Gerard Coutinho, senior manager in Forbes Marshall, inaugurated the programme by lighting the traditional lamp. Dr Sandeep Panchpande, chairman ASM Group of Institutes, Preeti Pachpande, Asawari Nair and Santosh Shinde, faculty members of IBMR and students were present.

In his key note address, Coutinho spoke about the existing marketing scenario and the vital role of the information technology in marketing service, banks, consultants, educational institutions and hospitals. He explained to the students the concept of the hyper-segmentation.

S M Katti, assistant vice president with Aditya Birla Group, guided the students on "Strategies and innovation in retail management." He gave emphasis on "loyalty schemes" to be implemented high in companies, explained how to win loyalty of the customer through Kauna model and spoke about the basic requirement in retail which attracts consumers.

Manickam, chief manager at Union Bank of India, Kasarwadi branch, spoke on opportunities in the field of marketing associated with banking sector.

He shared with students the division of market and gave information about new concepts innovated by VIT such as flexi interests and cross selling.

Jacob George, head of export import operations of Thermax Group, spoke about international marketing. He also talked about economic liberalisation in India; role of currency, export promotional bodies like FPO and EPO and promotional measures by government like ASIDE, MAI, MDA.

S K Murthy, director, Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM), Pune guided students on objectives of business, evaluation of profit, supply chain and value addition.