SHILLONG, Jan 28: The Indian institute of Management (IIM) Shillong’s 4th edition of International Marketing Conference (iMarC IV) brought together the global experts to address cutting-edge marketing challenges and innovations during the conference that spanned across four days.
The conference was themed ‘Bridging the Gap between Marketing Theory and Practice: Infusion, Inclusion, and Integration.’
The Best Paper Awards, recognising exceptional research contributions were awarded to Mayank Nagpal (1st Place), IIM Bangalore, for ‘From Words to Metric: Measuring Digitalization from Corporate Reports’; Sidharth Ramsinghaney, Twilio, United States, in 2nd place for ‘Breaking the Scale Barrier: AI-Driven Customer Engagement Insights from Organizations Processing 12.1 Trillion Interactions’; and Alokparna Das, IIM Indore, in 3rd place, for “The Influence of Pricing over Product Classification: Exploring the Hedonic-Utilitarian Continuum.”
Supported by State Bank of India, Sunway Business School, Sunway University as the Knowledge Partner, and the IIMS Journal of Management Science as the Publication Partner, iMarC IV welcomed over 150 participants from across five countries, including the USA, Australia, Cameroon, Nepal and so on. With 219 submissions comprising 21 full papers and 198 abstracts, the event showcased 154 expertly curated papers, organised into thematic tracks that explored the ever-evolving marketing landscape.
Prof Bidyut Jyoti Gogoi, Conference Chair, while welcoming the participants, expressed that the two-day conference should bring in discussions and deliberations on theory and practice. On the other hand, the thematic overview of the iMarC IV was delivered by Prof. Basav Roychowdhury, Dean Research, IIM Shillong.
The conference witnessed thought-provoking insights on topics such as ‘Customer-Centric Marketing: Lessons from Industry and Academics’ by panellist Jagannath AL, Director of Thoughtworks, and Himanshu Shekhar Mishra, senior journalist at NDTV. The panel discussion was moderated by Prof Pratap Chandra Mandal.
Luminaries from the global academic community delivered keynote addresses.
Prof Gerard and Dr Christine Farias (Texas Tech University) discussed existential crises in business, while Dr Subhadip Roy (IIM Ahmedabad) focused on qualitative research design. Prof Dipayan Biswas (University of Florida) shared insights on publishing in top-tier journals, Dr Sanjit Roy (Edith Cowan University) explored AI in relationship marketing, and Dr Bipul Kumar (IIM Indore) examined the societal impact of marketing.
In total, iMarC IV featured 25 technical sessions, robust panel discussions, and unparalleled networking opportunities; bridging the gap between academic theories and real-world marketing applications.
