Read, Relate, Strategise.

Ashok Kumar: Professor
Centre for Creative Advertising & Screenwriting Skills
People are said to learn  from other’s experiences. It becomes important to learn that way when the stakes are high and money involved is enormous. This learning from other’s experiences is generally done in current days via what are called the case studies.

A case study is an account of an activity, event or problem that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes the complexities one would encounter in the workplace. Case studies are used to help one see how the complexities of real life influence decisions.

The popularity of case studies in testing theories or hypotheses has gained importance in recent times. Areas in which case studies have been gaining popularity are education, educational evaluation and in advertising studies.

Educators and advertisers- both- have used case studies as teaching methods and as part of professional development.

A case study helps one learn by immersing oneself in a real-world business scenario where they can act as problem-solvers and decision-makers.

A case study analysis must not merely summarize the case or a strategy but it should identify key issues and problems, outline and assess alternative courses of action, and draw appropriate conclusions. 

According to Kardos and Smith (1979) a good case has the following features:

a.It is taken from real life .
b.It consists of many parts and each part usually ends with problems and points for   discussion. c.There may not be a clear cut off point to the situation.
d.It includes sufficient information for the reader to relate to problems and issues of his own.
e.It is believable for the reader

The case study analysis can be broken down into the following steps:

a.Identifying  the most important facts surrounding the case.
b.Identifying the key issue or issues.
c.Specifying alternative courses of action.
d.Evaluating each course of action.
e.Recommending the best course of action.

The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies. Amongst the sources of data the psychologist is likely to turn to observations of a person’s daily routine, unstructured interviews with the participant , diaries, personal notes  or official document . Most of this information is likely to be qualitative  but the psychologist might collect numerical data as well. The data thus collected can be analysed using different theories. The advertiser are more interested in strategies and ‘How’ of a successful campaign. 

There are quite a few case studies and on various topics/brands - both- international and Indian-available today for any one to refer to.They are all so different from each other and all are  motivating and inspiring. Whether one reads case study of STARBUCKS or ROOH AFZA or COCA COLA or the one on the launch of DIVYA BHASKAR in Gujarat- there is so much to learn from each of them.

*****

Professor – A renowned screenplay writer and an acclaimed author, Prof. Kumar boasts of an illustrious career spanning four decades. Prof. Kumar has worked across several prestigious institutions including FTII, MICA, SNDT Women’s University, ATN and Home TV. He has also directed almost 50 short films and has three novels to his credit. Prof. Kumar also has numerous published short stories in his name.

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