By Luvena Rangel (Diversity & Inclusion Specialist - The Curvy Yogi)
Bengaluru, Apr 28: Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) members convened to explore Brands and Branding for success at their members meet on Friday April 25 at the Grand Magrath, Bengaluru. In a lens shift, entrepreneurs saw ‘branding’ and success through the journey of none other than the legendary Tata group.
The KE prayer, led by KE lead member and emcee for the evening, Eugene Mathias, inaugurated the agenda. Next, KE director mentoring, Pramod D’Souza, presided over the solemn oath-taking ceremony for 7 new members. This segued easily into the main component of the evening – an eye-opening presentation on branding and brand success by Sunil D’Souza, MD & CEO of Tata Consumer Products Ltd, the keynote speaker.
For a room full of entrepreneurs, the conversation with Sunil was refreshingly enlightening. Unlike lessons learnt from fellow businesspersons or from experts sharing upskilling tools, Sunil took the gathering through the Tata brand journey built from salt and tea to an array of fast-moving consumer goods leading the Indian and international markets. Some points that stood out were – trust (both of the Tata brand and the product) as a non-negotiable, keen vision and the freedom to take risks. The shared entrepreneurial experiences with market study and penetration as well as the ability to course correct resonated with most of the audience. The quick and engaging Q&A that followed was a testament to the eagerness to connect and learn from the market leader.
An engaging table networking activity followed that nudged everyone’s spontaneous creativity to develop a 30-second elevator pitch for their businesses. It was delightful to listen to member business taglines and elevator pitches – even more to see the excitement for members to share their craft.
Speaking of craft, KE president, Claudius Pereira, took to stage next and had everyone making paper planes, marking it with their name and one-word descriptors of their brand. Amid the playfulness of paper rockets flying around the ballroom and high-fives, members learnt more about fellow member business-identities on origami rockets that landed near them. Ever the engaging storyteller, Claudius followed up the activity with a story of trees, and timely water and manure that led to the bottom line -‘At KE, we nurture entrepreneurs!’
The active social networking over dinner and fellowship was the mark of an event well-done with the members truly embodying the spirit of KE community and fellowship. The well-organized, crisp evening was excellently anchored by Eugene bringing in the humour and keeping the schedule on point. The vote of thanks was delivered by Elton Joy D’Souza of KE GenNow making sure to extend heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in making the members meet a roaring success: The KE board of directors, brand ambassadors, registration desk volunteers (Alan Aranha & Mark Lionel John), sound system by Peter Rebello, LED by Navis D’Souza, photography by Vikram Almeida and the hospitality of The Grand Magrath team.