Design Thinking Workshop: Lockdown Edition
Online 1x1 sessions were conducted during the nationwide lockdown during the global pandemic. Introduction to Design Thinking as a discipline was offered to those who signed up for this module.
It covered Defining a Problem, Identifying Consumer, Category, Cultural codes, Brainstorming, Prototyping and Testing - as well as a hands on exercise.
Lectures at MICA
Guest lecturer at Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) - the leading brand strategy school in India, and also my alma mater. Teaching sessions with modules on Semiotics, Brand Essence, Design Semiotics, Colour Strategy and Trends & Forecasts for Brands.
Trend Forecasting Seminars
Have been a regular keynote speaker at the Trend Forecasting Seminar by CMG for the past 3 years at Singapore and Bangkok.
Have also been a Trendspotter for the Trendwatching.com’s quarterly Trend briefing.
Was invited to be a part of the expert panel for the Asian Paints Forecasting Workshop.
Design Semiotics Workshops
15+ workshops conducted across India - in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi.
Some of these were exclusively done for corporate teams like ITC Brand Managers group, Titan design team, Van Heusen design team, Tanishq design + marketing teams, Zivame brand team, etc. Others were open workshops conducted in collaboration with brands like Studio Pepperfry, SPIN furniture studio, etc.
There were participants from Suzuki, Times of India, advertising agencies, entrepreneurial background, freelance community and more.
The modules covered looked at semiotics, brand strategy, branding and packaging, trends & forecasting and some group exercises and breakout sessions.
Ogilvy Fusion Workshops
Once the Fusion model was rolled out globally, I have actively used this model and found immense potential in the tool. Pitch conversion rates increased. Have used the model - Business Ambition Star, Customer Journey, Communication Blueprint, Do Brief, Report Card, etc., for multiple pitches. Have conducted client workshops and offsite days to arrive at solutions to brand problems using the same. For ITC Bingo! Potato Chips and Wafers, Fusion was used to arrive at answers to Local Market Optimisation Plans.
Ogilvy Big Ideal Workshops
Facilitated Big Ideal workshops with all stakeholders for various clients - including ITC Cookies, ITC Bingo!, Cloudnine Maternity Hospitals, various pitches, etc. In depth cultural analyses, semiotic analyses, ethnographic research, etc., were conducted before arriving at the stimulus material for the workshop.
Used the Ogilvy Big Ideal Model to arrive at the Big Ideal (not Big Idea) by studying the cultural tensions and the brand’s best self, and finding the sweetspot/the overlapping space for the perfect Big Ideal.
JWT Brand Sparks Workshops
Creative ideation workshops facilitated during the stint at JWT for key brands like Redbus.com, VDot, Lifestyle, ITC Gum On, etc.
Titled Day One - this was usually conducted as a full day workshop, ideally an offsite, with brand team, design team, research team, agency team and management team. Various ideation tools and techniques are introduced and there are breakout sessions to arrive at ideas.
Voting for the best ideas, clustering of ideas and finally taking these forward with a business lens is carried out post this session.