Blur

Trains of thoughts meander their way through my head
I sit staring at the wall, my eyes fixed to a spot
It happens so often that chaos surrounds you
And all you want is to escape to that elusive calmness
Blur it all out and lose yourself to that half read book
Or go for that long walk you have been longing for
But when you have those deadlines to meet and races to run
I know that all I have to do is just sit there and lose myself
To the trains of thoughts that meander their way through my head
And sit staring at the wall with my eyes fixed to a spot.

-Shenoy

Tagline fever - CultCom '13 Marketing diaries (Part 2)

Right then. Continuing from where I left off in the last post, the biggest challenge before us was to get some data into our bags so that we could get a flavor of what the interests of the batch were. So, there we were, floating out a survey and much to our delight the batch poured in with their responses instantaneously. We were confident that there were enough enthusiasts and enough performers for all the mandatory events. Thus, it was time for the next step. Like I said in my previous post, how do we create an identity that was worthy of the talent in the batch, which they would be proud of being associated with, proud of flaunting their association with and an identity that would prompt the batch to come and enjoy our events without any coercion. 

We wanted to create an identity that would stand for fun, elegance, glamour, talent, cool and classy.There were ideas floated like creating a graffiti in the Bistro which is the favorite hangout in the campus. This would serve as the one stop access for all CultCom communication as well. The idea was to turn it into a medium for the creative expression of the batch, the point where all the action takes place. But this was shelved due to resistance from the admin and we thought that probably we would not have that many events in an year to keep the message board going.

The next idea was to come up with a tag line. A tagline that would set us apart from the rest. A tagline which would be consistently present in all our communication and that would stand for the identity called CultCom. A tag line that would clearly shout out the reason for our existence and who we are. Also, it was clear that we would be mainly using E mails and Facebook to reach out to our audience. It was also certain that the same audience will be flooded with umpteen other communications from other committees. Thus, it was important to create a unique identity through a tagline which would feature in our communications. 

So, we all sat down with a pen and paper to jot down probable taglines. The only point we kept in mind are: 

Why do we exist? What gap are we trying to fill? 
A platform to perform and entertain. A platform to come together and share positive energy. And in the process, take something away each time. A platform to explore and experiment with oneself.

The answers were these taglines. This is the exhaustive list:

Discover. Culture. Character.

Let's get Culturfied…

A leap into perfection..

Where art meets the talent..

" Stand out, Blend In"

Express, Entertain, Evolve

 It is your stage

Different people, One culture

Celebrating talent

"Enliven"

Dive deep,Fly high.

Sharpened Thoughts,Unleashed Dreams.

Shaping thoughts through souls.

Devote,nurture & cherish.

Rise to the occasion

Live more

Live it out

Rejuvenate

Fostering creativity

Coloring lives

Be creative, be free

Cultcom 13- The stage beckons!

Out of these ‘Express.Entertain.Evolve’ was thought to reflect what the committee sought to achieve and what the batch expected from the committee. Thus it was decided that in all communication, the committee would be addressed as CultCom ’13- Express. Entertain. Evolve. Also it was decided that active presence on Social media was required for continuous engagement and brand building. Also, there was a need for a number of new innovative initiatives on stage and off stage that would create positive associations around the committee. Thus were born initiatives like Talent of the week and many others.

But before that, how did we reach out to our audience once we were ready to hit the ground? What was the Talent of the week campaign all about?   

More in the next post.

CultCom '13 Marketing diaries (Part 1)

CultCom '13, unlike the previous year was hand picked by the faculty in charge Dr. Shruti Nair from among the students who had indicated the committee as their first preference. She wanted a mix of dance, music and theater in the committee. The first meeting revealed that the members wanted to enjoy the work that they are going to do. It was a team which wanted to make a mark and wanted to do it smartly. We knew that we would have to work with the constraint, (in fact like most committees, with the exception of probably Placom) that attending our events was optional. The team decided that there was a need to create a brand that would appeal to everyone and that people could easily identify with. This called for smart marketing and re-branding activities that would grasp the attention of the batch, generate awareness, generate interest and ultimately make them attend the events. To go ahead and formulate the strategies for the rest of the year, a SWOT analysis was performed with reference to the current environment in SPJIMR with respect to the Cultural committee.

Strengths

a) Nature of work meant it would be easy to garner support

b) Good existing framework and set of mandatory events

c) Strong reach among the faculty and administration 

d) Talented and motivated committee members

Weaknesses

a) Not a strong brand currently

b) Viewed as a committee which does not innovate and does not move outside it's ambit of mandatory events

c) Not enough presence on Social media which is the single most channel 

d) Not enough resources created like a committee room etc.

Opportunities

a) New team and a new batch provided an opportunity to start fresh

b) Opportunity to create new events apart from mandatory events

c) Lots of talent within the batch 

Threats

a) Administrative hurdles and existing regulations about cultural activities at SPJIMR

b) Lack of good venues and them not being exclusive to SPJIMR, causing issues in availability

c) 25 committees will plan activities all round the year and hence slotting will be a major issue

Initial interactions with the batch members and the Abhyudaya event, Hastantaran had shown the committee that there was no dearth of talent in the batch. All that was needed was a platform that was worthy of the talent in the batch. A platform with which they would be proud of being associated with and proud of flaunting their association with. Also, this platform needed to appeal to the audience as well, they would need a platform which would prompt them to come and enjoy cultural extravaganzas without any coercion. 

How did the committee deal with this challenge? How did it go about re-branding the committee? More in the next post.