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EE News Desk
Isuzu, the vehicle manufacturers from Japan, inaugurated their manufacturing facility at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. Their first vehicle roll-out had the Chief Minister, Shri Chandrababu Naidu, in the driver’s seat of D-Max V Cross – their first Made-in-India product, a proud step ahead. Aura was entrusted with the conceptualization and protocol management of the event. Committed to India was the theme of the day keeping the company’s strategy in clear view. Aura’s on-ground team ensured the management of the event and entire flow of activity. Commenting on the flawless execution Siddharth Ganeriwala, CEO, Aura remarked, “We’ve been executing protocol events across the country, hosting not just Indian but international Heads of State as well, for over one and a half decades now. I think our domain expertise in this category is pretty much established,” he added. The inauguration was in the presence of Masanori Katayama, President, Isuzu Motors Limited, Japan, His Excellency Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr. Kazushi Okawa, Executive Vice President, dignitaries from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Senior Officials from IMI, and Isuzu business partners. Apart from Aura making strategic accommodations for the CM’s army of Z+ security men who were fail-proofing the venue constantly, we managed to orchestrate the roll in of the vehicle to the minutest detail to catch and hold the media's attention.
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Gaana, popular music broadcasting service and Uber, the smartphone app that’s transformed the way people move around in cities, have announced a partnership to enhance the rider’s Uber experience. Uber riders will be able to listen to songs of their choice while riding the cab. The pilot project will begin in Mumbai, across Uber Brands – Uber Black, Uber Go, Uber WiFi, and Uber SUV. Riders will be offered 2 months Gaana+ subscription as part of this activation pilot. Prashan Agarwal, COO, at Gaana said, “Music lovers want to experience uninterrupted music of their choice & with this partnership we aim to give the rider this experience on Gaana. In-car entertainment is an important segment in our audience and we have once again demonstrated Gaana’s brand message of music everywhere – jo bhi situation Bas bajna Chaiye Gaana with this partnership.” Said Shailesh Sawlani, General Manager, Uber Mumbai, “At Uber we look at the rider’s experience from end-to-end, which begins with a push of a button and getting your ride and ends at rider’s destination. The time in between which is spent in the car, plays a crucial role in enhancing the rider’s Uber experience. We look at different ways to engage with riders to ensure they have a great holistic Uber experience.”
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Experiential marketing agency, Fountainhead MKTG, has been conferred with the ‘Outstanding Agency of the Year’ award at the 6th edition of PALM Sound and Light Awards 2016, recently held in Mumbai. PALM Sound & Light Awards, as part of the PALM Expo 2016, recognizes and honors outstanding service in the field of stage, sound and light. With over 22 technical categories manifested this year, the awards ceremony honored individuals and organizations for their contribution to the industry by rendering remarkable services in the live events arena in the Indian market. Fountainhead MKTG, a 21-year old experiential marketing agency which is now a part of Dentsu Aegis Network, has over 250 employees with the offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. The agency has witnessed a rapid growth driven by strong financial performance. The agency recently conceptualized and managed some of the prestigious events such as Royal visit to India of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the global programme ‘Shakespeare Lives’ featuring Sir Ian Mckellen’s Masterclass with Aamir Khan, Mint Luxury Conference, Hello Hall of Fame Awards and many others. In addition to the Agency of the Year award, the agency has also bagged 4 Golds at the Indian Brand Convention's BAM awards for the projects - Mahindra Imperio campaign, Piku and Kayam Churan association, Microsoft Knockout Café and Philips - Lakme Fashion Week. Commenting on the achievement, Neale Murray, Co-Founder & Group COO of Fountainhead MKTG, said, “It’s been a dream run for us this year with a stream of accolades that recognize our effectiveness in experiential marketing. This award reaffirms our philosophy of building brands by creating memorable experiences using state of the art technology and out of the box creative inputs. I thank the PALM officials for the trust they showed in our work and also our clients who’ve partnered us in making this achievement possible.” Brian Tellis, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Fountainhead MKTG, said, “Being a creatively-driven agency, we always believe in building brands through cutting-edge experiences and setting benchmarks in delivery. This achievement is indeed a testament to our strengths in producing innovative experiences at the events. I congratulate each and every member of the team for all their hard work and commitment.”
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Polycom was named the ‘Video Conferencing Equipment Vendor of the Year’, at the 2016 Frost & Sullivan India ICT Awards banquet held on June 2nd at Hyatt Regency, Mumbai. Polycom has been growing progressively in the Indian video conferencing market over the last few years and has provided superior video collaboration solutions for business use. Understanding customer demands and delivering a superior experience enabled the company to capture customer delight. The company catered to every enterprise segment with its unique offerings and enhanced value proposition. Its commitment to constantly innovate was visible through its new product launches, leading to its growth journey. Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Minhaj Zia, Vice President India SAARC and South Korea for Polycom said “Work has drastically changed from a place we go to - into something that we do, irrespective of time, location and devices we use. In order for collaboration and teamwork to thrive in the workplace of the future, organizations need the right tools. Our solutions help unleash the power of human collaboration across any distance, device, or timeline to help not only save costs and meet company objectives, but to create a true Workplace of the Future. For the past several years, Polycom has focused on changing our customers’ experience of video collaboration and enabling the workplace of the future. We make sure the solutions we bring to market are simplified for an improved user experience and easier adoption and today we are proud to be the recipient of this award” Extending hearty congratulations to Polycom on winning the 2016 Video Conferencing Equipment Vendor of the Year award, Mr. Benoy CS, Director, Digital Transformation Practice, Frost & Sullivan said, “Polycom is a key innovator in the video conferencing market in India and has achieved exemplary revenue growth of 22%. The company’s continued investments in technology backed by a strong go-to-market strategy have given it a competitive edge. The vendors focus on enhancing the end user customer experience has been instrumental, leading to acquisition of many new customers. Through strategic partnerships with leading unified communication solutions provider it offers cloud-based collaboration solutions leading to seamless communications for the enterprise.” The award recipients were judged on a variety of parameters that included revenue growth, market share growth, product portfolio diversity, key achievements, and Go-to-Market strategy. It involved in-depth primary interviews of various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan analysts. An elite panel of jury members comprising prominent CIOs/CTOs from the industry evaluated the compiled data and incorporated the end-user perspective. Frost & Sullivan then presented the Awards to companies that received the highest industry rank in each category.
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“The Smart Commute 2016” powered by Raymond concluded today at Sofitel, Mumbai – BKC. The Cycle2Work (C2W) initiative saw over 900 cyclists participate from 8 different start points from Mumbai. This initiative, held on World Environment Day inspired, encouraged and motivated Mumbaikars to take to the streets and cycle2work for a healthy lifestyle. This initiative urges one to look beyond the health and environment benefits and take this ride to reduce the carbon footprint, making our city a better place to walk, bike, live and breathe! The endeavor is to create awareness and educate the citizens of Mumbai about the benefits of cycling to work. The Cycle2work initiative, designed by a group of environmentally aware cyclists urges one to look closely at the health and environmental benefits of cycling and make it a way of life. Firoza, Founder, Cycle2Work, said, “I am extremely happy with the tremendous response from the people of Mumbai. We are here for the betterment of our society as well as individuals. I would like to thank everyone who has supported this initiative and come along for the ride that'll make the difference.” We would also initiate cycle to work fridays in 17 business hubs starting from June 2016 Sri Ajoy Mehta, Hon Sec, Municipal commissioner, said, "I am glad to see such initiatives coming up for the betterment of the society. I am amazed to see so many participants who came forward and cycle on World Environment Day with an intent to experience and adopt cycling as a way of life". The Smart Commute Foundation is a team of like-minded cycling enthusiasts and environmentalists, led by its Founder, Ms Firoza Suresh, a cyclist herself. They believe this will help the city reduce its carbon footprint, making it a better place to walk, bike, live and breathe.
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Vodafone’s ‘Be Super’ Campaign claims to have made Vodafone one of the most engaging brands during Vivo IPL 2016. With Vodafone SuperFan, Vodafone FanArmy, Vodafone SuperAlbum and Vodafone SuperCheer, Vodafone customers got a chance to watch the match live at the stadium, meet their favourite cricket stars, get pictures clicked with Zoozoos and much more. In an attempt to drive maximum engagement during this season; be it on-ground or online, Vodafone partnered with Twitter for the first time to launch ZooZoo in emoji avatar, our first time launching a corporate emoji. The ‘Be Super’ campaign drove high engagement across social media platforms. #BeSuper and #HakkeBakke hashtags generated over 94,000 conversations on Twitter. Vodafone’s specially created cheer slogan HakkeBakke saw 2.4 million video views and generated 200 user videos on Dubsmash. Vodafone SuperFan contest received more than 1.3 million entries while the television commercial got 5 million online views. The much loved ZooZoo was also back in action with over 70,000 people clicking pictures for the Vodafone SuperAlbum, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record (record verification ongoing). Customers can download their photos from www.vodafonesuperalbum.com and share it on their respective social media platforms. Speaking about the huge consumer engagement generated Siddharth Banerjee, National Head, Brand and Consumer Insights, Vodafone India, said, “The #BeSuper campaign was conceived to promote our Vodafone SuperNet proposition and provide ‘Super’ experiences to our customers. We are extremely delighted with the customer response and engagement during the Vivo IPL 2016. While the engagement ratio was high on digital media, on-ground initiatives like Vodafone SuperFan contest garnered phenomenal interest amongst customers. We are happy to believe that this has been our BEST activation yet in this cricket season, and the consumer feedback on this has been incredibly positive and heartwarming.”
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Dentsu Aegis Network organised the 3rd edition of its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, ‘One Day For Change’, on June 3, 2016. With children playing the central role in the programme this year, the India chapter of this global initiative successfully reached out to as many as 2500 children across the country. An estimated 1,500 Dentsu Aegis Network employees across offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Kochi were engaged to execute the project, “Champions For Children.” In India, the key focus of the ‘One Day For Change’ (ODFC) programme was held across four categories – digital, education, health and entertainment. As part of the digital push, the network’s Delhi office visited Kushi Rainbow Girls Home to donate laptops and conduct sessions on excel & IT skills. Meanwhile, the employees also visited the Earth Saviours Foundation and interacted with more than 300 mentally challenged children. In Mumbai, Dentsu Aegis Network touched the lives of 1100 kids across nine child welfare organisations. It is pertinent to note here that the Dentsu Aegis Network employees also created a Fun Fair for more than 200 children suffering from various forms of cancer to entertain them all through the day. The event was attended by none other than Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, the Chief Guest for the day at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel. The company also arranged an educational excursion for 100 underprivileged children, supported by Umang Foundation, to Nehru Science Centre, Worli. Additionally, the group set-up a dental health check-up camp at Madras Wadi, a slum area near Worli, where 300 children turned up for the event. The network was sub-divided into teams of 20-50 in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi. Each team visited a particular child welfare shelter to execute a variety of creative workshops. Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai also tied up with various hospitals and NGOs to organise a blood donation drive for kids with Thalassemia and Cancer. Over 250 bottles of blood were donated by Dentsu Aegis Network staff across all regions. Mr. Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network said, “One Day For Change is extremely important to us at Dentsu Aegis Network. It gives all our employees an opportunity to give back to the society, as a team. More important than what we volunteer in kind and cash is the time we all volunteer together. We hope to continue many of these activities throughout the year. It really feels good, as a team, to be able to do our bit.”
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Day 2 at India Kids Fashion Week saw collections showcased by Samta and Shruti Studio, Free Sparrow Kids, Many Frocks, Nauti Nati, Lil Angels, The Children’s Place and designer Sharad Raghav. Descending on the ramp in a fashionable avatar was none other than National Award winning B’town actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who threw a pleasant surprise for all in attendance. Others who walked the ramp included Riddhi dogra, Mahakshay Chakraborty (Mimoh), Aasmita Sood, Vishal Malhotra & his daughter, RaghavAvika Gor, Vishal Singh, Manish Raisinghani and Rohit Khandelwal. Mr. Manoj Mahla, Director, Craftworld Events said, “We are overwhelmed with the response to collections showcased by the brands and designers on the second day of IKFW. Day 2 truly reflects our mission for redefining the kids fashion industry and providing a steady platform for established and upcoming brands to showcase their creativity. With their favourite style icons and Bollywood biggies making their presence felt at IKFW, kids were enthusiastic and more confident than ever. We are looking forward to the gala finale on Sunday.” Speaking on the event Mr. Deepak Choudhary, Director & CEO, Event Capital, said, “We are happy to see big and mini screen artistes such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Asmita Sood and Avika Gor take time out from their busy schedules and come down at IKFW to support the designers and tiny tots.. Kudos to all the Indian designers who are trying their best to fill the void in the segment of kids’ fashion industry. Actor-director Rajiv Laxman attended the fashion week with his son Vedaant, which was added attraction of the show. The final day of the event will see brands such as Abhipri-The Jodhpur Paridhan, Sugar Candy, Moriko Organic, Pink Cow, BIBA, Era and OKS BOYS showcase their collections. Designer Archana Kochar will present the finale of the India Kids Fashion Week 2016 Mumbai edition.
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Bollywood siren Sunny Leone launched the ninth season of the popular reality television show MTV Splitsvilla along with co-host Rannvijay Singh at JW Marriott, Juhu Mumbai on 31st May 2016. Vibgyor Brand Services was roped in to conceptualize and manage the media launch event. This year the rules of the game has been slightly altered and the show has been based on the new theme ‘Where Women Rule’, giving more power to the female contestants than their male counterparts. The launch promo of the new season showcases Sunny adorned in a queen’s costume playing a game of dice with Scarlett, who is seen as an Egyptian princess. Keeping the season promo in mind, we designed the elaborate set in a Roman & Egyptian style. Rannvijay Singh flaunted his new look--a flourishing moustache and thick beard. The duo posed for shutterbugs with MTV girls Saloni Chopra, Barkha Singh, Ayesha Adlakha and Gaelyn Mendonca. Commenting on successful execution of the launch event, Haardik Joshi, Branch Head, Vibgyor Brand Services, said - "It has been a tremendous high for the team – from winning this pitch to delivering a flawless experience right down to the tee! The brief was to engage the invited media with the flavour of MTV Splistvilla 9 - Where Women Rule, we pitched in with the idea to recreate the experience through the Roman/Greek stage set, the dynamic event entry by Sunny Leone - with her royal knights & Rannvijay - fighting the queen's warrior to woo her & media engagements" Chintan Mehta, Marketing MTV was ecstatic for the successful launch of the Splitsvilla 9 said “Since all the 8 seasons of Splitsvilla have been successful, we were eager to launch the new show in front of the media. Vibgyor managed the event flawlessly and appreciate their efforts and hard work. I would look forward to work with them in future.”
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The debut session of Artist Industry Meet-up (AIM) got off to a spectacular start as the artist fraternity came together on 2nd June to talk concepts, collaborations, complications and more, over heady drinks and headier conversations. Fueled by the energetic vibe of Bandstand, a new watering hole at Aurobindo Market, Hauz Khas Village, the event indulged artists, performers, producers, event planners, thinkers, doers all under one roof. AIM was presented by ArtistsFAQs in association with BW APPLAUSE and Everything Experiential. Addressing the full house of young and creative energy Mr Anurag Batra, Chairman Businessworld and Exchange4media, launched the event with a welcome address. Drawing attention to the gap in the entertainment industry where artists are unable to engage with event planners purely due to the lack of defined channels he commented, “It pains me to see all this talent and such few avenues for it to surface and see the light of day. I congratulate ArtistFAQs for this initiative and Businessworld is excited to be associated with it; I assure you great things lie in wait as possibilities are immense. Our endeavor through BW APPLAUSE and Everything Experiential is to ensure that talent is brought forward to the industry and the collaborative structure can be better aligned.” Presenting the key address, Mr Rajeev Jain, Founder Rashi Entertainment and VP, EEMA, said, “The most important thing every artist must possess is patience, because sooner or later, if your talent is genuinely worthy, you will be recognized. The other thing I notice that holds artists back in this industry is their attitude. You land a few good gigs and it’s very easy for your ego to get the better of you; remaining humble is extremely important. The most accomplished personalities I have come across in my career are epitomes of humility, be it Mr Amitabh Bachan or Arijit Singh. As an artist you cannot afford to let success get to your head. Also I see a lot of artists trying to replicate the style of big hit makers, but art should be unique and that is when it is most appreciated. Irrespective of what is popular artists should aim at developing their own distinctive style. We at EEMA are always on the lookout for fresh talent and look forward to engaging with your community more closely”. Post the introductions a panel discussion ensued between Malvika Nanda, Founder, The Big Beat; Sarthak Sardana a.k.a. Sartek, DJ Producer; Dhruv Jagasia, Director, Big Bad Wolf; Ashvin Mani Sharma a.k.a. Calm Chor, DJ Producer, Record Label Head; Amit Gupta, Director, STORY. It discussion was moderated by Yamini Singh, Executive Editor, BW APPLAUSE and Everything Experiential and Vivek Benipal, Founder, ArtistsFAQs. The evening concluded with a reverberating performance by Sounds United Project featuring Dubtron (Electronics), Hafeez Ahmed Alvi (Tabla) and Azeem Ahmed Alvi (Sitar). Ali Haider was the Emcee at the event.
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