Author
With an extensive experience in the study of experiential and event marketing, Yamini Singh currently drives the editorial for BW APPLAUSE and Everything Experiential as its Executive Editor.
On the inexhaustible list of things our capital city is infamous for, certainly amongst the top few would be its outrageous and downright flagrant corruption. Right from palm-greasing a traffic cop to more severe cases of bribery in state administration tothe common you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours attitude. From the ground-up all the way to the top, corruption has eaten its way into the bones of the system and has come to become a term distinctly synonymous with Delhi. This has been the number one reason why many international artists have refused to perform in Delhi and several event planners have steered clear of ‘unnecessary hassles’ by avoiding hosting any shows in the city. But all that is about to change claims Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra, part of the AAP led Delhi government cabinet. In a recent industry meet Kapil Mishra assured the full house of event planners that the state will not encourage the trend of complimentary passes for any shows. One of the top grievances of event planners is that state officials and persons of ‘influence’ demand complimentary passes the cost of which is eventually incurred by the organizers. If organizers do not oblige then they are faced with a separate set of issues including obstruction or non-compliance by the officials. Vijay Nair, Founder of Only Much Louder – the organizer of music festival NH7 Weekender comments, “Corruption is rampant everywhere but in Delhi it is taken to a completely different level. The kind of money we are required to spend towards feeding state officials, licensing officers, police etc. is extremely demotivating.” He adds, “Even if a planner tries to organize something lawfully and with absolute integrity, it all seems for nothing when the profits are marginalized due to demands for unreasonable quantities of free passes. Once we were asked to send across 800 passes which was outrageous. Of course we did not comply but that said it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for us after that.” Inviting event organizers to host events in the capital Minister Kapil Mishra stated that the government would take necessary measures to ensure that processes requiring face-time with government officials is reduced and procedures can easily happen online. Strong steps have already been taken towards single window clearance for event licensing in the past few weeks. He has also guaranteed a period of 36 months towards cleaning the river Yamuna following which its banks would play host to world-class events. “We are waiting with bated breath for the changes to be implemented in the state system”, says Vijay. “We have seen some promising glimpses in the past weeks and hope the event industry continues to receive support from the government. Things are looking up and the entire industry is hopeful and excited. Instead of Gurgaon or Noida we now look forward to hosting NH7 Weekender in New Delhi.”
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The 2nd edition of Hero Indian Super League kicked off on 3rd October 2015 in Chennai with the opening match between Chennaiyin FC (co-owned by Abhishek Bachchan) and Altetico De Kolkata (co-owned by Sourav Ganguly). The grand opening ceremony this year was managed by Showtime Group. Showtime had deployed a team of 100 'showtimers' to manage the star studded event that featured live performances by Alia Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai, AR Rehman, and Arjun Kapoor amidst several south based film personalities and Bollywood celebs who were present to witness the show. TV anchor Leeza reported from the field and will continue to be the on-ground reporter for other subsequent matches. Heres a look at some moments we captured from the event- [caption id="attachment_20980" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Former Miss World and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20981" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Alia Bhatt performing[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20983" align="aligncenter" width="300"] excerpts from some of the other performances[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20984" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Superstar Rajnikant greeting the audiences[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20985" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Team Showtime[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20986" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The fireworks[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20987" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Arjun Kapoor[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20988" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The introduction of teams[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20989" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Anchor Leeza[/caption]
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After extending a model initiative for single window licensing, pre-approved venues and online entertainment tax payment, AAP-led Delhi Government has extended an enthusiastic invitation to event planners to organize their marquee events in Delhi. In order to achieve this, the Delhi Government Cabinet led by CM Arvind Kejriwal and consisting of Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra have initiated certain policies to facilitate an environment that aims to establish Delhi as the hub of media, entertainment and events. In relation to this, the government is also encouraging event planners to organize events on the banks of Yamuna and has promised to supply them with a clean river by administering an aggressive cleanliness campaign. During his recent visit to EEMAX Global Conclave in Mumbai, Minister Kapil Sharma stated, "We want to be your partners and not overlords demanding a percentage cut from your well-earned business. The objective of our governance is to create a regulated and easy policy environment and get out of the way. My hope from our transformative policy vision is that we don’t have to meet ever again for work, but only as friends. You should forget where the government office is to do your work.” In an open letter to the event fraternity, Roshan Shankar- Advisor to the Government of NCT of Delhi said, "We want you to bring your best events to Delhi during the Delhi Festival in February and we want you to help develop 15 special tourism hubs across Delhi by working with associations of all the industries that encompass movies, media, film, tourism, hospitality, art, culture, retail and heritage. It is our government’s personal commitment to you that you will never have to pay a bribe and that the Delhi Government will facilitate all the things that you need to make this happen." Following the announcement Delhi tourism has uploaded an e-tender that seeks to empanel event and entertainment management companies to do events with the government in Delhi. Details of the tender can be found here. The tender no. is 2015_DTTDC_87653_1 Revising the timelines of the tender, the government has issued a corrigendum announcing the bid submission closing date as 12-Oct-2015 03:00 PM and the bid opening date as 12-Oct-2015 04:00 PM
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It’s surely a reason to be bummed if you’ve missed the EEMAX Global Awards held in Mumbai on Sunday. Not to rub it in but you also missed the opportunity to rub shoulders with the likes of DiaMirza, Celina Jaitely, Neha Dhupia, Lauren Gotlieb, and (depending on your preference) the original ‘Bad Man’ of Indian cinema- Gulshan Grover. Did we mention the spectacular performance by Rahet Fateh Ali Khan? Okay, the more we spill the worse you’ll feel so we’ll stop. But we certainly don’t want you to miss the chance next year. So while you prepare to participate and make a clean sweep atEEMAX Global 2016, here’sthe FIRST LOOK at the winners from this year, just so you know what you’re up against. Best Event Marketing Education Program National Institute of Event Management Best use of Digital Marketing for an event or activation Encompass Décor/Design for Best use of Digital Marketing Encompass Best Use of Technology for an Event or Activation Gold- Tro Experiential Silver- Group M Dialogue Factory Best Social Media Amplification or Mobile Application for an Event or Activation Silver- Pulp Strategy Silver- 70 EMG Best Roadshow Activation Gold- Brandwidth Gold- Touchwood Silver- Encompass Best Mall or In-store Activation Gold- Encompass Silver- Group M Silver- Laqshya Live Experiences EEMAX Global Honour Amsterdam Lights Festival Tampa Bay Tourism ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Best International Event Gold- Wizcraft Silver- Cineyug Best Internal Event or Activation Gold- Phase1 Gold- Aura Integrated Solutions Silver- Aura Integrated Solutions Best Event for the Government Gold- Lalooji Silver- Vision Force Best CSR Event or Activation Gold- Laqshya Live Experiences Gold- Encompass Silver- KrayonEdumedia Best Exhibition Space, Retail Display or Experience Centre Gold- TRO Experiential Silver- TRO Experiential Best Consumer Activation Gold- Encompass Gold- TRO Experiential Silver- Wizcraft Best School or Youth Activation Gold- KrayonEdumedia Gold- Laqshya Live Experiences Silver- Encompass Best Product Launch Activation Gold- Event Crafter Silver- Madison OOH Best Dealer Activation Gold- Rashi Entertainment Silver- Event Crafter Best Wedding Gold- Ankita Chugh Silver- E Factor Best Social Event other than Wedding Gold- Touchwood Silver Rashi Entertainment Best Destination Wedding Gold- E Factor Silver- Motwane Entertainment Silver- E Factor Best Décor Design for a Wedding or Social Event Gold- E Factor Silver- Rashi Entertainment Best Ceremony for Sports Gold- TIC (The Innuendo Communications) Silver- Encompass Best Product Launch Event Gold- Encompass Silver- Encompass Silver- Oaks Best MICE Event Gold- Enthuse Silver- Phase 1 Best Integrated Communication for an IP Gold- Fountainhead Silver- Fountainhead Best new IP Event or Activation Gold- Fountainhead Silver- Cineyug Best IP Event & Activation Gold- Wizcraft Silver- Wizcraft Best Televised Event Gold- Wizcraft Silver- Wizcraft Best Public Event (Ticketed & Non-Ticketed) Gold- 70 EMG Silver- TIC Silver- Lalooji Best Signature Event Gold- TRO Experiential Silver- Encompass
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The EEMAX Global conclave and awards organized by the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) was held across 19th and 20th September 2015 at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. The annual event targeted at the events and experiential industry within India had experts from various parts of the world share experiences from their respective areas of focus. If you haven’t read our post about Day 1 of the conclave, view it here. Following a spectacular performance by Shillong Chamber Choir chiming to the tune of VandeMataram, a session on ‘building events tourism’ marked the start of Day 2 of the conclave where Santiago Corrada, President and CEO, Tampa Bay and Valsa Nair Singh , Secretary - Tourism and Culture, Govt of Maharashtra spoke about the impact and contribution of events towards a state economy. A case study was presented by Rogier van der Heide , Artistic Director, Amsterdam Lights Festival,offering a closer look at the annual extravaganza created in the city using compelling artwork and ‘light’ as a medium. Daniel Rodriguez, Copywriter & Creative Director, DDB Spain, shared a case study of ‘The world’s first ever virtual political demonstration’ in which holograms were used to protest against a new law that violated the right of freedom of expression. The subsequent session was orchestrated by Rajeev Jain, Treasurer, EEMA, and featured a panel consisting Kapil Mishra, Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture, Delhi Government; Sanjay Kumar,IAS, Commissioner- Excise, Delhi Government; and Vijay Nair, Director, OML. The discussion was focused at ‘Licensing made easy in New Delhi’ and was perceived as one of the most heartening sessions of the day with the Delhi state representatives extending promising support to address the issue. More on that, here. The panelists representing the last session of the day featured intellectual property owners Viraf Sarkari, Wizcraft International, Creators of IIFA; Vivek Singh, Procam International, Creators of Mumbai Marathon; Vijay Nair, Only Much Louder, Creators of NH7 ; and RajeshKejriwal, Kyoorius Group, Creators of Kyoorius Design Yatra. Each speaker shared his unique experience of creating a successful IP and the challenges that riddled their respective paths. Find a detailed look at the discussion here. After a power packed conclave the evening graduated to the much awaited EEMAX Global Awards. Encompass achieved a clean sweep by bagging 11 awards across all categories, followed by Wizcraft with 6 wins, TRO with 5 and E Factor with 4. With this year’s awards the new EEMAX trophy was also unveiled to the fraternitycreating aspiration for many who did not win. The event saw the likes of Bollywood celebs including Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Celina Jaitley, Gulshan Grover and many others and performances by Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Lauren Gottlieb, Stars of India’s Got Talent and singer-duo Raftaar.
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The EEMAX Global Conclave got off to a celebratory start on 19 September 2015 at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. Although a sudden downpour and roads peppered with traffic due to Ganesh Chaturthi carried the promise of dampened spirits, the events fraternity flocked the venue nonetheless as Mr Sabbas Joseph, PresidentEEMA (Events & Entertainment Management Association), kicked off the event to a feisty start. In attendance were event agencies from various parts of the country, besides artists, service providers and other stakeholders from the event’s industry. Rajeev Jain, Treasurer, EEMA commented, “The response has been phenomenal with respect to registrations at the conclave and participating entries for the awards. The doors to EEMAX have been opened to non-EEMA members as well as global partakers which has piqued further interest. It is great to see great minds get together in order to inspire, collaborate and create.” After an inspirational narrative of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Nancy Frates, and an engaging fireside chat post that with EVP, EEMA AtulNath, the challenge was thrown open to Bollywood actor VivekOberoi, who sportingly took it up. As a twist to the plot, instead of nominating three people for the challenge, the entire audience was given the option of volunteering for the challenge by way of making a donation of $100. A group photo was taken with all volunteers as seen here: Another session was with Patrick Roubroeks, the man behind creating the ‘Turn On The Lights’ showcase at De Bijenkorf in Amsterdam.Rahul Gomes, Secretary, EEMA, conducted a Q&A session with Roubroeks to learn more about the spectacle and other campaigns on his portfolio. The evening ended with performances by The Shillong Chamber Choir and Shaan. EEMAX Global will culminate on 20 September 2015 with an awards ceremony recognizing the most exceptional work in the Indian events and experiential arena. Watch this space for more updates.
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In a dog eat dog world, brands are like scavengers. Anywhere they see a thriving consumer populace, they come scurrying, to catch them first and catch them young. And one place that hits the mark with most brands as their favorite feeding ground is- THE MALL. Thousands of unassuming customers. Fat pockets. Just saying these two things to a marketer is reason enough for him to invest ina mall activation. That’s the reason why 15%-20% of all activations today happen at malls as opposed to any other venue. A veteran player in this game, responsible for executing over 500 activations in malls for over 100 different brands is Candid Marketing. Atul Nath, Managing Director, Candid Marketing, in conversation with Yamini Singh, gives the lowdown as he traces his journey from mall to mall. Q- Your first experience of executing an activation at a mall? A- It was back in 1999 when the first two malls opened in India - Ansal Plaza in Delhi and Crossroads in Mumbai. Malls were a real novelty for consumers and for brands way back then and most marketers didn’t really know how to effectively use them as an activation playground. Not many people know but in the very early years, we represented Ansal Plaza for all marketing activities. Q- The challenges of activating at a mall? A- Malls are relatively one of the easiest venues for executing activations. They offer a fairly controlled environment with a captive audience willing and able to engage with brands. The only real challenge in malls is to separate entertainment-seeking-consumers from serious brand-interested-consumers. Getting this balance is crucial for delivering the right target audience and the right level of effectiveness for the brand. Sometimes, in the endeavour of chasing numbers, clients tend to compromise on the quality of target audience. Q- There is a strong emphasis on malls as a venue for activations. Is there an alternative for achieving the same level of engagement? A- Malls offer a predictable environment for engaging with consumers in large numbers. Unfortunately, open market places in our country are unpredictable in terms of getting permissions and space. Add to this the vagaries of weather conditions in many regions, and outdoor areas become a real challenge. At the right time and at the right mall, one can get a ready and captive audience without having to invest in attracting an audience. Q- What is the most common client brief you receive when planning a mall activation? Mall Activation briefs are not very different from other activation and event briefs. Brands are generally seeking engagement opportunities with its TG in accordance to their priorities and objectives. Q-What elements should a newly established event company keep in mind while executing a mall activation? A- A clear communication and list of deliverables with the Mall or Mall representation agency is crucial. Q- What have been your leanings from mall activations? A- There was a time when there was enough to do as an activation in a mall to attract consumers, not so much now. It is crucial to create a strong creative and engaging connect with consumers to deliver a brand message effectively. (The story has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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“Music makes the people come together. Music mix the bourgeoisie and the rebel…” Madonna’s year 2000 hit single beautifully indicatesthe power of music to overcome divisions of race, gender and sexuality. She spoke of nothing new really. If at all it only brought to the fore what several thinkers and dreamers have echoed for centuries – Music is the universal language. It possesses the ability to connect people. The last 15 years or so have been transformational for India. With better connectivity came greater global awareness, the steady arrival of MNC’s created more employment opportunities and larger disposable incomes among middle income groups led to deeper interests in varied forms of entertainment and recreation. There was a clear demand to be entertained as live performances began driving the non-film scenario and the live events sector noticeably flourished. It may well be the youngest facet of the Indian entertainment industry. And yet, almost overnight, no one could do without it. This is exactly what was needed in our country, a reason for people to get together and collectively celebrate, defying the long-drawn complexities of caste and inequalities. Smaller events led to enticement and greater demand heartened enterprising Indians to look beyond borders for inspiration. And just like that, two years after the launch of leading EDM festival Tomorrowland in Belgium, Percept India created its very own music IP in 2007 by the name of Sunburn. Little did one know at that time that ‘Sunburn’ would go on to be recognized as a common household name among Indian youth. Its immediate acceptance gave way to a multitude of similar format events in urban India. Music had become the reinforcer. Fast forward to 2015, and the three large format music IP’s that unmistakably dominatethe Indian music scene are Percept’s Sunburn, OML’s NH7 Weekender and Live Viacom18’s Supersonic. Each, with its campus brand-extensions and multi-city tours, has continued to grow significantly in scale and attendance allowing sponsors the opportunity for two-way engagement with an audience considered gold. In conversation with Harindra Singh, Co-Founder, Percept;Vijay Nair, Founder, OML and Jaideep Singh, Business Head, Live Viacom18, Yamini Singh traces their journey to the top. Harindra Singh, Co-Founder, Sunburn, Percept Tell us how you got into the business of events? I got into the advertising business by default not by design. The first 10 years were challenging because I started off with nothing. Its not like I had amassed a huge capital or had family wealth backing me- nothing! But we emerged unscathed from the initial years of struggle, I think it lasted a gruesome decade, and we soon began receiving a lot of appreciation for our work. Around 1994 we suddenly realized that lot of our clients were beginning to look for ‘special’ solutions. And if we don’t get into the so called specialist zones we were going to lose our clients. We realized around the same time that as a result of entering these specialist zones, we might actually have new products giving us greater market access. So we made a decision- whatever were these so-called specialist areas, we were going to do those. We didn’t have money at the time to actually acquire any knowledge or expertise. So our first step was very simple- we had an office where we had these little rooms, so we labeled one of those cabins- Event Division. Things got off to a rocky start. But I’m a firm believer that a brand- agency relationship is like a marriage. Even if things don’t work out properly you just don’t switch off. I guess 2-3 years is the minimum time to spend with an agency to really understand it. We sailed through and soon established some stable client relationships that entrusted us with major events. From an advertising solutions provider to the owner of an IP, how did that transpire? By the late 90’s we had emerged as one of the top integrated marketing solutions provider. Soon a realization dawned upon us that we have been surveying all our clients, we’ve given them some excellent ideas, we’ve also implement them, only to receive a 5-10 percent fee! Many of these clients took these ideas and continued to use them. For example brand slogans Hero Motors Deshh Ki Dhadkan and Coming Home to Siyaram are still being monetized and we are not getting a penny from it. See what happens in our business is when you do something for a client, he pays you a bill and becomes the owner of everything that you’ve done. But that’s not fair. If you go to Tata Consultancy Services and ask them for a software solution, they will sell you the right to use that software solution, you don’t own it, you cant sell it. It is subject to limited use, and for upgrades and maintenance you need to go back to them. In our business you give a solution to a client and you are out the scene. So we thought lets try and tell the client to not pay us now but pay us a certain amount every time they use the solution. Rather than selling the solution we decided to lease the solution to them. But the clients were rigid, they would rather pay us a larger one-time fee but never settle on such an arrangement. Therefore it didn’t work. So we thought why not try and make our ideas work for us. We decided that when we develop an idea we either lease it or monetize it ourselves. When this thought came to us it remolded our business model. So we raised a lot of capital and made our first movie- Hanuman, and also christened Sunburn shortly after in 2007. How would you describe the soul of Percept? I believe the DNA of our group is consumer insight. Ever since we started off we’ve basically been trying to understand the consumer better. Everyone knows what the view is when they sit in the driver’s seat of the car, but you can’t see the same view from the outside. You can just have one view in real life. When you are in the marcom business you need to think like a buyer and also as a seller, and this is what you call consumer insight. So our soul is fundamentally consumer insight and creativity. I think both these attributes are very important in a country with the largest youth population. As a kid, other than studying or socializing with family, all my time was spent on the street, in the park playing cricket, kho-kho and hide seek. I noticed that the kids today were investing a major chunk of their time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or watching television. Back in the day there was only one television channel running Mahabharat and Hum Log. Opportunities for physical social engagement platform were becoming more and more limited. The first thought behind creating Sunburn came from wanting to create a space where the youth could come hang out and engage. Music was our denominator. So we analyzed the music preferences of the urban youth with western influence and narrowed it down to EDM, rock and Bollywood. Soon we launched Metal Fest, Sunburn,Bollyboom and WindSong with a target to bring the youth together. Did sunburn accelerate faster than the other properties? We launched Sunburn and Metal Fest around the same time. I don’t know if it was by design or default, but in year one Metal Fest did better than Sunburn. If you go back to 2007 Indian youth knew rock and metal music more. Metal Fest markets were largely Bangalore and east India; rock music was popular in those areas. But these markets did not have as much capability to buy the tickets. Luckily we got necessary sponsorships. However, we lost money in both Metal Fest and and Sunburn. Between these two we lost more on Sunburn. We continued with sunburn in year two, the clear mandate was that if we lose money we would kill it. My team clearly had more faith in Sunburn than I did at that time, so they lied to me and showed me false projections. Closer to the event, I realized none of the numbers made sense but it was already too late then and we had a show to pull. We somehow managed that year. But a voice in my head always kept telling me to push it and that this thing had great potential, so we continued backing it. We ended up making decent amount of money from Sunburn in its 3rd edition in 2009. What according to you worked in favor of Sunburn? Any other music genre has lyrics and if you see the diversity of our country the language changes every 100 Km. Lyrical music could create limitations of geography and population. Whereas, music without lyrics i.e EDM, could go anywhere. Therefore Sunburn was a universal hit. In the first 2 years people didn’t come for sunburn they came for the artists. In 2009, we made a conscious decision that we don’t want this anymore and we want people to come for Sunburn. In 2010 we sold tickets for sunburn Goa without announcing who is playing. That is how we got more confidence and pushed the brand. What were the roadblocks you faced while trying to establish Sunburn? - I love my country; I live here out of choice. Although we’ve tried to establish Sunburn and all our properties in the most legal ways, still everyday is a challenge. Even if you’re trying to do something according to the norms so many permissions are required and its generally hassling. We face new challenges everyday. But I am okay. You know why? Because if its tough for me then it must be impossible for others. So currently the title sponsor continues to remain hero? Yes Do you have any other investors in the property? We do have some international investors who own a 25-27 percent stake. What is the turnover at Sunburn each other? We did about 130 Cr last year in revenue. Plan to hit 250-260 Cr in 2016. Speaking specifically about Goa – we do about 30-40 Cr. What would be the profit margin? You’d be shocked to hear this but we don’t make money in Goa. Our profits come from the satellite properties of Sunburn. We made money from Sunburn Goa in 2009-10 but not since then. So it’s a conscious decision- we run our flagship product which is Sunburn Goa as an investment towards building Sunburn as a brand. How do you promise value to a brand when its contemplating whether it should associate with Sunburn? Brands come to us to associate with Sunburn’s edgy, young, dynamic energy and to get a rub off. I have an audience, and if you want to come and reach out to those guys, you associate with me. Sunburn offers a great setting to activate a brand in fun and creative ways. Vijay Nair, Founder, NH7 Weekender, OML At a young age of 32 you seem to have accomplished quite a lot. Tell us about your early life? I dropped out of college when I was 18 and was legally allowed to make my own decisions. Before I started OML I used to work with a website which was like the Reddit of those days. It hosted discussion forums allowing people to discuss music related subjects ranging from what gigs are happening where to which bands are hot and suchlike. It was a huge cult thing and had a massive following. I was helping them with PR and marketing related stuff. My college was one of those where no one would show up- students and professors alike- and there were rarely any classes happening. And when they were happening, I never went. There was never a roll call too, so I think I ended up attending not more than 3 lectures in my entire courseterm. I would directly go to work because I enjoyed that much better. Were you always a music junkie? I was never into music as a teenager in school. Its only when I stared working I picked up that interest from meeting new bands and learning about the space. Zero is the first band I ever heard in my life and fell in love with them. I became a hardcore fan and this brought me closer to music. Then a band based in Pune, AFS, asked me to manage them. They knew me since my Gigpack days. I started managing AFS and within 3 months realized that I love doing this band management stuff. Soon I was managing Pentagram, Zero and PDV- few of the top rock bands those days. So you became an ‘artist manager’ as we know them now? Well, I was surely managing these bands but artist mangement did not exist back then. There was no such concept. The closest to this was Suvir Malik of Parikrama, who managed his own band. There was always one person in every band who was good at doing all this, so he managed the band and its bookings. For Pentagram Vishal used to do that. And when I approached him he was very happy that some kid was taking that job off his shoulders. So that’s how things transpired for me- from managing bands to producing smalltime concerts with my own artists. Then I started a record label named Counter Culture, then came the production house. When did OML take birth? OML came a year or so later. I had to come up with a name, saw a cool identity in the name Only Much Louder and decided to go with it. It was a proprietorship for the longest time, then it changed to a private company. So, how did I became we? I had couple of kids who worked with me. They were 16 or 17 even younger than what I was but we used to do these things together. I became ‘we’ when Nissa, Sameera and Bobby joined in 2006. And then we started doing events. We drifted a bit along the way and began doing corporate events. We did that for a year or two then stopped because it was the most boring, soul sucking, mind numbing thing ever. We refoccued on music, Nissa running the Record label and Samira began managing Bable Fish Production. Another major development was when my brother Ajay joined me in 2010. So, till this point you were making enough money to sustain your company? Yeah it was profitable by itself. The only time it became unprofitable was when we started NH7. I think everyone goes through this passage and loses money because that is how festivals are. After its third year NH7 has continually been profitable. Is that when your career took a different turn? NH7 was the turning point which happened because of multiple reasons. After doing smallish concerts catering to 2000- 3000 people, NH7 felt like major league. Second, I began travelling abroad and was floored by the kind of stages, artists, music. That’s when I fixed my eye on the prize and the real journey of NH7 began. So every IP owner faces his share of struggles and challenges in the initial years. What were yours? In the first year NH7 was not received as well as we had thought. We thought 4,000 people would come but only 2000 came. I had to mortgage my dad’s house to pay off all expenses incurred. Next we got some loan to pay off the mortgage then we got some investment to pay for the loan that’s how somehow we got out of that. In the second year of NH7 8000 people turned up, much beyond what we were expecting, and we were back in the game. 8000 people is a lot for the second edition. What were you doing right? Fortunately in its first year NH7 was actually really good. There were only 2000 people but I feel those who came in just couldn’t stop talking about it. We didn’t have any budgets for marketing but word of mouth did the trick for us. NH7 in its third year saw 13400 people. I think we consistently delivered a really good experience throughout that kept pulling in the crowd. Also we’ve made it a point that our artists should always be looked after well. Unlike other large format music IP’s in India who delay their artist payments by months and years, we insist on paying our artists a 100% advance before they go onstage. How many Nh7’s across a year? This year we are doing five festivals- Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Shillong and Calcutta, summing up to 11 days. Are 11 days sufficient to sustain this amazing office and all these employees? NH7 is only around 20% to 25% of our turnover. We do a whole lot of other work like event management, comedy shows, AIB is managed by us, so there are a lot of other businesses to support the outfit. The company is currently valued at 225 crores. Are you planning any other music property or intellectual property? Yes, we have plans to launch five new properties. We will announce it at the end of the year. Otherwise stage 42 is one property that is focused at music and comedy theatre. Then there is The Coalition that we do which promises to be parallel to the scale of Nh7 this year. What is the footfall at NH7 Pune compared to Sunburn Goa? First of all you have to realize how footfall is calculated. Let’s say you sell 20,000 tickets and you sell it for two days, as in it allows the visitor entry for two days. So should I count him as one person or two persons? 1 person is the correct count but what festivals in India do is 20000 tickets are sold into 3 days so that becomes 60000. So for NH7, the biggest show that happens in Pune gets 14000 people rest get 9000 and 10000. So I could either claim the correct count to be 14000 or smartly play it up and say the count is 42000 (14000*3). With that logic, the biggest one in my opinion is Sunburn which gets around 22000 to 23000 odd people but if you compare that to the total of events that we do we are 2 and a half times their size. Jaideep Singh, Senior VP and Business Head, Supersonic, Viacom18 After establishing Live Viacom18 under Integrated Network Solutions, you launched 12 new IP’s ranging from music to entertainment. What are your plans to scale further? The strategy from the beginning has been to be high on content. Each property under the Live Viacom18 umbrella is backed by extensions that run throughout the year. Twelve events turned out to be a two hundred events in 2014 and this year it will be three hundred plus. These extensions help build the participating brands and create a better recall value. Going forward the aim is to make all our properties larger, perhaps take them to other countries. We have teams across the globe, there are teams in Middle East, South East Asia and several newer locations that are under exploration. In one and a half years we have covered all genres of entertainment. And as we move into the year ahead we will look at new genres of entertainments to introduce to the market so I think that’s the key piece to look at. What are these new genres of entertainment you speak of? All I can reveal at this stage is, while you have the big music genres and other entertainments options, the space is opening further. A demographic that currently seems to be left out is the thirty plus age bracket. We have very clued in to the international scene and are surveying the new genres of entertainment that are working for them. We will have some very exciting news to share shortly. But how do you differentiate yourself from a Sunburn or any other EDM festival? Having a strong foundation and having a setup are two different things. We have a strong foundation and a broadcast unlike any other player in this space. They can never have it and they can never be a part of mine. Secondly, Sunburn has a million fans on Facebook, we also have close to a million fans on Facebook. But what matters is what all I have besides these million fans. I have forty five million people connected to me via social media and Viacom’s own websites. We have twenty-five websites that have millions of followers across the MTV and VH1 network. So for starters my reach cannot be matched by anybody in the industry simply because of the fact that they don’t have those assets. We have created in one year that which has taken 8 years for others to build. What about the differentiation in the format? The Supersonic talent mix is one of the biggest thing people talked about in our first year and in the second year we went across multiple genres of music where our lineup was at par with global standards. The audience and media has vouched for that. Second thing is the vibe of the festival. We hear and observe our audience very closely and one thing that has emerged from this is that they associate Supersonic with friendship, happiness and, of course, real music. We maintain a balance in the vibe we throw out. We follow the same ideology with Bollyland where everything we do is based around the central theme of ‘desi cool’. So we ensure the balance between ‘desi’ and ‘cool’ is upheld at all times. How do you compare the footfall at Supersonic with that at Sunburn? I guess we are pretty much neck to neck. Supersonic had an audience close to 30 to 35 thousand in 4 days and Sunburn also had around 40 thousand. Supersonic is a large format ambitious property that’s only 2 editions old. Is it profitable yet? This year we should break even from Supersonic and its extensions. Up till now we have been facing losses but that’s only because we have pumped massive investment into this, what Sunburn may have invested in 5-6 years we have done in 2. Our cumulative investment towards the live music and entertainment space in India is without a doubt more than any other player in the market. What has Nikhil channapa brought to the table for Supersonic? Nikhil is a dear friend since a long time and for me he is the hygiene factor at Supersonic. He works very closely with the Supersonic team. Many people speculate that Supersonic is part owned by Viacom 18 and partly by Nikhil Chinnapa but that is not the case, Nikhil does own a stake in the property but it is negligible. Besides Supersonic, what has been the response from your other music IP’s? This year was fantastic for all of our other properties, most of them are in their second year now. Through Emerge in Bangalore I connected with ten thousand people. And Bollyland is a dominant player in the Bollywood genre. No one else has a property of that scale. Percept wanted to do Bollyboom, but they did one show in Noida and they announced it on the same day Bollyland launched. We have done twelve to fifteen shows and ten campus shows already. What has worked in your favor? While retail, finance and infrastructure have been able to make sense out of the vast Indian populace, the music industry has not been able to optimize its strength. At the end it is only about the live twenty thousand people for most concerts. With our network, we are empowered to multiply that reach and stand out from the rest. Secondly, as a group we are fairly cash rich. Our eye is on the prize and we do not have any qualms about investing in something now that promises dividends in the future. Not many players have that sense of security. We believe in our ideas and will back them till we dominate. (The story has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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Beer is an ingenious formula- affordable, great for moderate drinking and goes exceptionally well with the perennially hot Indian summer. Over the last decade, acceptability of alcohol has opened the market to new consumers like women and youth who earlier comprised only a small proportion of alcohol consumers in the country. Moreover, relaxation of rules on foreign direct investment in the last decade has opened the floodgates to international players in the sector. With beer cafes and microbreweries mushrooming with a steady pace around Bangalore, Gurgaon and Pune since 2008, the beer scenario has changed drastically in the country. Rapid urbanization, growing disposable incomes and a large youth population contributes towards making the beer segment the fastest growing alcoholic beverage segment in India by consumption and revenue share. Interestingly, owing to a ban on direct advertising of alcoholic beverages in India, companies are forced to be more innovative in their approach to engage the consumers, branching out into concepts such as non-alcoholic brand extensions and surrogate advertising. And one brand that is milking this cash cow well is Kingfisher - from Bangalore’s United Breweries - by consistently representing a 50% to 55% market share in the beer segment. Second to follow is SABMiller, closely tailed by Copenhagen–headquartered Carlsberg. Between 2009 and 2013, Kingfisher saw its market share slide from 54% to 50.4%, while Carlsberg increased its share from 2% to 7% during this period, according to Euromonitor International. In conversation with Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior VP Marketing, United Breweries Limited and Mahesh Kanchan, Director Marketing, Carlsberg, we survey the experiential roadmap of two of the most dominant players in the Indian beer market- Kingfisher and Carlsberg. Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior VP Marketing, United Breweries Limited Q-What drives Kingfisher’s experiential philosophy? A-At Kingfisher, we as a brand look at current trends after distinguishing it from a Fad. A Fad is something which is here today but gone tomorrow however a trend lasts for a while and has a large number of consumers participating. We look at trends and try to dissect it to understand a strong consumer insight coming out of that, for us that insight becomes the basis of our experiential campaigns. We at Kingfisher believe that we are a fun brand and our philosophy is extending the same fun to our consumers via such experiential campaigns Q-Is there anything particular you keep in mind when conceptualizing an experience? A- One thing that we really keep in mind while designing an experiential campaign is that the experience activity has to be fun because the product ‘beer’ is a fun product. If we design a serious experiential concept for it then the entire ethos of the product is lost therein. Second thing that we keep in mind is that the campaign should be easy to participate in and it has to be immersive. It is also of equal importance for us to make sure that the campaign is not be preachy and if there are any technological elements embedded in the activity then they have to be there to enhance the consumer experience and not just for the heck of technology in experiential being the ‘in-thing’. Q- How important is experiential for Kingfisher? A- It is really important for us as alcohol brands cannot really do a lot of ATL activities. Also we at Kingfisher take great pride in these experiential innovations as it is through these initiatives that our consumers actually get a chance to play and interact with the brand. Q-Most of Kingfisher’s customer engagement programs have been very unconventional. What is your logic? A- It is all embedded in our brands philosophy. The conventional logic of marketing is us telling the consumers what our brand is but for us our brand is what consumers tell each other it is. There is so much hype about how to ensure consumers are loyal to our brands but at Kingfisher our philosophy is to ensure that the brand is loyal to its customers. Our prime aim with the brand is to become a part of the consumer’s conversations. You have to continuously surprise and engage consumers and it is only these unconventional experiences that help you achieve that. Q- Is there a specific event company that you work closely with? A- There are multiple agencies and service providers that help us execute our experiential campaigns. DNA, Showhouse, Encompass and Phase1.are some of the agencies we’ve worked with in the past. However the requirement is determined by what the campaign is. We alsohave an internal digital agency that helps us and on top of that we have a great marketing team that helps us in executing all our campaigns. Q-What does Kingfisher look for in an event agency ? A-For us it is crucial that the experience quotient is maintained till the last touch point and the last mille. An event agency should not ease off before the finish line as that is Indian mentality. Quality of execution, transparency approach, good attitude are some of things that we love. Q-So far your experiential initiatives have been limited to the urban metros. Is rural anywhere on the cards? A- That is an interesting question actually because Kingfisher is indeed a mass brand which is consumed throughout the country, across all regions. Currently we are working closely with a lot of insights from rural regions such as in Bihar. We have learnt that people listen to music in their mobile phones because radio connectivity is so poor and ATL touch points are restricted. In the light of this situation we will definitely expand our experiential footprint in rural very soon. Mahesh Kanchan, Director Marketing, Carlsberg Q- What are your expectations from marketing spends this year? A- Carlsberg India is the fastest growing beer company in India and as a growing company, expectations from all functions are high, with marketing playing a key role. The return on investment behind each marketing spend is critical. To ensure the spends work efficiently and effectively, focus on select markets is our priority. The marketing efforts are focused towards creating awareness and strengthening the brand position by creating avenues for the consumers to have the Carlsberg experience in India. Q- What are some of the challenges and opportunities you foresee in the near future? A- The market as well as consumer engagement has seen a significant shift in the last few decade or so. Today, marketers work hard to ensure that a brand remains connected with the consumer. With exposure to different mediums, the consumer has many avenues to get brand exposure, thus, the challenge for any brand to cut through the clutter and establish a strong brand connect and recall exists. The one thing I believe is critical in the long run is the product and the experience with that itself. Being a challenger in the industry with brands Tuborg& Carlsberg, driving trials for the brand at point of consumption is essential as that is the one thing that finally gives the touch, feel and experience through packaging and product. There is immense opportunity to engage with consumers through ingenuity and out of the box thinking at point of consumption. Q- Do you see experiential gaining popularity as a medium for marketing and do you see budgets shifting in that direction? A- Definitely, experiential marketing has seen growing popularity in recent years. In a consumer segment where the larger share is increasingly being occupied by the young adult consumer; it is no more about just delivering a great product. The usual bores them and they seek newer things and experiences. The key word with this highly agile consumer segment is to offer subtle positive experiences to ensure brand recall. This can be most effectively done through experiential. Experiential is definitely garnering more share in the marketing spends nowadays, however, the roles of each medium is different. They work in tandem and Experiential works differently from the traditional towards creating greater experiential platforms for their consumers. It will only grow. Q- How are you viewing experiential as a medium given newer kinds of ad formats, creative solutions, and content integration it is allowing? A- Experiential marketing is definitely in all marketers agenda. While the traditional advertising whether its print, radio or television communicate verbally and visually; experiential engages the consumers beyond just the visual and auditory senses. At the point of consumption, especially on-trade, experiential not only offers to integrate a number of medium and avenues together but offers a greater degree of personal connect. A consumer is more likely to have a greater sense of brand recall and loyalty, once they have experienced a product in a favorable environment. In a progressively growing market such as India, it is imperative to create a personal connect and we continuously engage with our consumers to ensure that. Today, it is not only about traditional modes of conversation but to create avenues for a two way conversation with your consumers. Q- The year 2015 has the promises of a landmark year in many ways for media as a marketer, what are your expectations from your partners in achieving your objectives? A- India is an important market for us and we take immense pride in the success our products have seen across the country. Our partners are an essential aspect of our framework. They have been very supportive and on board with the growth strategies adopted by Carlsberg India. We are looking at touch points, especially at the point of consumption for our brands Carlsberg & Tuborg where we can connect with the consumers one-on-one as this is important from our category perspective. It is about micro marketing, instead of one size fits all. And, our partners understanding our need and delivering the desired experience to the consumers is all what we aspire for. Trivia! • Beer is globally the third most popular drink, after water and tea, making it the most widely consumed alcohol beverage in the world. • The world's strongest beer is 'Samuel Adams' Triple Bock with 17% alcohol content. • India consumes 1.9litres beer per person, while China & USA consume 38.4 litres and 78.3litres respectively. • Howzatt and Rockman's Beer Island were the 1st two microbreweries in India. • Moderate consumption of beer is actually good for health. • Beer is made by fermentation caused by bacteria feeding on the yeast cells. The bacterial excrement is called alcohol. • A beer lover or enthusiast is called a cerevisaphile. (The story has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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In a strategic alliance with Everything Experiential, EEMA (Event and Entertainment Management Association) is all set to launch the EEMAX GLOBAL Experiential Black Book on the day of EEMAX GLOBAL 2015 on 21st September in Mumbai. The Black Book will feature leading experiential agencies in India and showcase the best of their work. It is slated to be an annual benchmark publication that will define the growing nature of the Indian event’s industry. Through this partnership EEMA empanelled agencies can look forward to reaching out to Everything Experiential’s expansive network of brand-side marketers and, as a result, reside on the desks and display shelves of the clients and advertising fraternity. The book will also be promoted online to reach the global community encouraging partnerships between featured agencies and international event management companies This initiative is being co-produced by EEMA in association with Everything Experiential to be circulated with their latest publication BW APPLAUSE that was launched recently on 5 September 2015. The EEMAX GLOBAL Experiential Black Book will feature: Special coverage on the events industry and its aspirations. Special features on the industry and the services provided. Focus on EEMAX GLOBAL shortlisted entries The EEMAX GLOBAL Honours that are being presented to global events and projects. Focus on the EEMAX GLOBAL Jury and their thoughts about the industry. Focus on key clients and understand from them what Events and Experiential Management needs to focus on. Focus on celebrity artistes and understand what event managers do, don’t do and should do. Plus more All EEMA agencies are being offered equal opportunity to showcase themselves in a standard prescribed format created by Everything Experiential that will feature an overview of the agency, its philosophy, key clients, national and international operations, contact details and a visual display of some signature projects. Agencies can look to be featured by way of a one page creative advertisement, a one-page write-up or a two-page write-up. The last date for confirming a feature in the Black Book is 10th September. To know more about securing a space in the Black Book please write to sunil.mehra@eemaindia.com or vishakh@everythingexperiential.com
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