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dna Smart Solutions: Communication Managed Well

The big brains of the Northpoint Centre of Learning and Nielsen passed on the best of management and media wisdom to youngsters at a dna Smart Solutions Career Counselling session

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The atmosphere was one of electric curiosity. A lively mix of fresh graduates, young professionals and students waiting to pass out of college had decided to spend their Saturday morning differently, awayfrom Facebook memes and TV series. The reason was a dna Smart Solutions Career Counselling session organized in association with the Northpoint Centre of Learning, an uniquely conceptualized Media and Management institute modelled on contemporary industry needs.

 Virender Raina, Marketing Manager, Northpoint, began the day with anecdotes about the institution that was founded to bridge a massive skill gap between media-management professionals and real-time requirements of the marketing communications industry, following a special request from Advertising giant Lowe Lintas. “So when we say the institution is industry-driven, it is quite literally so!” laughed Raina.  

Media meets management

Now in its 12th year, Northpoint’s success in generating industry-ready marketing professionals, 40 per cent of whom reportedly advanced to senior executive positions across different corporate sectors, gave it the impetus to join league with global information chief Nielsen and belt out yet another  specialized course—Marketing Research. With two ‘fast-track’ 11-month courses of ‘Post Graduate Programme in Marketing Research’ (PGPMR) and ‘Post Graduate Programme in Marketing Communications (PGPMC) with a specialization in Advertizing, Digital Advertising and Media Management’, Northpoint has a lot to boast of when it comes to contribution in these expanding fields. 

Industry-based learning

Raina, in his accustomed academic flair, asked the students what they understood by ‘Building Actionable Knowledge’, one of North point’s core mottos. As some ventured to say that it means gaining knowledge that can be utilized on a day-to-day basis, the counsellor elaborated on that thought. “Building is a continous process. Blocks of information put together, over a period of time, gives us the bigger picture. It is important to understand this entire picture, as it is important to strive towards knowledge that can be practically applied,” he explained, pointing out the rewards of striking the right balance between knowledge and skills, in order to maximize your professional impact from Day-I. 

The big offers

To this effect, Raina explained, Northpoint’s PGPMR students are placed with Nielsen as soon as they complete the course, in lieu of some elementary attendance and percentage criteria. A large section of the Communication students find employment with the agencies they’ve already interned with. “At Northpoint, you are always being observed. But there are no cameras in this Big Boss’s house,” Raina joked.

A different module

Their academic calender built on a diet of succesive internships with Nielsen and other brands active with the company at a given point, (Nestle, Airtel, Dabur, Tata, Britania, Wipro, LG, Heinz, Pizza Hut, L’O’real and Domino’s were some of the names that got the youngsters excited), Northpoint’s mentor-mentee system of learning and wide faculty of practising managers appeared to pique the participants’ interest. Hesitant at first, they soon started throwing questions about what the two terms Marketing Communications and Marketing Research meant in terms of academics and profession.

What the courses entail

Darryl Pereira, Senior Manager, Marketing Effectiveness, Nielsen, stepped in to answer many such questions. A Northpoint alumni who rose up the ranks of Nielsen with great gusto, Pereira explained that both Marketing Communication and Marketing Research aim to maximize a brand/product’s presence and impact in the market, by keeping the consumer at the centre. “The concept of market share gives a particular brand a clear sense of where and how they are currently placed in the market—who are their close competition, by when can they catch up.  MR is the medium through which they can receive and analyze these data to reposition themselves or just retain their existing position,” he said. Pereira went on to explain that Marketing Communications too, works around the concept of understanding the brand and its consumers. “Who is the audience for my product? What mediums are they using the most? What do people watch and what do people buy are two of our most crucial questions,” he said, adding that in the end, it all comes down to reaching out to the consumer better than before. 

Curiosity Check

The participants were prompt to name the different mediums of product management. “TV, radio, hoardings, print, social media”, pat came the responses, the room’s interest intensely focused on Marketing Research, a term most weren’t familiar with at the beginning of the session. The next few minutes were a flurry of practical questions from the students: “Do I need a Mathematics background to join Marketing Research?” (Ans: No, logical reasoning skills will suffice), “What is different about the 11-month programme?” (Ans: You work around the clock shuttling between academics and internships, there’s no time to breathe) were some of the confusions that were busted.
As this hour of fresh concepts gave way to the next element of the event, a written aptitude test based on grammar, logical reasoning and basic mathematical skills, the students seemed to agree that there was a lot more to management than a penchant for numbers.

From the counsellor’s corner

The sessions were followed by some one-on-one wisdom. Here are the highlights 

The residential system was designed to provide the momentum necessary for a 11-month programme, as well as that space for a holistic academic and personal development. It is for that reason that we came up with the mentor-mentee system, rather than simply appointing a warden to watch over the students in the campus” emphasized Virender Raina, at the end of an exhausting but exhilarating day. Raina, back from his one-on-one counselling session with some students, mentioned that the easy access to a former practicing manager (the mentor of a given batch) and the company of active managers for a faculty is what sets apart this new learning module. Touching upon the topic of grooming, Raina revealed that while soft skills are essential to one’s profile, Northpoint has seen instances of candidates with amazing domain knowledge and zero grooming being developed into fine professionals in course of the programme. “One of the most common concerns raised by both parents and students is whether an independent certificate will hold as much value as a degree. Today, one of the participants asked me the same. I asked him if he were to appoint a driver for his car, whether he’d appoint anyone with a genuine driver’s license. He said that while the license would be of some value, he’d definitely put the candidate through a driving test to check his expertise,” Raina smiled, hinting that in effect, the boy resolved his own dilemma. “Nothing beats skill, in the modern industry. That’s what we offer at Northpoint,” signed off the day’s counsellor.

Student’s Speak

—Bhavik Mehta, 21

I’m pursuing my BA in Film and Television and was interested in the Marketing Communications course. But the session left me quite curious about the research part of it! I also have an engineering background, so it would be interesting to figure out if I’d do well in this sort of data analysis as well

—Bharvi Viren Shah, 21

I wanted to know if the certificate would be equivalent to an MBA degree. I think it is a fair concern, since our parents would be investing in our studies. The answer I received was encouraging. I was assured that in the end, the industry would value my practical skills, and not just my degree

 

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