The event industry of the country today is basking in the glory of intellectual properties. With multiple successful examples such as NH7 weekender, India Bike Week, T1 Truck Racing Championship, IIFA and others leading the way, every event company today aspires to successfully give birth to an IP that will stand the test of time.
However, creating an intellectual property event is not an easy feat. From the early challenges of deciphering the magnitude to powering through negative feedbacks is all part of it. But what really are the advantages and perils of Intellectual properties today? Well, this was the subject of an insightful panel discussion at EEMAX Global 2015.
On the panel were successful IP creators Viraf Sarkari (IIFA), Vivek Singh (Mumbai Marathon), Vijay Nair (NH7 Weekender) Rajesh Kejriwal (Kyoorius Design Yatra) and Devraj Sanyal (Enchanted Valley Carnival). The session was moderated by Suresh Venkat, Consulting Editor Forbes India.
The session began with Suresh Venkat asking the panelists on why did they decide to create IP’s and what drove them? Vijay Nair responded to the question by saying, “IP’s are basically the best part of events. It is different from all the other events you organize and is something that you build for yourself.
Reacting to the same question Devraj Sanyal stated, “The crux of an IP is basically an idea that matters to you. Through curating it you add life to something and create something for the fans. It is only an idea that lasts in our industry and this is what drives me.”
Adding to him, “Viraf Sarkari said, “We created an IP because we wanted to break the clutter and take the Indian cinema to a different space altogether. We were passionate about Indian cinema and popularizing it was something that drove us.”
An interesting fact about intellectual properties in India is that majority of them end up as disasters that are not sustained over the years. Hence, when asked to share their IP debacles Vivek Singh said, “20 years ago, we brought WWF to 4 cities in India and thought that it will be great success however we were completely wiped out from the commercial perspectives and this particular incident became a learning experience for us.”
Sharing his side of the story Rajesh Kejriwal said, In 2006 the Kyoorius Design Yatra was successful and hence we were inspired by others to make it bigger and better. But we ended up messing the entire property through launching design awards along with it in the next year. It was a big setback for us and we came back with the Design Yatra only after we sorted ourselves completely.”
Highlighting the subject of creating sustainable relationship with sponsors of the events Rajesh added that, “It is a sole destroying job to run after sponsors year after year. It is always better to make them long term partners by giving the value of engagement with customers to them. We have rejected sponsorships from FMCG brands as they demanded speaker slots at our event. Thus, it is always important to stay true to your core idea and money will follow.”
When asked if any of the IP’s of the panelists of the stage would have existed had they not created it? Vivek Singh responded to the question by saying, “Without me it would not have happened the way it did but it would have happened anyways as there was always a demand for a property like Mumbai Marathon.
Adding to him Vijay Nair said, “Succession is the way to go for IPs today as the process is consuming. After handing over one IP one can start working on another one.”
_20240524123450original_image_50.webp)
