About Us

Central India's Biggest Marketing Fest

One of the most awaited events in the B-School calendar. We have grown from an idea to understand rural consumer behavior with active support and projects from government, corporate houses, institutes and SMEs. Traditionally, we have been an event dedicated to marketing research that gain insights from rural market population. However, this year, things will be different.

Utsaha'2023

Utsaha'2020

Utsaha 2020 (20th Nov 2020 - 22nd Nov 2020) was special in the way as it marked the commencement of an Urban version, a narrative that was yet to be explored until last year. Our primary target group to conduct the required research revolved around the relevant demographics in metropolitan, tier 1, 2, and 3 cities. Owing to the online gamified surveys that were designed to conduct the camouflaged research, we were able to reach a much wider set of input spanning various geographies and demographics.

To complement the gamified surveys, we also delved deep into the realm of marketing through events like speaker sessions, workshops, and panel discussions.

Utsaha 2020 aimed at providing the best results to its corporate partners by using all the available resources and conducting nationwide research on companies like Britannia, FirstHeal, Ecociate, Earthy n Green and Actofit and helped them solve the problems regarding their target market and evaluation of performance.

HISTORY OF UTSAHA

STARTED BY MR. SAURABH BAJAJ(CURRENTLY, THE MARKETING HEAD OF DAIRY AT BRITANNIA), ALONG WITH MR. SAURABH SHINDE(SALES DEVELOPMENT HEAD AT L’OREAL, AND MR. PRADEEP BAPTIST(SENIOR MANAGER AT COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS) – IIM INDORE BATCH 2002-2004 – AS A SMALL, CHEERFUL, AND HEARTY FAMILY MELA HAPPENED IN JANUARY AT YESHWANTPUR GROUND. UTSAHA WAS INITIALLY SUPPOSED A MARKETING BASED LECTURE SERIES, BUT THE TEAM’S VISION WAS TO INCORPORATE THE GROUND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASSROOM CONCEPTS. HENCE, IT SOON TOOK THE SHAPE OF CONSUMER RESEARCH IN A VIBRANT MELA-LIKE SET-UP. THE TEAM WENT TO EXTREME LENGTHS TO MAKE THE FEST HIT THE GROUNDS. WITH THE SHORTAGE OF FUNDS FOR THE NEW INITIATIVE, THEY FUNDED THE FEST THEMSELVES TO BOOK THE LAND AND MAKE PAYMENTS TO OTHER STAKEHOLDERS. MIDWAY INTO THE PREPARATION, AFTER DESIGNING THE BROCHURES AND APPROACHING THE COMPANIES FOR PROJECTS, THEY FACED A SHORTAGE OF FUNDS AND MANPOWER(OWING TO THE SMALL BATCH SIZE). THEY APPROACHED PURPLEFOCUS, A COMPANY THAT USED TO CONDUCT FREQUENT MELAS ACROSS THE CITY ON A REGULAR BASIS, FOR GUIDANCE AND ADVICE ABOUT CONDUCTING ONE. THEY VISITED THE MELAS THAT WERE HAPPENING AT THAT TIME AND STARTED PITCHING THEIR STALLS TO THE PEOPLE THERE. THEY CATEGORIZED THEIR STALLS ON THE BASIS OF THE REVENUE THAT THEY WOULD GENERATE, BUT LATER ON, REALIZED THAT THE MAXIMUM SALES HAPPEN IN THE LAST 2-3 DAYS WHEN THE PRICES CRASH.

THE RIGHT THING TO DO?

UTSAHA WAS SCHEDULED TO HAPPEN ON FRIDAY. ON SUNDAY, THE FINANCE NUMBERS REVEALED THAT EVEN IN THE BEST-CASE SCENARIO WHERE THEY SELL ALL OF THEIR 65 STALLS, THEY WILL STILL END UP LOSING 1.5 LACS. A TEAM OF 15 PGP 1 STUDENTS WAS DEPLOYED TO HIT THE STREETS AND START CLOSING THE FINAL DEALS. MONDAY EVENING, THEY SOLD 8 STALLS, 22 ON TUESDAY, AND 35 ON WEDNESDAY, AND ENDED UP TURNING DOWN OFFERS AS THEY HAD ALREADY SOLD ALL THEIR STALLS.

THE TEAM HAD NUMEROUS PARALLEL BATTLES TO FIGHT, STARTING FROM THE FINANCIAL STANDPOINT, CREATING A DEDICATED WORKFORCE, COLLABORATING WITH MARKETING PROFESSORS, PREPARING QUESTIONARIES AND PROACTIVELY SHARING THEM WITH THE COMPANIES, AND EVENTUALLY MARKETING THE OVERALL FEST TO MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE AND APPEALING TO THE CUSTOMERS. NONETHELESS, THEY PULLED IT TOGETHER INTO A MEMORABLE EVENT WHICH CREATED A LEGACY OF ITS OWN TO BE PRESERVED.