Featured case: Quiz Kerala: Spreading Knowledge

Aravind Reghunathan and Joshy Joseph

Aravind, a doctoral student at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, discusses how his knowledge of the quizzing industry helped him in writing this case.

First-hand perspective

Aravind said: “As quizzing is a niche industry segment, the challenge for me was to make the reader understand the workings of the industry and its growing business potential.

“The quizmaster’s role can be viewed as a link between the content providing firm and the end users. This helped me to view the industry from the firm’s business side as well as from the live audience’s infotainment perspective.

“Accordingly, in the case, the reader goes through different dimensions of this industry, right from how a quiz is prepared by the research team to how it is enjoyed by the audience.”

Knowing your contacts

Aravind continued: “I have served as a quizmaster for Quiz Kerala, and the protagonist and I used to have discussions about the potential of the industry, since we both knew the workings of it well. Our relationship made it easier for me to ask him questions about his organisation, its current problems, and its future plans.”

Departure from the norm

He commented: “The students have found it interesting to go through an industry that is very different from the usual business settings on which most of the academic case studies are based on.

“In addition, they could easily relate to the infotainment angle of quizzing, as many of them regularly watch quiz-based reality shows on television.”

Scholarship support

Aravind concluded: “The Case Centre Writing Scholarship helped me to travel extensively and collect data from the field. It enabled me to visit and interview some regular clients of Quiz Kerala to interview them to find out why they are the preferred choice.

“I also interviewed quizzers from different parts of India and analysed how they review a quiz event or question.

“The Scholarship gave me an academic legitimacy for approaching the parties and conducting these interviews.

“In addition, it encouraged me to explore other unique business models and different topics that can be used to initiate insightful discussions in classrooms. As a result of this, I have now submitted another case study for distribution by The Case Centre.”

About the author

Aravind Reghunathan is a Doctoral Scholar in Marketing at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
e aravindreghunathan99@gmail.com

Joshy Joseph is an Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
e joshyjoseph@iimk.ac.in