Mumbai, May 9-11, 2022: Whistling Woods International (WWI) School of Media & Communication (SMC) recently concluded its inaugural edition of ‘Masterclass Marathon’ featuring distinguished names from the media & entertainment (M&E) industry. The SMC students were given exclusive exposure to prominent personalities from the top M&E companies namely Netflix India Originals, Boom Fact Check, Mediabrands Content Studio, ASB Communications, and Shobiz Experiential Communications. The SMC Masterclass Marathon spanning across five days witnessed the guest speakers touch upon aspects of advertising and marketing, integrated marketing communications, experiential marketing, journalism, streaming service ecosystem in India and much more.
Siddhant Mazumdar, Head, Mediabrands Content Studio, kicked off the first day of the SMC Masterclass Marathon with the inaugural discussion on digital media and advertising. He said, “There are few parts of advertising that have not changed and that is communication. But what has changed is the tools of communication – from writing for print, TV, and radio to digital, which includes OTT to Instagram posts.”
The following day, Braj Kishore, Managing Director, ASB Communications Private Limited took the audience behind the scenes of the corporate communications world through his personal experiences. “As a marketer today, your challenge is multifold. It was much easier 5 years back because there weren’t as many communication media as today. Today, every Instagram user with over 1 lakh followers is a medium in themself and several newspapers and magazines also do not have a reach of that level.”
Day 3 commenced with a session by Rajesh Singh, Executive Vice President, Shobiz Experiential Communication Private Limited. While encouraging the aspiring students, who wish to build a career in the events industry, Rajesh Singh said, “Every event is like an exam and in the events industry, you’ll have to face challenges in order to succeed. You cannot relax after doing 1-2 events, you need to keep going.”
Day 4 witnessed the presence of Jency Jacob, Managing Editor at Boom Fact Check. This exclusive masterclass shed light on ‘Fake News and Its Impact on Society’. Urging the students to follow a practice of fact checking while consuming news, Jency Jacob said, “The challenge is not just to think about misinformation or disinformation in its binary form. Rather it’s about being a good digital citizen and bringing a global change.”
The final day hosted Rohit Vedprakash, Director at Netflix India Originals. In the highly anticipated session on streaming platforms, Rohit Vedprakash discussed the Evolution of Netflix in India and its impact on the streaming service ecosystem. Rohit Vedprakash said, “Streaming is here to stay. It isn’t competing with other entertainment-viewing options like theatres, etc. India, specifically, is a huge opportunity for streaming platforms as we are a film and entertainment-consumption heavy country.”
The SMC Masterclass Marathon concluded on a high note as the sessions received encouraging feedback from curious minds looking to get an insight into the different domains of media & communication.
