Shifali Sashidharan +91-9747773797 shifalis16@iimk.ac.

in

Ankit Kumar +91- 8137982444 ankitk17@iimk.ac.in

Sonali Paralkar +91-8589811741 sonalip17@iimk.ac.in

Backwaters Committee
IIM Kozhikode Web: www.iimkbackwaters.com Email: backwaters@iimk.ac.in

EVENT PREMISE
Indian Ocean is a contemporary fusion music band with jazz laced rhythms. Formed in the early 90's Indian Ocean has been one of the spearheads of the Indian Rock scene. Their unique sound of Contemporary Rock mixed with classical, jazz and fusion have earned them a cult following. Their band has managed to maintain this inimitable sound in all their albums and have attained some rave reviews from the critics. Some of the themes of their songs are Sufism, environmentalism and mythology. Definitely exclusive in what they do, Indian Ocean have toured all over India and played all across the globe. The Indian rock band scene is very complex as compared to the more organized Western music industry, which earns vast amounts of money through royalties and extensive merchandise sales. A significant factor polarizing the Indian music fans choice is the plethora of Bollywood songs thrust upon us every year. In such conditions the Indian rock band scene has been volatile. Surprisingly, a significant proportion of the target population is still unaware of rock bands in India and even the top performing bands fail to enjoy the cult status that Western bands enjoy. Another problem plaguing the music industry is increasing piracy. Music companies are reluctant to release albums as most of the popular songs are leaked online and official CD sales are low. Survival in such a market is a constant challenge. Indian Ocean has been able to carve a good fan base for itself because of its relentless efforts and exceptional music over the years. Still, it is not immune to these problems. Over time, the band has witnessed many changes both external and internal. At this juncture, the band is looking to re-launch itself and come out bigger and better than ever before. You are supposed to design a branding and marketing strategy for re-launching the brand and also find solutions for the problems that have been plaguing the Indian rock band industry for decades.

PRIZES
1st Prize: 2nd Prize: Rs 25,000 Rs 15,000

ELIGIBILITY & REGISTRATION

1. Participation is open to all students pursuing MBA / Post-graduate programs 2. Participation may be individual or in teams of maximum 3 members. 3. Teams can be comprised of participants from the same college / institution or from various colleges / institutions 4. All teams must register first register for the event on www.iimkbackwaters.com (one registration per team)

Backwaters Committee
IIM Kozhikode Web: www.iimkbackwaters.com Email: backwaters@iimk.ac.in

FORMAT & DELIVERABLE

Round 1 1. You must answer the following questions as part of your solution: a. Identify the current target audience of the brand and perception of the brand among the people b. Detailed branding strategy to promote the brand and its singers, and target new segments c. Creating a Go-to-market strategy and action plan to create high awareness at low costs and that can be seen as distinctive in the music industry d. Go to market approach and channel selection to increase reach and drive sales e. Measures to tackle piracy and improve sales through various channels 2. Submit a. A summary PPT of not more than 15 slides on your final solution and its basis b. A detailed word document of not more than 5000 words, describing and justifying your solution with references to sources, quantitative analysis if any, research results if any, etc.

Final Round: Based on your submissions, participants / teams will be shortlisted and invited to IIM Kozhikode for the final round for presentation of their solutions during Backwaters 2013 (October 25-27th, 2013). Exact dates of the final round will be communicated to the shortlisted teams in due course.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Submissions will have to be mailed to mbryo@iimklive.com, with the subject line Mbryo_<Team Name>_<College Name>. 2. Submissions should consist of the PPT (in .ppt or .pptx form) and the word document (in .doc or .pdf form). Team name, names of team members, respective institutes, phone numbers and mail IDs should be mentioned in the submission email. 3. The starting slide of the PPT and cover page of the word document should contain the team name, names of team members, respective institutes, phone numbers and mail IDs.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. Demonstration of clear understanding of the situation. 2. Clear analysis of facts, causes, and effect of proposed solutions. 3. All postulations to be supported by proper data / references.

Backwaters Committee
IIM Kozhikode Web: www.iimkbackwaters.com Email: backwaters@iimk.ac.in

COMPETITION RULES
1. Each team will be permitted to submit only one entry in the competition. 2. There must be strictly no plagiarism / IPR infringements in the submissions. On discovery of such infringements, the respective team(s) will be disqualified with immediate effect. 3. Participation will be governed by the Backwaters13 Terms & Conditions posted on the website (www.iimkbackwaters.com) and may be subject to change at any time without specific notice. The amended Terms & Conditions will be effective immediately upon being posted on the website. It is the sole responsibility of the participants to regularly visit the website and be informed of any changes. 4. The decisions of the organizers of the contest and the panel of judges will be final and binding on all the participants.

IMPORTANT DATES
Launch Date: Registrations Open: Registrations Close: Round 1 Deadline: Round 1 Results (tentative): Final Round: 18th September, 2013 18th September, 2013 3rd October, 2013 3rd October, 2013 10th October, 2013 23:59:59hrs 23:59:59hrs 23:59:59hrs 23:59:59hrs 23:59:59hrs *

25-27th October, 2013* *(exact date to be informed in due course)

Backwaters Organizing Committee, IIM Kozhikode

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Backwaters Committee
IIM Kozhikode Web: www.iimkbackwaters.com Email: backwaters@iimk.ac.in