ICBM 2010 opened with a welcome address given by the ICBM co-chair, Dr. Lubna Nafees who outlined and asked the audience to consider the nature of branding and how ICBM continues to shape the brand architecture not just of the present, but of the future. The symbolic Lighting of the Lamps signified the opening of the knowledge gateway with the flame of enthusiasm and creativity taking us into what was an intense weekend of presentations, sharing, learning, networking and outreach.

Welcoming the audience, Dr. Anwar Ali stated that IMT Ghaziabad is proud to be at the forefront of research and sharing of research on various areas of management. He wholeheartedly appreciated the enormous effort put forth by the chairs for this conference which reflected in tremendous response from all over the world. Moreover he thanked the delegates who had assembled despite so many handicaps in terms of fog, delays and uncertainties and still able to participate in this event. Dr. Ali further observed that he was confident that by the time ICBM 2010 ends tomorrow all of us will be enriched by the intellectually stimulating inputs that will be presented during the course of the conference and extended each and everyone a warm welcome.

ICBM 2010 keynote speaker Professor Abraham Koshy opened conference business by asking us to consider the brand as a promise given to consumers, challenging our terms of reference such as ‘affordable luxury’, ‘mass prestige brands’ and outlining three key brand perspectives to examine: Communication, Strategy and Consumer. Prof. Koshy reminded us that branding is the offspring of an organizations leadership, that the relevant elements of execution should always be appraised and that we need to delve into the psychological behaviors of the consumer, marrying out knowledge with all the tools at our disposal including new technologies. Finally, Prof. Koshy gave us a challenge, a call to arms to take a ‘grounded theory’ approach to research, a disbandment of mere ‘template referencing’ with research that starts from conceptual thinking, ‘lead by an unconstrained urge to show the world our concepts and conviction’.

Mr. Biren Ghose’s inaugural address left the conference delegates no less inspired. Speaking on the subject of ‘Movies Franchise Vs Brand Franchise’ described the sharing of knowledge at ICBM 2010 as allowing us to continue to strive to capture consumer passion, much as a movie seeks to capture it’s audience and hold them. Brand managers should find the unique ‘recipes’ to enable symbiotic links between creative ventures and brands. He reminded us of the processual approach: that is possible for brands to have strategic tie-ups with the creative industries but that the recipe needs to be carefully composed, the ingredients thoroughly researched before the deals are cooked. He reminded us that we are the pioneer story-tellers of our times, combining our experiences on the international stage to allow the world to see the excellence of Indian ‘Imagineering’. He said, “Movies where stories are authored with strong audience insights can work with brands that make similar promises. Both can synthesise their communications to create a franchise that gives long term return on investment (ROI) to both. This brings new business models and up to 100% funds for movie producers. Correspondingly it brings efficiencies and excitement for consumer brands.”

ICBM 2010 Special Invitee Kensaku Konishi showed us the proof of exceptional brand management with an address that detailed the continued growth of the Canon brand, a brand that showed a growth of 30% in 2008, despite the global recession and the turbulent times that bested many a competitor. He described that the key to the Canon success is the holistic treatment of the brand starting from consistency in the top management and going all the way to the effective “last mile” coverage. Canon India follows the corporate philosophy of “Kyosei” and has become one of the most valued and respected brands in the country over a span of a decade of their operations in this region. Winning several accolades for the various marketing initiatives, it is truly a growth story in branding that needs to be followed.

Tim Gore OBE, conference co-chair from the University of Greenwich talked about the binding promise that a brand makes with it’s customers and the role of that promise both in a the business and social context. Mr. Gore reminded us of his core beliefs, that markets must be accountable and must self regulate especially where brands are often considered over products themselves. Brands should take into account that people are not necessarily interested in price but in value, all the more important in these times where life has become harder for some, a context in which the brand promise becomes ever more important. He also re-iterated the Centre for Indian Business’s continued commitment to IMT as well as the importance of the conference in showcasing India’s increasing ability to produce exceptional quality brands with visible global impacts.

Dr. Omkumar Krishnan, conference co-chair from IMT brought the inaugural session to a close by proposing the vote of thanks. Dr. Krishnan also emphasized the continuing need – uniquely catered for within the ICBM concept – for research and exploration not just to be led by commercial outlets, but for industry and academe to be fundamentally relevant to each other, an essential component for brand promises to retain integrity into the future. He concluded by adding that the pursuit of quality is a way of life at IMT and ICBM 2010 reflects that, with a multi-flavored high-end conference that promotes synergy between the industry and academics which in turn informs frameworks and guidelines across the globe

The conference then progressed through two days of high-calibre presentations, interspersed with networking over refreshments and food provided by IMT caterers. We heard a diverse range of presentations from established academics and practitioners: we discussed the issues in destination branding from India to Scotland, to the Czech Republic with lively discussions on the reality of a culture as opposed to it’s brand image; marketing to internal, as opposed to external, stakeholders and potential advice on successful destination branding for other countries such as China. Delegates heard about the evolution of brands and their development and the human characteristics or extension transference that potential and existing consumers apply to a destination through branding vehicles. Delegates were asked to consider sets of pertinent, far reaching questions, such as whether there is a correlation between the value driven by a marketer and the value driven by the customer.

The strands of research did not stop at the branding of consumer products but delved into branding strategies for industrial products - the high brand value as being separated from the corporate brand as well as the environmental impact of industrial tools and the importance of building research and development into brand returns. We examined the difficult issues facing many entrepreneurs or underrepresented groups with sessions on the development of women in rural India to the reality of branding for SMEs in India, it’s relevance and lack of prevalence for entrepreneurs who have been in the ‘shallow end of the pool’ but with advice and facilitation could make it ‘ into the ocean’. Looking to the future, the role of new and emergent technologies was a feature, with online branding and its place within the plethora of social networks; currently topical subjects such as the potential drivers behind an Indian market for ‘green’ vehicles received enthusiastic responses.

Topics came thick and fast, unearthing and addressing key questions in presentations and discussion sessions: exactly how do we place a brand in a balance sheet? How can Islamic banking benefit from attention to brand dissemination, contact with the customer and how we redefine our terms of reference to describe Islamic practice with regard to accrual and dispersal of interest? ICBM presentations did not on any level deal with what was merely within the comfort zones: we heard some exceptional student submissions which sought to push the boundaries of solving brand problems and flash-points with customers with real application to the industry and the place for conceptual thinking was consolidated as we addressed the social elements of the brand promise, the emotionality of that relationship as well as how brands an mitigate against loss or negative consumer experiences.

Throughout all, the Track Chairs honed in on key points, encouraging debate and particularly, facilitating the ongoing learning of the student presenters. Taking the lead from the inaugural address, debate ranged over methodologies, how to improve data sets and the models used to examine them. Debates continued into the refreshments tent where new relationships were forged and first level agreements on future collaborations were made.

The conference’s hot-ticket was the IMT-CIB workshop on Corporate Branding. A distinguished panel of practitioners gave insight into their views on branding and brand management sparking a host of questions and discussion points: Mr. Anshul Mathur, the Director of Corporate Communications and External Affairs at bp India said that the internal monitoring through an annual review of corporates followed by action attracted much attention as did successfully collaborating across a multiplicity of brands while retaining the core brand image between collaborators. Budding practitioners were advised to plan robust risk management processes which all represent the core brand value. The world order was challenged by Tuhin Sen of Saatchi and Saatchi, who threw javelins of new thought into the behavior of world-leader brand executives, placed brand value in a social context and explored the minefield of contentious brand images against their more. Asking us to consider the difference between the perception of the brand campaigns, he pointed to the necessity for the executive bodies to stop the recent corporate excesses which divorce the brands from the promise to their customers; this together with a nimble mix of various strategies will go far to establishing the ongoing success of a brand. Tim Gore engendered an ongoing topical discussion of the role of branding and brand management in the global further education sector, seeing the need for productive collaborations as inevitable and exciting but requiring institutions to engage with good disclosure, transparency and well managed communications. Underlining the huge benefit further education brings to a country and the current examples of universities establishing partnerships abroad, he described a vision whereby robust mutually beneficial partnerships through business, education and research could assist countries retain and employ their talent at home. Mr. Alok Baharadwaj – who flew in specially to participate in this workshop – brought home the Canon success story as a Corporate Brand with a tiered approach to the brand promise and customer relationship. Describing the multi-disciplinary methods employed to produce an organic development pattern, Canon’s versatile response to it’s customers through accessibility commitment and ‘ground-up’ approach through events, non-purchase outlets and pioneering CSR programme ‘I-Canon’ drew admiration for the sustainability of the Canon ‘family’. Canon’s commitment to quality of technology along with constant research and development goes far beyond simply selling product but encourages and teaches it’s existing and potential customers that he addition of technology through a Canon product to their lives is a real enhancement. Dr. Lubna Nafees summed up the workshop by integrating different flavours of different industries on corporate branding. She concluded that it helps create harmony between the different stakeholders of a business environment like employees, customers, community, industry, investors and governments. Building a strong corporate image helps shape opinions, impact decisions, impart respect, reinforce reassurance and build mindshare.

The second sought after session was the Interactive Session with Authors, led by Emerald Publishing, UK, reinforcing to the conference that paper is permanent with the sound advice towards a successful publication that editors and reviewers look for – amongst other things - originality, relevance to and extension of existing knowledge, clarity, structure and quality of writing theoretic implication. Having experienced publishing team on-hand was invaluable to the delegates as well as to the students who will face the publishing challenge a throughout their careers.

Throughout ICBM 2010, there simply was not time to fit in all the calls for further discussion and many requests have come in for a longer conference in 2011! Debate and the exchange went on well past the conference’s actual close, with new strands of research and partnerships already forming around the next ICBM. Sharing knowledge, promoting collaboration and world-class research, ICBM 2010 showcased the synergy of the IMT-CIB collaboration and Indian Brand Management skills at their best. If you missed it this year, then mark your diary for 2011 as this hot ticket looks set to stay!