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Google Case Study Competition National Winner Snehal Thorat's Story
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I vividly remember the day I had seen the Google Case Study Competition poster in the institute atrium, I thought to myself that this is something which I am going to nail. When the winner’s name was announced, I couldn’t contain my excitement. It had been a long journey to this moment, it was an outburst of emotions. I was elated, probably something one really cannot describe in words!
In my first year of MBA, I wondered why doesn't Google launch a case study competition like other big organizations. And right in my second year, it launched the first ever Case Study Competition in India. This gave me an opportunity to provide an innovative solution to a live business problem along with an opportunity of working with Google. I was all set to give my sweat and blood to win this.
The competition took place in three rounds: Campus Round, Regional Round, and the Final Round. The entire competition spread over 3 months. Pixel is Google’s flagship smartphone brand. However, Pixel’s sales have not been that great in India. A strong marketing & sales strategy had to be developed to increase sales by 10X in the next 2-3 years. To solve any case study, in-depth primary and secondary research is needed. This helped our team to get the right insight to solve the case study, as well as, was our first step to ideation which in turn lead to the ‘Big Idea’.
The Campus Round was a one-slide submission round. To put all your strategies in a slide, along with conveying a convincing story was a task, this was the most challenging phase. The solution had to be succinct yet self-explanatory. I had given a strategy that was implementable in the next 3 years and would fit within Google’s vision.
In the West Regional Round, a detailed solution was expected. Every strategy from first round now had to be explained along with the rationale for executing that particular strategy. The solution provided, consisted of a phase-wise strategy, wherein Phase 1 will focus on branding Pixel in India, Phase 2 on building brand trust and Phase 3 on building brand loyalty.
In the Final National Round, each team was assigned a Google mentor and ours was Anand Devsharma. Insights obtained from him helped us convey a convincing story. A structured thinking approach was followed and the solution was executable and simple, with the backup math in place. His contribution to us winning the competition is immense. He motivated us and made us believe in our idea. It was during this phase, I learnt a lot as an individual from him and also thought to myself that Google is the organization where I would love to be.
Initially, I went in with a very technology-centric approach, however, after much contemplation, I realized that the problem is not about the phone but the connection you build with it i.e the brand positioning of Pixel. Along with following a logical structure to find a solution to a case study, what is also important is that you identify the core problem and what story are you trying to convey through your solution.
The entire journey has been challenging. However, I will always remember the incident when a video, which was the highlight of the final presentation, did not play at the right time due to technical issues and the judges asked me to skip it but I persisted and requested the judges and made sure that they saw the video because it was really important to convey the complete story. The solution provided was creative and had an element of Googliness to it; this also being our team’s forte.
There were 6 teams in the Finale of Google Case Study Competition. Two case studies were part of the competition- Pixel and Airbnb. The Airbnb solution provided by the XLRI team had some really great digital strategies for Airbnb to reach their users during all phases of the consumer journey.
Receiving a PPI and converting it to work with Google is the most memorable moment. This was that moment when all the hard work put finally paid off. I strongly believe in and live by the following words by Sundar Pichai- “It is Important to Follow your Dreams and Heart. Do Something that Excites You.”
Do you have your eyes set on winning Google Case Study Competition? Read more about Google Case Study Competition and the organizers Google to cover all your basis.
In my first year of MBA, I wondered why doesn't Google launch a case study competition like other big organizations. And right in my second year, it launched the first ever Case Study Competition in India. This gave me an opportunity to provide an innovative solution to a live business problem along with an opportunity of working with Google. I was all set to give my sweat and blood to win this.
The competition took place in three rounds: Campus Round, Regional Round, and the Final Round. The entire competition spread over 3 months. Pixel is Google’s flagship smartphone brand. However, Pixel’s sales have not been that great in India. A strong marketing & sales strategy had to be developed to increase sales by 10X in the next 2-3 years. To solve any case study, in-depth primary and secondary research is needed. This helped our team to get the right insight to solve the case study, as well as, was our first step to ideation which in turn lead to the ‘Big Idea’.
The Campus Round was a one-slide submission round. To put all your strategies in a slide, along with conveying a convincing story was a task, this was the most challenging phase. The solution had to be succinct yet self-explanatory. I had given a strategy that was implementable in the next 3 years and would fit within Google’s vision.
In the West Regional Round, a detailed solution was expected. Every strategy from first round now had to be explained along with the rationale for executing that particular strategy. The solution provided, consisted of a phase-wise strategy, wherein Phase 1 will focus on branding Pixel in India, Phase 2 on building brand trust and Phase 3 on building brand loyalty.
In the Final National Round, each team was assigned a Google mentor and ours was Anand Devsharma. Insights obtained from him helped us convey a convincing story. A structured thinking approach was followed and the solution was executable and simple, with the backup math in place. His contribution to us winning the competition is immense. He motivated us and made us believe in our idea. It was during this phase, I learnt a lot as an individual from him and also thought to myself that Google is the organization where I would love to be.
Initially, I went in with a very technology-centric approach, however, after much contemplation, I realized that the problem is not about the phone but the connection you build with it i.e the brand positioning of Pixel. Along with following a logical structure to find a solution to a case study, what is also important is that you identify the core problem and what story are you trying to convey through your solution.
The entire journey has been challenging. However, I will always remember the incident when a video, which was the highlight of the final presentation, did not play at the right time due to technical issues and the judges asked me to skip it but I persisted and requested the judges and made sure that they saw the video because it was really important to convey the complete story. The solution provided was creative and had an element of Googliness to it; this also being our team’s forte.
There were 6 teams in the Finale of Google Case Study Competition. Two case studies were part of the competition- Pixel and Airbnb. The Airbnb solution provided by the XLRI team had some really great digital strategies for Airbnb to reach their users during all phases of the consumer journey.
Receiving a PPI and converting it to work with Google is the most memorable moment. This was that moment when all the hard work put finally paid off. I strongly believe in and live by the following words by Sundar Pichai- “It is Important to Follow your Dreams and Heart. Do Something that Excites You.”
Do you have your eyes set on winning Google Case Study Competition? Read more about Google Case Study Competition and the organizers Google to cover all your basis.
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