We have with us today, Mr. Ketan Solanki, the Heart of Marketing 360°, the go-to guy who can get any work done in a jiffy! Let’s learn from him his secret tricks of trade that made him excel in his field!

What made you choose to take up MBA as your career?

I chose MBA as a subject for because a MBA in itself says that you can become an entrepreneur whether it is a marketing, operations or finance. It’s a basic term, MBA for me, it means basically entrepreneurship. You can learn whatever you want. But to implement that, I think is the thing where this entrepreneurship comes in.

Please tell us how did your journey in IBS start?

So I appeared for IBSAT and I got admission in IBS Mumbai. I started my journey as a B.com graduate with some amount of professional experience. I opted B.com because I was aware of taking up MBA marketing which was my core expertise because of my previous job. IBS journey started well as I got good classmates and also my colleagues supported me well. Until the end of the first year, I was in a confused state whether to opt marketing or operations. But because of my participation in various events that were held in IBS, I realized that I can excel in marketing and that is when I decided to take up marketing as my core subject at the end of the first year. Even then I wanted something on my plate which would set me apart from what actually I am and yes Marketing360° (M360°) came to my rescue!

Please throw some light on the inception of M360°. How did you start, what were the challenges you faced, how did you overcome them?

We started this project with a team of 5 members. After rounds of discussion on ways of inculcating the habit of reading among students, we came up with an idea of marketing newsletter. Soon we realized that it cannot be managed with such a small team and we need more manpower. So we formed a team of 11 seniors who were experts in their fields. We brainstormed a devised a plan to run M360. Initially, we started with our Facebook page to test the feasibility of the plan. Eventually, we realized that it is not the task of only 11 people and that is when we recruited juniors. That gave us the confidence to improvise our product and during the discussion with Prof. Hemant Purandare, the idea of launching website struck. Soon we started working on transforming this idea into reality. We strived really hard for that and yes our website was launched. By that time we were already in the final phase of our course and got occupied with our placements. That is when we handed over the project to our junior batch. And I am glad that they are managing it pretty well.

How would you describe the role of all the various projects that you managed during your course?

All of them played a major role. In MBA all such practical projects are considered as important as your academics. For me, M360° was one of the major turnkeys and was very helpful at the time of my placements. It helped me prove that yes, I have launched something which is still running well or even better. Even my workmates ask me about M360° and I proudly show them our website. It creates a good impression.  Also, events like Brandit which was another end to end execution thing. All these live projects helped me gain practical aspects of all theories.

How was working for M360° instrumental in your overall development?

Think about the time you decide to purchase a product, be it anything before making the purchase you will consider all of its marketing communication be it their print ads or outdoor ads, word of mouth, social pages and take a decision after looking at what is being said about it from a 360° angle. Similarly I professional life the industry will look at us from every angle before considering us for the job or the next promotion and we  have to market ourselves in the right way from all aspects. That is our association with a 360° perspective and hence we named our portal as Marketing360°. Similarly a 360° perspective towards my skills and abilities has helped me in my overall development.

Did you devise any strategy for placement? What was your approach for it?

I was not very keen on my placement as my whole focus was on m360. I appeared for 3-4 companies’ interview processes. I got placed in Shangrila Corporate Services. Throughout my interview processes, I realized that practical experience is as important as academic excellence. There should be a proper balance between the both. As a B.com graduate, I lacked the experience of working on live projects. I just had the projects which I managed during my MBA course like M360, various events. Also, my internship experience proved helpful. So all these things went hand in hand and I was able to crack my interview at a first go.

They say corporate is a tough place. How was your experience working in the corporate?

Initially, you need to prove yourself to others. To achieve a bigger goal, first you must achieve smaller goals to move ahead. I joined Shangrila Corporate Services as a management trainee and within a period of 8 months, I managed to secure the post of Assistant Manager. There are certain stages you need to cross from Management trainee to assistant manager, which I did in short period only because I got an opportunity to prove myself and apply my knowledge practically. There is one simple thing you need to follow, utilize your knowledge and apply them in your work.

How did you relate all the conceptual theories in the practical world?

Definitely. It’s all about the execution. You read something to execute that in your work. Even during the placements what we do is apply STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning). We segment the sectors and profile where we want to go, target those companies, we position ourselves in those interviews. Application is the main key in MBA.

What advice would you like to share with us with respect to Internship selection?

Internship helps you realize whether you have chosen the right stream or not. For me, it was perfect because I enjoyed sales and Business development. I interned with engage4more, an event management firm. Internship basically helps you gain experience of all the basic functions, right from resale to client servicing to operations. That gives you an edge over what you can do more from what you were expected early.

What is the success mantra you would like to share with us?

Be clear about what you are doing. Even if you are confused, go ahead with. You’ll end up doing nothing or something. Don’t worry about the results, if you are successful it’s great, if you fail, get and start over again and never lose hopes.