Nissan launches Student Brand Manager campaign for the year 2013

The Nissan Student Brand Manager programme (NSBM) entered its fourth consecutive year with the launch of the 2013 season.

The company, which is accepting entries onto the program is targeting more than 4,000 registrations with the aim of appointing 30 NSBM's
for the next six months. Nissan will make the NSBM platform a lot more rewarding this year by gifting the 'Nissan Micra' as the final prize to the national winner.

Nissan is the only auto company in India to have such a unique and challenging programme like NSBM which helps B-School students to showcase their talent and prepares them for the corporate world.

NSBM is now recognised by more than 500 B-Schools across India, including the Indian Institute of management (IIM), FMS (Faculty of Management Studies), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Symbiosis Institute of Business management (SIBM) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

The six month schedule commences in July 2013 and culminates in December 2013. Each year the program has evolved qualitatively in terms of tasks allocated to the students. Each NSBM selected is expected to perform four innovative marketing activities during the six months in their campus and community involving the Nissan brand and products. The 2012 batch of NSBMs went all out and initiated around 96 marketing activities. Innovations like these are aimed at increasing Nissan's presence in diversified markets across India.

"The fact that NSBM programme is entering its fourth consecutive year reflects our commitment to identify and nurture management talent. It also helps us build our brand association with young people in India, who will be tomorrow's leaders of the corporate world. The programme exposes the students to the auto industry, competition and the Nissan brand. We are also overwhelmed by the Facebook following - it only affirms that NSBM is now an aspiration amongst the B-School students," said Nitish Tipnis, Director Sales & Marketing Hover Automotive India (Nissan India's NSC).

The NSBM 2013 will culminate in the selection of 30 Nissan Student Brand Managers who will receive a grant for six months to help them conceptualise and implement ideas on Nissan brand visibility and impact. As a NSBM they will also get a Nissan Micra to conduct activities such as test drives and host marketing activities and align their thoughts to the product propositions.

The range of activities will vary from creating unique events of their own from setting up test-drive days at their respective colleges to creating buzz about brand Nissan among the student community. The campaign will be open to management students across the country, including the Eastern region, which has now joined the pool of B-Schools.

"The belief of 'true learning is what you learn on the job' has firmly stood true as a NSBM. It's one of those rare opportunities wherein I got to implement distinguished Professor Philip Kotler's marketing theory into the real world of dynamic competition. Working with Nissan also gives one the desired exposure to stakeholders like dealer partners and prospective customers," said Anuj Nagpal, one of the student brand managers of 2012.

Jury
Prahlad Kakkar, Josy Paul, Harish Bijoor and Hormazd Sorabjee amongst others who share their expertise and help make NSBM a lot more demanding and arduous.

Participation and selection criteria
Stage 1: Online registration, SMS (who am I in 160 characters), and sharing on Facebook
Stage 2: (Elimination round): Video making on 2 scenarios
Stage 3: (Zonal round): 5 zones, 25 students from each zone. Case study to be shared followed by PPT with jury
Stage 4: (Grand Finale): 30 students. Team agency pitch and reach the car final interview

Posted in: Anuj Nagpal,Asia Pacific,B-School,Contest,Harish Bijoor,Hormazd Sorabjee,Hover Automotive India,India,Josy Paul,Micra,Nissan,Nissan Student Brand Manager Campaign,Nitish Tipnis,NSBM,Prahlad Kakkar