At EEMA we work in harmony for the greater good of the industry—Sabbas Joseph

In his inaugural address at the 10th EEMA celebrations, Sabbas Joseph, President, Events and Entertainment Management Association of India underlined the changing dynamics of the event industry. Joseph said, “The future is not about logos in sponsorships but about brands becoming active participants in content. There is a need to understand the brand and the consumer, and engage the consumer in a rare and special experience integrating the brand seamlessly.”

Joseph also highlighted the importance of integrated solutions. Explaining how the experiential marketing community can benefit from it, he said, “There is a great need for integrated marketing and communication services. Brand activation, experiential marketing, sports marketing, advertising, branded content etc, will need to come under one roof so that the client is not left as the sole brand custodian. This can be achieved through strategic brand alliances, equity investments and buyouts which I believe will continue to increase.”

Speaking about his tenure as President of EEMA, Joseph said that the journey has been one of great camaraderie. "I think our greatest achievement has been to work together. I'm most proud that during my tenure so many senior members were motivated to contribute and take on duties, and most of all work in harmony, for the greater good of the industry."

Sharing his vision for EEMA, Joseph stated that the Indian events and activations industry was poised for exponential growth. He also underlined the need for the event fraternity to be future ready. “Technology has provided us an opportunity to stay connected. We need to build and effective economical platform to communicate and also to target the perfect audience. Predicting the impact of technology is a huge challenge.”

Joseph also believes that the next big growth for the events industry will come from the smaller cities. In his view, “The event industry continues to have concentrated play in some of the major metros. However the fact is that growth of consumerism across the B-towns and the rural hinterlands are pushing the marketing spends.”