Being a music journalist for around 17 years Malvika Nanda boasts of being one of the first and youngest music columnists in the country. A trained Hindustani Classical Singer herself and having a keen interest in other forms and shapes of music led Nanda towards an entrepreneurial journey with the birth of 'The Big Beat' in 2011.
Nanda commenced her first big events' project as a Media strategist with the DNA Entertainment Networks with Carlos Santana's maiden tour of India for F1 Rocks. Since then, she has worked with many music festivals of India such as Storm, Escape, Holi Cow, Taalbelia, Rock N India, ICCR's Delhi International Jazz Fest and also, with eminent Indian and International music legends such as Susheela Raman, Lucky Ali, Midival Punditz, Them Clones, Fuzz Culture, Sartek, Mojojojo, Monica Dogra along with Universal Music India to name a few.
While speaking to Everything Experiential, Nanda revealed why she thinks media strategy is important for an event and how event planners can avail her services and opportunities in the sector.
Talking about the important factors she keeps in mind while strategizing for an event or an artist, Nanda said that she customizes plans for each one of them depending upon its target audience, the ethos of a festival or an event and its unique identity. She likes to work on projects which have a room for creativity and play- towards building a unique experience, time after time.
“When I work with an event, I just don’t aim to provide it with a platform where it can present itself in front of public’s eye so that they know about it, I work on the advisory aspect of its unique branding, collaborations, programming, communication design, outreach ideas, to artist management if need be, hospitality and content, we try to provide the audience with an experience they won’t forget and aren't likely to find around everywhere,” added Nanda.
Also, elaborating on media strategy being paramount to events, Nanda said that it is crucial for a brand to be known. “The biggest mistake that an event planner can make is to approach a media strategist 10 days before the event and assume a miracle to happen. Planning is most important, plan long before the date of the event and strive to be known, and this is where I come into play. In this age of technological advancements mediums of outreach and consumption patterns of the media have changed greatly, one needs to keep that in mind while devising a media plan- digital or traditional one.” she said.
Coming to an end of our short intriguing conversation, we spoke about the opportunities to foresee in the field of media consultancy. To which, Nanda said that there has been a tremendous rise in the trends of music festivals and Intellectual Properties (IPs) in India. “From luxury festivals, residency and destination festivals to pop-up performances, our country is witnessing immense growth and opportunities of multiple formats in the events’ industry", she concluded.
As the need for media strategy becomes more significant it is only indicative of the fact that when an industry grows all ancillary groups become more relevant. In the case of event management, it cannot be ignored how the industry is seen morphing and increasing its area of influence at such a remarkable pace.
