India International Institute of Management organized a National Level convention on 'Thriving Marketing Strategies- In The New Millennium' on 5th March, 2003 at the IIIM auditorium. The topic was selected keeping in view the radical changes taking place in the Indian Marketing scenario like the  entry of multinational corporations, professionalisation of marketing strategies of Indian companies, product proliferation and diversity of consumer choice etc. to name a few.

Dr. Ashok Gupta, Director, IIIM, said in his inaugural speech that like nature management is also  a mystery and we have to keep trying to evolve things from both. He said that this convention would offer a conceptual insight into the vital linkages between concepts and strategies, revolving around brands and marketing concepts in the backdrop of Indian marketing reality and assist students in developing themselves as “result oriented marketers” of the future. The convention comprised of two technical sessions and one panel discussion.

Dr. Anjan Ray, Chief of Performance, Chemicals Division, Jubilant,Organosys Ltd,New Delhi inaugurated the convension and Mr. Anupam Tyagi CCSU Reliance Infocom delivered the key note address.

The theme of the First technical session was “Persistent Profits : A new look at marketing of financial products.” The main speakers of this session were Dr. K.M. Bhattacharya, Managing Director, The Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. and Dr. T.R. Bajalia, GM, IDBI. Their lectures gave an insight on the newly globalised world where integrated financial markets have became a reality and money needs to be sold. The third speaker of the same session was Sh. C.K. Rai, MD, Jaipur Dairy who elaborated on "Customer centric permission marketing : conquer and control", the last speaker was  Mr. Manjeet S. Narwan, GM, Hindustan Times who  focused on coping strategies for enterprisingly  aggressive marketers. 

The second technical session had a panel discussion in which various eminent speakers from different sectors shared their views on  “Nitty Gritty of market dominance-Unlearning, redevising and reinforcing sector specific marketing strategies for winning the customer mind space.” This panel was anchored by  Ms. Kaval Deep Dixit, Asstt. Professor, Marketing, IIIM. The other panel members were Mr. Ravindra Bhatia, Marketing Manager, Hindustan Coca Cola Limited, Mr. Arvind Kankas, State Coordinator, Petroleum Conservation and Research Association, Mr. Rajveer Singh, Director McKizen, Dr. S.H.H. Kazmi, Faculty Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Mr. Sandeep Tiwari, Branch Manager, LG , Mr. Atal Bhargava, Sales Manager, Park Plaza and Ms. Rakhee Roy, Editorial Coordinator, Times of India. While discussing the dynamics of the market, the panel agreed that the most innovative strategies of the past have become outdated in the present contexts,  and to remain competitive a marketer has to be skillful not only for devising new strategies but also at unlearning the old ones.

The valedictory session was addressed by Dr. Devi Singh Director, MDI Gurgaon, Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH and Mr. Navaid Khan, CEO, Oasis Hexacom India Limited. Ms. Veena K. Arora and Ms. Swati V. Chande anchored the convention and Ms. Ruby Dwivedi delivered the vote of thanks. The convention proved to be a facilitating platform for putting forth the new and dynamic insight and concepts on the marketing and the relvance of new strategies.