Two hundred and thirty five! That was number of teams that took part in the preliminary rounds of Biz Trac, the annual business quiz conducted by the Department of Corporate Secretaryship, PSG College of Arts and Science.
The quizmaster was M. Rangarajan and everyone looked set for an exciting Sunday afternoon of quizzing. “What’s the most recognised product smell across the world?” went one question. The answer: Johnson’s baby powder, the fragrance of which turns everyone nostalgic.
The finals, which saw eight teams from the city, Chennai and Hyderabad, on stage, had six rounds, including the hugely anticipated connect round. The many mini-connects and clues were Pepsi, Titan, Samsung, Chetan Bhagat’s Two States , Airtel, Three and Coca Cola. The final connect was Aamir Khan. He’s been a brand ambassador for Pepsi, Titan, Samsung and Coca Cola. Airtel sponsored Satyameva Jayate; he acted in Three Idiots , based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat.
Designing a crunch
Kellogs hired the Danish music lab, Bruel And Kjaer for which specific project? To design the sound of the crunch as you bite into the cornflakes! Like a Kodak moment, there’s something called the Seat Belt Moment? What is it? The guesses were many, but the answer was — the campaign for the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Programme.
During every festive occasion, you use an invention of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Alva Edison. What is it? Serial lights.
Ever heard of a concept where you pay a company to allow you to take up a dream job? That would be Vocation Vacation where during vacations, you can take up a job that you’ve always wanted to do. You get to choose from 125 unique careers.
As for badge engineering, you would have got full marks if you’d said — a company releasing the same product in different places under different names. Example. Renault Logan and Mahindra Verito.
Movie buff? What was the movie Meet the Joneses all about? Stealth marketing! Are you keeping track of what’s happening with Kingfisher Airlines? Then, you ought to know what humanitarian money means. The amount released by SBI to allow it to pay staff its overdue salaries.
The teams tackled the quiz with great spirit, rarely passing up answering questions even if it meant minus points. As for the organising students, they worked hard to make the event fancy, with scoreboards and graphics with photos of the teams. This year, they also introduced a junior quiz for school children.
One last question. Would you like to work from a bench in the park, as you watch the world go by? If you were working in an office that practises ROWE — Results Only Work Environment — you might get to do just that. They care little about the venue, only the output.
WINNERS
Biz Trac
Prashanth and Ramkumar (I Prize: Rs. 15,000), Anjan Srihari and Atulaa Krishnamurthy (II Prize Rs. 10,000) and Ashwin Bala and Senthil (III Prize Rs. 5,000)
Best family team
Shailendra and Priya Bhansali
Biz Trac junior
I Prize (Rs. 3,000): Tharunya. D and Adithyan. S (G.K.D MHSS and Vidhya Niketan MHSS)
II Prize (Rs. 2,000): Surya Narayanan and Sai Prasanth (S.B.O.A MHSS and B.V.B. MHSS)
III Prize (Rs. 1,000): V. Atitya Ragul and D. Abijith of S.B.O.A MHSS
The juniors were also allowed to take part in the main Biz Trac. The school team that topped the prelims won two study tables.
