Opportunity brief
About the Opportunity:
Marque, the Marketing Club of IIM Rohtak, invites you to feature your article in the upcoming edition of its monthly magazine, Insights.
This edition explores "The Trust Economy: Can Brands Still Be Believed?", examining how trust has become one of the most valuable and fragile assets for brands today.
As consumers navigate sponsored content, AI-generated communication, fake reviews, misinformation, and exaggerated brand promises, credibility has become harder to earn and easier to lose. From online ratings and influencer recommendations to transparent pricing and business practices, brands are increasingly being judged not just by what they say, but by how honestly they communicate. This edition explores how brands can build credibility, maintain transparency, and earn consumer trust in an increasingly skeptical marketplace.
Themes:
The Review You Can Trust?
Online reviews, ratings, testimonials, and user-generated content have become powerful drivers of consumer decisions. Explore how consumers evaluate digital feedback and whether they can distinguish genuine experiences from paid, manipulated, or AI-generated opinions. What makes a review credible in an age where trust can be manufactured?
Influence for Sale
Influencers and creators have become important voices in shaping brand perception and purchase decisions. Examine how sponsorships, brand partnerships, and creator-led recommendations influence consumer trust. Where does authentic influence end and advertising begin, and can paid partnerships remain credible?
Transparency or TMI?
Consumers increasingly expect brands to be transparent about pricing, data usage, sourcing, sustainability, and business practices. Discuss how brands can communicate openly without overwhelming consumers or turning transparency itself into a marketing tactic. How much transparency is enough to build trust?
As trust becomes an increasingly important competitive advantage, brands must navigate a marketplace where credibility can determine whether consumers listen, believe, and ultimately choose them. We invite you to explore how trust is built, challenged, and restored and what it takes for brands to remain believable in an age of information overload.
Share your insights. Shape the conversation.
Submission Guidelines:
- Submit an article under any one of the three themes
- Mention the selected sub-theme at the beginning of your article and include a title for your article
- The article should be between 800 and 1,000 words
- Font: Times New Roman
- Font Size: 12
- Submissions outside the prescribed themes will be disqualified
- Any form of plagiarism will lead to disqualification
- On the first page, include:
- A short author bio (30–50 words)
- A passport-size photograph
- Name of your institution
- Email ID
- Contact Number
- LinkedIn profile link
- UPI ID (for prize money disbursement)
- Images without a source or label will not be accepted
Rules:
- Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM, 29 August 2026
- Only college students are eligible to participate
- The use of AI tools will result in disqualification for the next five editions
- Submissions must be made in .doc or .docx format through Unstop only
- The article must be original and must not have been published elsewhere
- Any violation of the rules will result in disqualification