Diwali mela with a biz school twist

Updated on: Monday, November 08, 2010

A day-long Diwali mela at the Management Development Institute (MDI) Sunday combined work and play, with the business school using the event to map consumer behaviour and market research.

“The fair has a two-fold objective - to help students learn corporate market research and at the same time provide entertainment to people,” Gita Bajaj, associate professor and spokesperson for MDI, said.

The 13th edition of the annual fest, Illumina 2010, saw more than 10,000 visitors, and participation from corporates like ITC, HUL, Aviva, Frito Lays, Bank of Baroda, Philips, Pepsi, Airtel, Britannia, Gillette, Dabur and several others.

Spot market researches were conducted by Red FM, Azko Nobel, The Mobile Store and Spencer’s Retail to assess the positioning of their brands and consumer interest.

The event also saw consumers responding to queries and playing Bollywood-style games designed around their favourite brands, while students documented their responses under a mammoth market survey.

Besides market research, the Diwali carnival campaigned for a clean environment with a ‘Go-Green’ programme, an initiative for women’s empowerment, and a platform to bring gypsies across the world together as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.

“We tied up with an NGO (non-governmental organisation) to measure the fest’s carbon footprints. Every unit of power consumed and litter generated was noted to measure the carbon footprints at the end of the day to help us offset it in the future,” Bajaj said.

The fair also included games modelled on “Kaun Banega Crorepati” and an event titled Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Fun to entice consumers and push brand popularity and recall.

“Illumina is a disguised market research festival, hence the opinions are unbiased. Firms are increasingly seeking information about their customers’ identity, preferences and perceptions,” Bajaj said.

Other programmes included painting and collage making competitions, music contest, street plays and a math workshop

Diwali mela with a biz school twist

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