winters setting in it gets dark quite early nowadays and the last2 over of the match were played in near darkness. Post the match, an impromptu plan was made to watch Tintin in 3D. Haven't read any of the comics but the movie was quite nice, never a dull moment and amazing graphics. This was followed by dinner at McDonalds in Himalaya Mall. Got back to campus by midnight. Have been doing general tp and listening to some music. Have a 930 start tomorrow, will call it a night early.

Day 326 - 10th November 2011

Classes started at 2 in the afternoon today so could take the liberty of waking up late. Had to complete the pre read for the BFSI class though, which took a couple of hours. The prof. teaches the subject really well, if only he were there to teach FA, balance sheets wouldn't be a source of many a nightmare! Today's sessions were on the banking system in India. The history of the system was discussed alongwith buzz words prevalent in the industry. Got done by 430 in the evening so decided to play tennis after ages. Realised today that ever since Ive come back, I haven't out even once because of which dinner was at Mirch Masala. A welcome change. Got back and did general tp before calling it a night. Such kind of days are very few, need to make the most of it :P

Day 325 - 9th November 2011

Had the second session of the semiotics workshop today. The faculty member discussed the rebranding exercises for Tanishq and Titan which he had worked on. The differences in rebranding for a jewelry brand and a watch brand were discussed. All in all a pretty interesting class. Had our first session on BFSI, we had an intro to the basics of a financial system. Was relatively free after the class was done. MCSA work took over in the evening. Post dinner had to get down to assignment submissions. Had a EM submission, the assignment was to come up with a storyline around a product/brand, wrote a story around blackberry messenger. The brief was not to make an advertisement for the product but to make the story revolve around it. Have a pre read for BFSI tomorrow, the class begins at 2 so will wake up in the morning and complete it. 

Day 324 - 8th November 2011

Didnt have the best of days on the field today during our MCL game. Managed to score only 6 runs with the bat and after bowling 2 good overs, 22 runs were conceded of my 3rd over which turned the run chase in the opposition's favour. We ended up losing the game by 7 wickets with a couple of overs to spare. Not all is lost though, we still have one more group game which is do or die for us, the good thing is there is no dependency on the net run rate. The morning classes were sessions on Semiotics taken by a visiting faculty. He led most of the discussions through case studies that he has worked on. Film studies in the post lunch session started with the screening of a Japanese movie, Departures. Liked the movie a lot, especially the way it dealt with death. The soundtrack of the movie also was very good. The classroom session was a case study on Iranian cinema and the changes it has gone through since the 1979 revolution and how women have used cinema as an effective medium of communication.  Post dinner had to do the pre reads for a course thats starting tomorrow - Business of Communication in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sector (BFSI). This would ideally be the last finance subject to be taught at MICA. 

Day 323 - 7th November 2011

Had our first lecture on Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI) today. The course outline seems pretty interesting and I could find a lot of terms that are used in the business dailies. This was followed by B2B marketing which was case presentations made by different groups. These cases were shared with the class a couple of weeks in advance and people had to present their analysis of the case to the prof and the class. The session on Film Studies started with a movie screening The Shop on Main Street, which served as an example of East European cinema. Couldnt attend the classroom session that followed since there was some MCSA work that kept us occupied. Post dinner a french movie was screened He loves me he loves me not. The movie had a very interesting story and the Prof. had said while laying the context that it was a very difficult movie to make. Had a batch meet after the movie which got done by 1 in the night. Have a MCL match tomorrow, need to wake up at 630 for that!

Days 317 - 322 - 1st to 6th November 2011

Back to campus after a two week stint for FIF1. Had the opportunity to go to Silverstone and the Indian GP as well. Feels a little strange to get back to classes as a full time student now. Had the 10th edition of MICANVAS from 3rd to 5th. Managed to get the FIF1 show car for the event. There were two concerts - Avial on 4th and Salim Sulaiman on 5th. Most of the time was spent either at the food court or guarding the car! Had a rest day on 6th which was spent in sending the car back to Bombay and taking stock of the subjects coming up over the next couple of weeks.