Women and girls across the world have been disproportionately affected in the year of the pandemic, not in terms of the impact of the virus, but more so socially and economically. Kanika Jha Kingra from IWWAGE and Surbhi Singh from The Quantum Hub (TQH), in an article published by The Indian Express, write about how India’s female workforce was largely invisible, underpaid, under-protected and constituted the largest segment of the informal workforce, which is among the worst-hit this year. Read the article here.
Author: Sanjana
Latest episode of ‘Gender Watch’ by IWWAGE out
From assessing the gaps in childcare in India to looking at the impact of employment guarantee for women — learn about the latest developments and research in gender issues in India presented in a news format by IWWAGE. Watch the latest episode here.
“Marketing has moved from Brand-led to Category-led,” says Shiv Shivakumar, Management Thinker at IFMR Graduate School of Business’ Marketing Conclave
Giving the keynote at the virtual conference ‘Inside Marketing 2021’ organised by the IFMR Graduate School of Business (IFMR GSB), Krea University, management thinker and Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy & Business Development at Aditya Birla Group, Shiv Shivakumar said, “Marketing, thanks to digital, has moved from being brand-led to category-led. In the past, I went looking for a brand. Today, when I search on the net, I look for the category. For instance – earlier, if I wanted to buy an SUV, it is quite likely that I would have looked for an SUV in the brand’s outlet. Today, I type ‘SUV’ in the search engine. I type the category and not the brand. That’s a fundamental shift in marketing. Once I get a category’s full-list, then I say – ‘can you share brands in the INR 5-12 lakh category?’ and add other filters and look at reputation, what my friends have to say, recommendations, price, service and convenience.” He further added that good marketing content today is audiovisual—video in most cases—and is in vernacular languages.
Shiv Shivakumar asked the hundreds of faculty and students in attendance, “When was the last time a serious academic came up with something new in the world of management? Not for the last 25 years. Practising managers are bringing the concepts to the table by experimenting with their companies.” He exhorted academics to lead the way and not to follow. He also urged academics and universities to ensure that more real-world examples and interdisciplinary thinking be brought to learning as innovation is happening at the intersection of disciplines of study.
The conclave featured some illustrious marketing professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders from a gamut of industries, shedding light on some of the recent trends that have changed the way marketers look at products, markets, distribution channels, consumers and user experience. The three panels for the day were—“Marketing in the Age of Millennials” with Hrishikesh Shende, Business Director, Adidas for Emerging Markets and David Appasamy, Head of Brand and Strategy at Social Beat; “Marketing in the Age of AI” with Janani Dwarakanath, Head of Product Marketing at Freshworks and Girish Ramdas, Co-Founder and CEO of Magzter; and “Marketing during Crisis” with Mudit Mathur, General Manager for India and South Asia at Dole Foods and LV Navaneeth, CEO of The Hindu Group.
The conference concluded with an exclusive power talk for the students of Krea, delivered by Chetan Gore, Vice President and Business Head of Reliance Retail.
Addressing the unpaid childcare crisis for women and girls
The learning session on ‘Addressing the unpaid childcare crisis for women and girls: How can we build better after COVID-19?’ held in December last year, as part of the learning series started by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at fostering learning, exchanging ideas and establishing connections across partners working on evidence, advocacy, policies, and interventions related to COVID-19’s social and economic impacts on women and girls. As part of the larger mandate, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and IWWAGE at LEAD are collaborating to undertake an evidence review of the current childcare crisis and the road for post-COVID recovery and resilience. A paper is underway outlining the different pathways in which COVID-19 is impacting women’s care burden, with recommendations for policy solutions and measures that could be explored in different contexts by governments, the private sector, and other key development actors, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
REBUILD: COVID-19 and women in the informal economy in India, Kenya and Uganda
Soumya Kapoor Mehta (Head – IWWAGE) was part of an expert panel organised by the International Center for Research on Women, sharing insights on the impact of COVID-19 on women in the informal sector in India. The panel discussion was part of an upcoming collaborative research, REBUILD, focuses on the current challenges faced by women in the informal economy under COVID-19, with the aim to understand better the social and economic impact of policy responses to the pandemic in India, Kenya and Uganda. View recording here.
AVPN SAICF 21: Reimagining India’s Social Protection Architecture
LEAD at Krea University hosted a session “Re-building a dynamic and durable blueprint for India’s Social Protection Architecture” at AVPN Asia’s South Asia Impact Capital Festival. The panel featured Executive Director Sharon Buteau and Soumya Kapoor Mehta (Head – Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy), and was moderated by Vivek Bhandari (Visiting Professor of History, Krea University). The discussion revolved around reimagining India’s social protection architecture in the new normal, using emerging design elements that are research, data, and systems driven.
Prof Sumit Mishra publishes impactful research paper on caste-based residential segregation
IFMR GSB faculty member — Sumit Mishra, Assistant Professor, Economics and Data Science has published an impactful research paper. His paper “Fractal urbanism: City size and residential segregation in India” co-authored with Naveen Bharathi (Harvard University), Deepak Malghan (IIM – Bangalore), and Andaleeb Rahman (Cornell University) was published as a forthcoming article on World Development — an A journal as per the ABDC list and listed amongst the top-five development econ journals. The paper presents the first-ever large-scale snapshot of urban residential segregation in India at the neighbourhood-scale. The analysis from 147 largest cities in contemporary India shows how caste-based residential segregation is independent of city size (with the sample including all cities in India, with at least 0.3 million residents in 2011).
Access a copy of the paper here. For detailed summaries of the paper, visit here and a commentary in Ideas for India here.
Announcing ‘Inside Marketing 2021’, hosted by IFMR GSB at Krea
IFMR Graduate School of Business (IFMR GSB), Krea University is all set to host ‘Inside Marketing 2021’ on Friday, 12 February 2021. This marketing conclave will feature experts and leaders from a number of sectors, sharing their insights and knowledge related to the theme of Marketing in the New Age. With the aim of bringing us one step closer to decoding Marketing 5.0, this half-day long conference will feature power talks, engaging sessions and discussions. The opening power address will be delivered by senior industry leader Shiv Shivakumar, Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy & Business Development – Aditya Birla Group.
Hosted on the virtual platform, the conference will explore the following topics – ‘Marketing in the Age of Millennials’ with Hrishikesh Shende (Business Director, Adidas – Emerging Markets) and David Appasamy (Head – Brand and Strategy, Social Beat); ‘Marketing in the Age of AI’ with Janani Dwarakanath (Head of Product Marketing – Freshworks) and Girish Ramdas (Co-Founder and CEO – Magzter); and ‘Marketing in the Times of Crisis’ with Mudit Mathur (General Manager for India and South Asia – Dole Foods) and LV Navaneeth (CEO – The Hindu Group). The conference will conclude with ’10 Commandments for a Young Brand Manager’ — an exclusive power talk for the students of Krea, delivered by Chetan Gore (Vice President and Business Head of the FMCG department, Reliance Retail).
| Click here to register. |
LEAD at IFI Summit 2021: Exploring meso-level insurance for farmers
The Inclusive Finance Summit went virtual this year and presented a series of exciting events for two days. LEAD at Krea University was a technical partner at the Summit. As part of the engagement, LEAD hosted a panel discussion on ‘Mitigating Agricultural Risks: Meso-level Insurance in Agriculture’ moderated by Fabrizio Valenti, Head, Financial Inclusion. Research Fellow, Sabina Yasmin, presented insights from an ongoing study on the potential of meso-level insurance in protecting farmers from various agricultural risks, supported by CIIE.CO under the Bharat Inclusion Initiative. Other panellists included Mangesh Patankar (Swiss Reinsurance Company) and Enamul Mazid Khan Siddique (Oxfam, Bangladesh). Watch it here.
Masterclass on sea turtles with experts from India, Germany and Australia
Dr Kartik Shanker from the Indian Institute of Science – Bangalore, Dr Lisa Onaga from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science – Berlin, and Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe from the University of Sydney, came together for a highly engaging session on sea turtles and the marine environment. Participants were introduced to the various angles of approach to sea turtles, with the speakers delving into history, conservational efforts, and research strategies. From exploring how turtles have helped guide various groups of people related to the wisdom of the earth to deep-diving into how living turtle species today manifest that wisdom, the session was informative and eye-opening for students and faculty alike.