Student Corner: Hangout with Alums – Gautham C K PGP 2019

The Student Alumni Committee hosted the third session of the ‘Hangout with Alums’ series. This session was taken by Mr. Gautham C K, a Management Trainee in Sales and Marketing with Nestle India.

Gowtham kicked off the session by discussing the various roles which fall under the Marketing domain – from Sales, Customer Analytics to Brand Management. He also explained the importance of a sales role before getting into the shoes of an actual marketeer or brand manager.

“Knowing the needs of the customer at the ground level helps to build effective and implementable strategies as a marketeer,” Gowtham commented.

As the session was witnessed by both PGP1 and PGP 2 batch, Gowtham talked about the courses students should pursue to build a career in the field of Marketing. Also, as the final placement season approaches the IIMB campus for PGP2s along with the summer intern for PGP1s, he guided the students for the respective preparations.

Gowtham made the students aware of the internal movements possible within companies once they join under the Marketing vertical.

“Initially, you are allotted a specific brand and are required to manage every aspect of it – from production issues to the final buying point for customers. Once an employee establishes himself/herself for a particular brand or a product category, then they have an opportunity to move into different product categories or different departments altogether,” Gowtham explained.

He also covered the product life cycle aspects in the role of Marketing. “Companies like Nestle have different KPIs to track the performance of brands, and these KPIs vary along the lifecycle of a brand – from its launch stage, through the mature phase, and finally when the product’s life is tapering off. These indices also differ across companies as per their vision.”

The session was concluded with an open house, where the attendees had one-on-one interaction with Gowtham and left the session with a keen sense of Marketing as a potential career option.