I picked Hult International Business School to study at for a variety of reasons

1. Hult is globally renowned and reputed
2. MBA is  a 1 yr course, so I get back to the workforce sooner
3. Hult has a Global Rotation program where a student can rotate between their 5 global campuses [Boston, San Francisco, London, Shanghai and Dubai].

Its been 2 weeks since I’ve commenced my academic pursuit in Hult Dubai. I chose Dubai for a variety of reasons, but most of all because it was a cultural melting pot and more importantly a trading hub.

The 3rd week of academics just started after 5 days of religious holidays (which was much loved by all students). Today’s sessions were organized by Hult’s Career Services department and saw 3 external speakers talk about Marketing, Communication & Branding, and ‘Unleashing Your DNA”. All sessions were equally wonderful but here is something that really caught my attention.

Communication & Branding – Olivier Auroy

I find the discipline of  Communication & Branding completely fascinating. The ability to define, create, sculpt and control an entity’s persona is quite exhilarating and fascinating. The landscape is dynamic and the challenges varying and thus is not a job for those preferring stability in their line of work. One of the very interesting highlights of the session on Communication & Branding was this wicked idea of a new kind of sun-glasses. If you think there can be no innovation in a commodity as common as sun glasses, you’ll want to check this out.

bq (derived from the word burqa) is a brand of sunglasses that offer the perfect bridge between fashion and cultural traditions. The Middle Eastern countries have a rich heritage and changes in traditions have been swift with the advent of globalization. Women in these regions used to wear (and still do) burqas but as globalization sweeps through, more women have shifted towards wearing sun glasses as an alternative to the more traditional attire . bq aims at bridging these divergent forces by creating a new style of glasses that appeal to fashionistas whilst preserving a sense of tradition.

Here is a video on the product:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX-9W1n2xKU

We had a lively discussion in class with ideas on positioning and marketing being flushed out and a particularly interesting thought struck me. With sentiments in the West towards anything from the Middle East at an all time negative, wouldn’t it be meaningful to position this product in a way that would bridge the cultural divide? For example, one could call upon Miss USA 2010 to sport these sun glasses and when awareness of this product increases so will the attitudes towards the unknown change. If humans have used music and sports to set aside their differences and come together why not fashion? Fashion is global and the desire to look good universal! An interesting thought that warrants further exploration of course.

We had another brilliant session on “Unleashing your DNA” but I suppose at this juncture a new post is warranted