International Yoga Day: The Great Lakes Chapter

“To Join or to Unite”

If you search for “Life at a B-School” on the internet, you will find an array of adjectives such as “strenuous”, “arduous”, “tenacious”, and all in all, “difficult” showing up among search results. Well there’s no denying it. But like any curriculum, students tackle every challenge with utmost zeal. However, we do not give enough importance to fitness, especially in the form of Yoga, and are incapable of understanding how impactful it is for the body, mind and soul.

This International Yoga Day, on 21^st June, 2019, the Spartans (PGPM 2020) and Jaguars (PGDM 2020) of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, came one step closer to understanding the importance of Yoga. The International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness, worldwide, of the many benefits of practicing yoga. Being management students, our greatest battle is with time, stress, and meeting crucial deadlines. That one morning, with the sunshine falling lightly on our shoulders, the birds chirping and the gentle gush of the morning wind, there was a mist of calm and peace that touched us. We realized Yoga is a science, it’s a systematic process which gradually dissolves all illusions of the mind. Through this practice we can understand and experience the Supreme Truth that God resides within us. So, we have to offer something spiritual to our mind and soul, which otherwise might revolt. This ancient spiritual science offers a calmer, happier and more fulfilled life to a person.

The global popularity that Yoga has attained not only puts our country prominently on the map (among various other reasons), but also highlights the health-related benefits that are fruitful in every aspect of life. Yoga, an elixir that works on almost every new age predicament such as anxiety, depression and ill health, is a must for B-school students. The Yoga Camp at Great Lakes began at 6:30 AM and went on till 8:00 AM. The event started with a lot of enthusiasm, apparent from the fact that students came for the session even though they had classes till late the previous night. The students gathered around at the amphitheater by 6:15 AM, filled with energy and enthusiasm. The preparation for this event had started 8 days ago where 20 students collaborated and 5 teams were formed for specific tasks.

Yoga is a great source of power and energy, and in order to get the best out of it, one should “stretch” routinely before the Yoga exercises. Hence the yoga instructors started the morning with basic stretching exercises, followed by chanting Om and reciting the Gayatri Mantra as they help in improving concentration and in building focus. The day ended with performing the Surya Namaskar. This stimulates the nervous system, including the brain, lower plexus and the spinal cord.

Students appreciated the experience and also the broad knowledge which they were able to gain from the event. One of the PGPM students, Ankit Kaul, said, “The session conducted on International Yoga Day was more than just an exercise regime, it was a refreshing experience amidst the hustle of our daily routine.” All students cherished the event. A regular yoga practitioner Aveesh Bhatia (also a PGPM student) said, “It was a recreational session for the students, and we experienced inner peace after attending it. Simple and effective yoga is truly a gift to humanity.” The International Yoga Day at Great Lakes opened many eyes, educated us on the importance and effectiveness of Yoga and motivated us to strike a balance between work and life.

Contributors: Ankit Kaul, Arushi Kapur, Arun Shiv, Meghna Mittal, Ranjeeta Gupta, Shreya Gupta, Sidhanshi Sharma, Divya Gupta, Nikhil Dixit and Sunrita Sarkar

PGPM “Spartans” Class of 2020

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

Marketing – A Science or an Art? Deep Insights by Mr. Julius Augustine: Vice President, Kantar

Great Lakes Institute of Management leaves no stone unturned in ensuring that students are not only introduced academic concepts, but also real world scenarios at a very early stage. They get the opportunity to meet achievers who have contributed to the industry at large and learn a great deal from them. The Spartans – the PGPM Batch at Great Lakes, Gurgaon, this year – had the privilege of interacting with Mr. Julius Augustine, the Vice President of Kantar. Mr. Augustine was here with a platter of marketing concepts and the students were all set to gain a broader picture of their theoretical learning.

Mr. Julius started off his career as a Senior Research Executive at Mudra Communications where he performed customized research for brands such as Rasna, HLL, P&G, and Reliance Industries. He then joined ORG-MARG (now AC Nielsen) and spearheaded the Client Servicing portfolio for Media clients.  He has also served as the Associate Vice President for Hansa Research Group wherein, he was responsible for Business Development and Client Servicing. He then served as the Associate Director & Country Manager for Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Julius has serviced clients such as Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, ICICI Bank, Reliance Communications, Fame Adlabs, Piaggio, etc. Presently, Mr. Augustine is heading the Coca-Cola India and Havells accounts at Kantar, working towards Brand Communication, and Creative & Media Consulting.

The session was extensively insightful for the upcoming Management Professionals, as it was fascinating to walk through topics such as Market Safety, Market Research, Segmentation, Micro-Management, Customer Retention, and Branding. What made the session more engaging was hearing about his experiences with organizations such as Coca-Cola, Swiggy, Amazon, and other high performing organizations.

Mr. Augustine took the students through the age-old debate of marketing being an art or science, while we drew parallels of marketing with religion as leveraged by marketers, and how segmentation of groups for market development is prevalent within the demographics of India. To quote Mr. Augustine, “Marketing is the antithesis of Religion, you need to desire religion and hence you need to market religion.”

While addressing the importance of good advertisements that please masses in general, he made sure the students learnt to appreciate the aesthetics of acceptability – the underlying art of marketing. He explained how, during the content creation for an advertisement, facial detectors track reactions of the people to whom the content is being showcased. He displayed and described the example of the latest Coca-Cola advertisement, emphasizing on how the first draft of any advertisement is decided by the face value of recognizable people, along with brand recognition. He gave the students the real world picture of Branding, and the underlying Market Research and Psychology behind branding a product.

He addressed a lot of questions from the students as well, especially on topics such as Market Expansion, Market Growth, and Market Intelligence. What made this part the most impactful was the fact that he shared and linked these to all his experiences pertaining to each of the wide sectors and companies he has been associated with. The students were left awestruck by his humility despite being an industry leader, motivator, and an inspiration.

He ended the session by stating “Be a researcher and never be bored,” and every Spartan could resonate with his words.

Compiled by Devyani Sormare, Somil Tyagi and Sunrita Sarkar

PGPM 2020 “Spartans”

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon.