ISB to offer branding and marketing support to Telangana State led innovations

By Team External Relations Aug 15, 2020

On the direction of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana, Department of Agriculture and Professor Jaishankar Telangana State Agricultural University came together to partner with the Indian School of Business for building the brand image of the newly developed paddy Telangana Sona.

The MoU was signed by Dr Janardhan Reddy, IAS, Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) and Secretary to Government, Agriculture Department, Government of Telangana; Prof V Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jaishankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) and Professor DVR Seshadri, Clinical Professor of Marketing and Director, ISB Centre for Business Markets.

Telangana Sona (RNR 15048) is a new paddy variety developed by PJTSAU which offers some distinguishing features making it beneficial for rice eaters from the health point of view. It also offered immense benefits to farmers and Mill owners also.

A team of ISB faculty members led by Professor Madhu Vishwanathan and Professor Manish Gangwar and Professor S Arunachalam would be working with the Agricultural University and Agriculture department of the Telangana Government to ISB to conduct the required research and analysis and recommend a marketing and branding strategy for Government of Telangana. Students from Class of 2021 are involved in this project as well. There is also scope to explore other areas where ISB could work together with both the partners.

Speaking about the importance of the new paddy variety, Dr Janardhan Reddy, IAS, Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) and Secretary to Government, Agriculture Department said: “Telangana has all the required innovations to become the Rice Bowl of the country and with the joint collaborative efforts of this nature, we hope to take a steep jump to popularize state-owned brands in the Agriculture sector. As diabetes is spreading big time to changes in lifestyles, it is important to develop food varieties that would help reduce this penetration. Telangana Sona is one such option which has the lowest glycemic index among all known varieties of paddy which is good for diabetic patients and also has a higher composition of protein, carbohydrates, energy, and vitamin B3”. 

 

Professor Manish Gangwar, Associate Dean – Research and Research Centres and Institutes Management, ISB said: “Branding and marketing are at the core of ISB’s expertise and it is our privilege to take up this important project and come up with a branding and marketing strategy for RNR1504, locally referred to as Telangana Sona. ISB will be taking up this study with PJTSAU through its JumpStartIndia@ISB initiative. We look forward to such collaborative efforts to strengthen Brand Telangana.”

Expressing happiness over the partnership, Professor Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor, PJTSAU, said that “PJTSAU has innovated many agricultural products since its existence primarily for the purpose to benefit the society. However, what is probably lacking is an appropriate branding and marketing strategies to take the innovations to the end consumers. An MoU of this kind is indeed unique and one of its kind which would become a role model for a purposeful collaboration We look forward to work with ISB and create the required value for the State led innovations.”