National Winner Of Asian Paints CANVAS 2022-Team Paint Brush Share Their Winning Strategy In Detail

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Asian Paints CANVAS is one of the most prominent case study competitions that B-School students wait for every year. It offers students a myriad of opportunities from working on a live business case, to interacting with the senior leadership at Asian Paints, one of the leading Indian multinational paint companies. Naturally, we were really excited when we heard that CANVAS 2022 was about to begin this year. As soon as the announcements were made we- Maanik Narayanan, Udit Karwasra, and Tanisha Nanda decided to form a team and participate in the competition. We are all students at the NMIMS Mumbai, and we decided to call ourselves- Team Paint Brush.

We stepped into the competition with high hopes, aspirations, and a desire to do our best. And lifting the national winners' trophy of such a prestigious competition was something out of our wildest dreams. We learned so much on our journey, and even though not everything can be described in words, in this article we have shared some of the key learning we have gathered through this experience.  

About the Competition

Asian Paints CANVAS was by far the best competition we've presented in. And nor have we ever heard of a finale being executed with such grandeur and expertise, in the recent past. 

The challenge for Asian Paints CANVAS 2022 was around integrating the business portfolio of Asian Paints along a common digital strategy while balancing its traditional trade model. The key challenge was to read between the lines and decipher what the actual pain point of the company was. It took us several hours of discussion and brainstorming to actually narrow down some of the key nodes to focus on in this regard.

Also read: Challenge Yourself With These B-school Competitions

Our Strategy

Our strategy was basically to put ourselves both in the company's as well as the consumer's shoes to assess gaps in the current system, from all perspectives. Through this, we were able to analyze the motivations of each stakeholder and define our value propositions accordingly. The first submission was the smallest deliverable when compared to the nationals, but this was the part that took the most amount of time. This was because we wanted to build a strong foundation for our research and rationalize the solution in the best possible way. We had to find people who had recently undertaken decor work so that we could dissect the problems and gaps in the consumer journey. This was the toughest and also the most essential activity on our journey to arrive at our solution.

Analyze the Case Study with Help of Classroom Learning

The whole journey of analyzing the case study and reaching the solution was an intense practical learning experience. And the fact that it was supplemented with what we learn in the classroom, increased the quality of the experience & learning, multifold.

We were tasked with analyzing the paint and décor market and solving for an augmented digital consumer experience while striking the right balance with the company’s distribution channel. So we analyzed various stages of the consumer journey while making succinct recommendations to reduce purchase barriers and elevate CX through a Phygital model. 

What did We Learn?

This engaging case study competition helped us understand the in and outs of the consumer journey maps by dissecting the motivations of the consumers at each stage. Also by setting foot on the field and talking to the product dealers we were able to identify key challenges faced by them. Both of these experiences helped us drive solutions for digital enablement and make them viable. Lastly, we were also able to knit a holistic solution keeping each stakeholder and their key value propositions under consideration.

How to Handle the Q&A Round

The moment when we heard the MD of the company, declare us as the national winners of the competition, was definitely a pinnacle moment. That split second when you hear your name come out as the best, cannot be put into words. But to say this was the only moment that left us enthralled would be wrong. Another round/ moment during the competition which we really enjoyed as a team was the Q&A round with the jury. We know a lot of participants are apprehensive and nervous about this round, but it was the absolute best for us. 

After our presentation was done, we had 5 minutes to answer questions from the Jury panel. At that moment we felt the passion that all of us had for our idea, and we as a team made sure that we protected it. The connection that we had in those 5 minutes was quite fantastic and we did not feel tense at all. All of us enjoyed our moment on stage while we cleared the apprehensions of the jury. In fact, we wanted them to ask us more questions so that we could get the opportunity to talk more about our ideas. The whole process of explaining our idea and how great it was, was definitely a major highlight. 

We all, believe that when you handle such instances with enthusiasm rather than being tense, it becomes a great experience for both sides. And it was pretty awesome that we managed to do that!

Capitalize on all Your Strengths and Diverse Skills Set

To excel in a competition like CANVAS a team definitely needs to possess multiple skills. And we too possessed all core elements essential for participating viz. creativity, imagination, research skills, marketing strategy execution, and financial assessment skills. We found that we were all a great fit (interpersonally) where our qualities complement each other and enable synergy while working.

As individuals, Maanik drove the team with a strategic bird's eye view on multiple aspects of the case along with the all-things consumer journey, PPTs, and impact assessments. Tanisha was monumental in deriving primary insights and identifying the pain points of multiple stakeholders in the entire ecosystem. This helped us in fulfilling need gaps effectively. Udit was responsible for curating the digital strategy and striking the right solution for an effective Phygital channel for Asian Paints. We believe that making sure that we capitalized on each other's strengths and culminate our efforts to perform to the best of our ability, led us to victory in the competition.

Navigating Teamwork Challenges

Working in a team has definitely taught the three of us a lot. Collaborating with others comes with its own set of challenges but we believe that the benefits definitely outweigh them. We decided that anything that becomes a conflict, should be discussed in a professional manner and none of us would take it personally. So any disagreements we had, we discussed and resolved transparently. 

Since the team consisted of 3 members it was always easy to put decisions up for a vote. But if a single person strongly believed in a point, we made sure to hear them out with an open mind because they might actually be thinking from a perspective that the other two might have missed. So such a flat structure enabled us to break down any barriers in communication and focus on the common goal that united the 3 of us.

About the Finale

The structure of the competition ensured that the screening process yielded quality submissions in the finals. The finale was graced by Mr. Amit Syngle himself, the MD and CEO of Asian paints. He was accompanied by Ms. Savitha Shivsankar the CHRO and Mr. Shashank Sharma the General Manager of Marketing. We cannot imagine a more competent jury panel assessing our solutions. The knowledge and insight Mr. Syngle exhibited were awe-inspiring for us. He was thorough with each and every number of each and every company in the paints industry and allied industries as well. Interacting with him both on-stage and off-stage was a different experience altogether.

The Key to Winning the Competition

The reason for our success we believe was our thorough understanding of the case. As we saw presentations from other teams, we noticed that many of them had missed the key "ask" of the case. We think that we were able to deeply analyze and dissect what the company was truly looking for in the solution. This in our opinion has won us the competition, and it would not have happened if we were not good with strategic alignment.

In total, 14 teams from the best B-Schools in the nation made it to the finale of the competition, so we were certain that the competition is definitely going to be fierce. Each team lived up to this expectation and we saw some great presentations on stage. It was difficult to ascertain if our team would finish on the podium with such wonderful presentations. For us, the teams from IIM Calcutta and Bangalore performed really well. Primarily because their solutions were well structured, they had clarity and their performance during the question and answer round with the jury was amazing. This was definitely something we will carry with us for a long time.  

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