The Marquest Club of JIMS Rohini, Sector-5 organized Brand Battleground on 11th March 2026, an engaging, strategy-based competition that tested participants’ crisis management abilities, public relations knowledge, communication skills, and strategic thinking. The event placed students in the role of public relations professionals, responsible for defending and protecting a brand’s reputation during controversial situations, or media professionals, responsible for questioning the brand’s actions, highlighting public concerns, and challenging the PR team’s response. This helped participants understand how communication and strategy shape public perception.
The competition began with Round 1 – The Public Relations Knowledge Quiz, in which 25 teams were selected on a first-come, first-served basis to participate in the initial screening round. This round tested participants’ awareness of well-known brand controversies. Teams answered a series of questions related to real corporate controversies, crisis communication strategies, and brand reputation management. Based on their performance in the quiz, the top 8 teams were selected for Round 2 – The Public Relations Crisis Defence Round. In this round, the shortlisted teams were given a real-life brand controversy, such as Dove’s advertisement backlash, the Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines crisis, or Kent RO’s controversial advertisement. Teams were given 30 minutes to analyse the situation, understand public reaction, and prepare a strategic public relations response or a critical media perspective to question and challenge the brand’s actions. The teams were given 10 minutes to present their debate and arguments. Finally, the teams were judged on their understanding of the crisis, the strength and relevance of their arguments, the effectiveness of the PR strategy or media critique presented, communication and persuasion skills, creativity, and team coordination.
The winners were: First place – Team Duo, with members Debraj (PGDM-B) and Arijit (PGDM-B); second place – Team Bindas, with members Harsh Sharma (PGDM-B) and Swastik (PGDM-B); and third place – Team Growth Gurus, with members Harsh (PGDM-IB) and Kashish Yadav (PGDM-IB). The event was graced by PGDM Dean Dr. Pratima Diapuria, Professor Dr. Deepti Kakar, event judges Dr. Vikas Tyagi and Dr. Navneet Joshi, and Marquest Faculty Coordinator Dr. Monika Agarwal. Finally, the event was successful in highlighting the importance of strategic communication and crisis management in modern branding, giving participants a practical understanding of how both PR and media teams play an important role in managing brand crises and shaping public trust.