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EE News Desk
Using the latest in virtual reality technology, BBC Global News Ltd recently launched a dramatic new interactive trade campaign to showcase how it delivers personal, portable and on-demand news for the digital age.Be Everywhere campaign, which premiered at Cannes Lions last week (21 – 27 June) in the BBC World News pop-up studio space (Cabana 20/21 on La Croisette), illustrated the innovative digital opportunities available to advertisers in a new and unique way. Using direct mail, Be Everywhere virtual reality viewers are on their way to all corners of the globe so targeted potential and current clients can explore a fully immersive 360 video experience.Armed with the Be Everywhere smart phone app (available via the Apple App store and Google Play store) and their viewer, people could join presenter Babita Sharma in a virtual studio. The 360 experience allowed viewers to have a peak behind the scenes as Babita demonstrated the leading news brand’s digital products and the advertiser benefits. Be Everywhere highlights the BBC’s international news services’ position as a leader in digital innovation. The campaign demonstrated what BBC World News and BBC.com/news are offering their global audiences as they completely transformed the BBC News experience, from the development of the ‘sticky player’ to ‘my news’ on the redeveloped BBC News App (28million downloads and growing), while showcasing opportunities for agencies and advertisers. About the campaign, Chris Davies, Sales & Marketing Director, BBC Global News Ltd, said: “We know more than half of the BBC’s online traffic comes via mobile and tablet devices and with BBC.com now reaching a global audience of over 80 million unique browsers per month, that’s a huge opportunity for our clients. The ethos of Be Everywhere is digital innovation in all aspects of our work and I am delighted we are bringing this campaign to life in such a unique way. Exploiting developing technologies in this manner really illustrates our digital offer, demonstrating first-hand what the BBC can do. Whether it’s content that works seamlessly across devices or precise audience targeting, the campaign shows our dynamic and innovative approach for both audiences and advertisers alike and showcases how we are staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing media landscape.” The Be Everywhere video can also be viewed online at http://advertising.bbcworldwide.com/beeverywhere/#video
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English movie channel, Sony Pix is all set to take entertainment to the next level with the launch of its broadcast on mobile devices. Starting 01 July 2015, the channel comes alive on Tata Sky’s Mobile App. Subscribers of Sony PIX on Tata Sky will now get to watch their favorite movies on the channel live and on the go. This service will be available on Android, iOS mobile devices including Windows on PCs. So here’s a chance to hang out with your favourite AXN characters and watch your favourite Hollywood blockbusters anywhere, everywhere on TATA SKY Mobile!” SaurabhYagnik, Executive Vice- President & Business Head, Sony PIX and AXN says, “With the fast paced life and ever changing habits of young television viewers in India, Live TV on mobiles is the next big thing. Accessibility to high quality internet services and app friendly smart phones, this evolution is taking place at a dynamic pace. To cater to this changing need of our evolved viewers, we have partnered with Tata Sky to launch Sony PIX on this platform and also further strengthen AXN’s presence in this space thus reinforcing ourselves as thought leaders in the categories that we operate in” He further adds, “With the ‘Tata Sky Mobile App’, and our presence therein we believe that we will be able to augment the viewing experience of our channels and buttress our position as the favourite destination for Hollywood blockbusters and of the best favourite shows from the US. They will never be missed…Catch them from anywhere on Tata Sky Mobile.” Emphasizing the move, Paolo Agostinelli, Chief Content & Business Develoment Officer at Tata Sky said, “With the help of the Tata Sky Mobile app we have made our subscriber’s lives easier and enjoyable, as they can now carry their favourite shows anywhere they go. The addition of Sony PIX along with AXN to the bouquet of over 80 channels on the app, makes the popular movies and tele series genre an unbeatable combination.” To activate, one needs to be an active subscriber of Tata Sky, download the free Tata Sky mobile app from the app store and register the device. Take your PIX everywhere with ‘Tata Sky Mobile’ for mega premieres and your favourite Hollywood blockbusters such as ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’, ‘Captain America’, ‘The Hulk’, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Hunger Games: Mocking Jay’, ‘The Twilight series, ‘The Iron Man Series’, Bond series etc on Sony PIX. Catch your favourite AXN shows such as ‘Hannibal’, ‘The Orphan Black’, ‘24’, ‘Elementary’, ‘Sherlock’, ‘Dexter’, ‘Californication’ etc… EVERYWHERE on Tata Sky Mobile. Download now! - See more at: http://everythingexperiential.com/sony-pix-goes-live-on-mobile-devices-through-tata-skys-mobile-app/#sthash.TIzoHsfF.dpuf
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In times when people are becoming savvy to book their homes online, Square Yards, leading real estate advisory with its ‘RE – Commerce’ platform sold 350 flats worth USD 40mn for Antriksh Group’s project Urban Greek through augmented reality platform ‘Scapes’ and online booking engine in less than 19 hours. In one of the most innovative campaigns seen in real estate industry, christening 5th July as the No Loan Day (#NoLoanDay), Antriksh Group offered prospective home buyers a unique chance to own a home by paying just 0.9% of the property value per month. Commenting on the innovative campaign, TanujShori, CEO of Square Yards said that “We were always confident of our unique hybrid model of on ground fulfilment coupled with online convenience to serve home buyers, but today with the resounding success of our RE-COMMERCE (Real Estate Commerce) engine, our hunger to bring ’never before ways to experience under construction homes before buying them’ has been stoked even more.” In a full-blown media campaign covering outdoor, print, radio and the internet, pre-registrations for this offer by inviting prospective home buyers with a clear cut communication that the booking window will open at 00:01 hours on the 5th of July. Both, Antriksh and Square Yards received an overwhelming response from property buyers even before the launch of the #NoLoanDay campaign. About ~7000+ pre-registrations were received on the website. Square Yards and Antriksh group together organized an event on the 5th of July where all pre-registered guests were invited to experience Urban Greek in virtual 3D reality before buying the home of their choice. The concept was a huge hit with home buyers thronging the experience zone by the thousands and resulting in a total sellout of the project in a little less than 19 hours. “I have never witnessed anything like this before in my life” said a jubilant Abhishek Singh Goyat, MD of Antriksh Developers. “We knew we were backing a competent team at Square Yards when it came to develop the online booking engine for Antriksh Urban Greek, but I guess the overwhelming response that we got from all over the world with people lapping up full floors of towers online from Dubai, Muscat & Singapore etc. is a testimony to this concept. It will set to become the need of the hour in today’s real estate market” added Mr.Goyat. This event marks the entry of Square Yards as only the third company in India to sell homes online after Housing.com and Snapdeal. But with this debut, Square Yards makes a thundering entry into uber competitive domain of real estate e-commerce by clocking in astounding sales figures of 350 transactions, with market value close to USD40mn in lesser than 19 hours.
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P. N. Gadgil Jewellers Pvt. Ltd launched its e-commerce website / e-Store with an exclusive ‘Try-on Jewellery’ feature also known as ‘Jewelfie’. Bollywood Diva Raveena Tandon graced the occasion with her presence. The ceremony also marked the launch of their E-Commerce Mobile App and the launch of Try On kiosk at the Vile Parle store (To be available at Thane and Panvel soon) inaugurated by Ms.Raveena Tandon. The comprehensive website will showcase centralized Jewellery Design Catalogue with all possible ready to buy as well as made to order design options. The exclusive jewellery Try-on feature on the PNG website will enable the consumers to create their profiles, try out jewellery, click pictures, shortlist favourite designs, save & share images on social media platforms, seek PNG support & counselling and actually buy and order through secured delivery tracking system all in the virtual environment. It offers the customers to make purchases 24/7 anytime, anywhere over the internet at their convenience and make informed buying decisions. The entire consumer goods industry is evolving. Today the Consumers are driven more by aspirations leading to changes in their expectations with reference to availability, affordability, choice, convenience, cost, security and technology reflecting clearly the transformation in their buying patterns. Apart from this, the changing lifestyles, busy schedules and their outlook towards shopping is also pushing consumers to make purchases online. Consumers today are looking at finesse and exclusivity in the product and are also willing to pay the premium for the same. There is a huge demand for made to order jewellery as compared to the ready stock. The main reasons are exclusivity of the product, budget constraints, occasions & investments preferences. On the other hand the consumer expectations are largely influenced by the way products are being made available to them especially through the e-commerce platforms. The made to order facility on the Jewellery Try-On enables the consumers to design and modify the selected / shortlisted jewellery pieces and at the same allows them to try it on virtually to check how it looks on them. So with this technology P. N. Gadgil ensures customer engagement right from the process of designing the product to delivering the product at their doorsteps. The Jewellery Try-On uses a virtual, centralized Consumer Experience & Relationship Management (CERM) platform hosted on a Cloud based technology that depicts Omni presence of the jewellery retailer, exactly resembles the showcase, jewellery counters, availability of all possible jewellery designs, buying process, delivery process, counselling etc. A completely secured e-store domain with SSL certification, that provides high-end security to consumer’s profile as well as order placing & tracking and doorstep delivery. Mr.SaurabhGadgil, Chairman & Managing Director, P. N. Gadgil Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. said ‘We believe our jewellery Try-on technology is a definite game changer in the sales & marketing of the gems & jewellery industry, in terms of its uniqueness, convenience and privacy it offers. Moreover, the change in consumer behaviour is being sensed by PNG since the last decade. In order to maintain traditional loyal customer base and to cater to the new age consumer we feel it is necessary to implement hi-end technological facilities to help consumers holistically. Our comprehensive e-Store will help us to reach out to places where we do not have physical presence, domestically and internationally. We expect our ecommerce website traffic to quadruple with this new feature increasing our brand visibility and help us position our business extensively on global map.’ On speaking with Ms.Raveena Tandon, she said, ‘My association with P. N Gadgil Jewellers has been for many years now. P N Gadgil is like a family jeweller for me. The success of P N Gadgil Jewellers speaks its own language; they have a legacy for innovation for over 100 years built with trust and core values coming down from their great grandfathers. This Try on Kiosk and Mobile App by PNG Jewellers is a very unique technology making its way for the first time in India, especially in the jewellery industry.” ‘The Try on feature on the ecommerce website of P N GadgilJewellers is unique and one of its kind software with completely secured cloud based technology & SSL certification. With this technology the consumers can access their profile from anywhere in the world and it will prove to be a key differentiator for PNG Jewellers in the jewellery business. I would like to thank P N GadgilJewellers for acknowledging our expertise and we look forward to the continued association with them in the coming future’ said Mr. SurendraKarandikar, CEO, Prorigo Software.
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As the IPL just got over and the ISL is days away, EE got in touch with an agency that has worked with all IPL teams on various campaigns for different brands from automobiles to FMCG brands. Founder and Managing Director of Creatigies, Navroze D. Dhondy shared his experience and thoughts on brand associations, experiential marketing and current trends. EE: What got you interested in choosing a career in the agency field? Navroze: “I am originally from Allahabad and while doing my MBA, a friend of mine decided to write a book on Rubik’s cube, as he could solve it in less than a minute. So, we sat down together and wrote every aspect of the move on how to go about solving it and created a book. We put our money behind it, got it printed and launched the book.” He continued, “Once the book was printed and people got a hold of it; inspired by the design and look of the cover, a lot of them walked up to me and asked if I could design books, wedding cards, brochures etc. for them and soon, I was running my small agency from college, making good money. Graduation eventually led me to Delhi with no intention to join any agency. But, as the fate would have it, I ended up choosing an agency called Lintas as my first job even after it paid the lowest of all the offers I had, still I chose the lowest paying job as my heart was there.” EE: In your 3 decades in this industry, do you see a shift in how brands approach towards advertising? Navroze: “I see a huge shift in the whole approach towards advertising. Some companies have understood the importance of advertising against the traditional view of it being just a necessary evil that discourages brands from investing. It has changed dramatically; startups are the biggest investors in advertising. They are jumping into the deep well of the pool.” There has been a shift in the types of media that was available then and what is available today. “Today opportunity list has gone haywire. We have focused media channels for each vertical and communication has changed from being unidirectional, where a brand would dictate what it wants you to see, feel and think, to an engagement model where you will still see TVCs but with a link, number or hashtag. Managing feedback is more challenging than giving information today and the timeline to such interactions is going to collapse further.” EE: Do you think there are brands that resist investing in digital and social media? Navroze: “Yes, there are some brands that are old school in their approach and will take time to adapt. However, we need to understand that some brands may use digital marketing but use social media more selectively. In categories like B2B, they may do digital media in terms of SEO, but prefer not engage with consumers whereas brands like Pepsi and HTC, they engage to millions of people – the engagement is very high.” EE: Are brands increasingly investing in experiential marketing? Navroze: “Clients are now genuinely looking ways to connect and touch with consumers, experience factor has become more and more important. The experiential element has become important for a lot of brands, from whisky, ice cream to a car brand – across the spectrum. There is nothing in the world that matches up to experience. However, one must understand that when you have a powerful impact on a person with experience, it is a double-edged sword; it could be both positive and negative.”
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Electronics.Production.Augmented.—that is the motto of a special show that is part of productronica in November 2015. The world’s trade fair for electronics development and production will focus on the hot topic of Industry 4.0 from a new perspective: visitors will experience the hidden processes machines and work pieces negotiate in production and how workers profit from Industry 4.0—with the help of augmented and virtual reality on five selected electronics production machines. Industry 4.0 poses great challenges to electronics production, but it also has its advantages. The different use cases of the adaptive automation technology as well as the exact procedures on hardware and software side are often seen as too abstract by workers on the line. That is why productronica and VDMA Productronic have come up with a new special show for the 2015 fair. Augmented and virtual reality will be used to visualize various application scenarios on five different electronics manufacturing machines. “We want to show how Industry 4.0 can simplify the lives of the people who work with these machines on a daily basis,” says Christian Rocke, Exhibition Director of productronica. “This is not only interesting to our visitors, it also means exciting added value for the exhibitors participating in the special show.” The concept of the special show follows productronica’s new cluster structure: All the exhibitors in the fair’s five clusters—i.e. PCB & EMS, SMT, Cables, Coils & Hybrids, Semiconductors and Future Markets—can respond to the Call for Participation by submitting their innovations. An independent committee will select the five products that will be shown in the special show about augmented and virtual reality at the fair in Munich from November 10–13. What does the inside of a machine look like? What exactly happens in a machine’s inaccessible areas? What instructions does the machine give the work piece? These are interesting questions whose answers can be visualized with the help of augmented and virtual reality. The ongoing development of the human -machine interface has always been a key to success in the machinery industry. Workers don’t just want machines that are easy to operate: they should also be easy to understand,” says Dr. Eric Maiser, Managing Director of VDMA Productronics. The applications for Industry 4.0 that can upgrade, simplify and improve electronics manufacturing machines are very diverse: “Right now we are experiencing the evolution from the built-in touch-panel display to operation using a tablet. Remote maintenance is being simplified considerably,” explains Maiser. If you hold a tablet camera up to parts of a machine, it recognizes them and an overlay image appears on screen showing the appropriate maintenance guide or work instruction—the user manual can stay on the shelf. Virtual and augmented reality are already being used in a number of sectors. Examples include the gaming industry, virtual planning tools for designing automobiles and for architects or the “star atlas” app for smartphones,” explains Maiser. “This field has a great deal of potential for electronics production, and the purpose of the special show is to demonstrate some of those possibilities.”
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As humans, we all look for categorizations. They make our lives easier and more manageable.Therefore, it’s only natural that we at EE, after careful scrutiny, bring to you the list of Top 10 Experiential agencies in India today. For marketers and newbies in the experiential world, this list provides the top 10 agencies in India that have made their mark and given an excellent show as far as experiential is concerned. Keeping in mind the scalability factor, the brilliance in innovation, and the management of the audience, we have compiled a list of top 10 agencies. And the winners are – 1. Wizcraft Established in 1988, this agency is responsible for all the magic behind the IIFA Weekend and Awards, Green Globe Foundation Awards, Global Indian Music Academy Awards and the Film & TV Producers. Some of the prestigious projects led by Wizcraft most recently include the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the ICC World Cup’s Opening ceremony in Dhaka, the Oman Tattoo and the celebration of 150 years of India-South Africa friendship. 2. Percept Founded in 1984, Percept Limited, they are responsible for some of the biggest shows such as Sunburn (with over 1,00,000 attendees), Bollyboom, Filmfare, Ad Films, Feature films, Fight Night, GOD, Champions of the world, Windsong, and the list goes on. Celebrating 30 years of excellence, they provide creative services,media services, digital and mobile services and and also have a vertical that handles sports and entertainment for their clients. 3. LIVE Viacom 18 LIVE Viacom18 is a subdivision under Integrated Network Solutions (INS) whose mandate is to create LIVE IP’s in the Music & Entertainment space. They are the ones responsible for creating MTV Xtreme, the Comedy Central Chuckle festival, Supersonic, MTV Bollyland, Nickelodeon KCA India, etc. 4. Only Much Louder The guys behind the multi-city, multi-day Bacardi NH7, A Summer’s Day, The Scene, NH7 Smash Up, and NH7 Shake Down, MTV Bring On The Night, and producing the Cannes Lion-winning show – The Dewarists, OML has made their mark in the events industry. 5. Fountainhead Having commenced operations in 1995, Fountainhead has worked with top global brands like MTV, Philips, Hutchison Max Telecom, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and solid domestic brands like Tata, Blue Star, Aditya Birla Group and Bennett Coleman.They have also handled international acts such as Akon, 50 Cent, INXS, Spyrogyra, Buddy Guy and have created very successful music festivals like The One Tree Music Festival and The Mahindra Blues Festival. 6. DNA Networks A name synonymous with Entertainment in Sports, DNA Networks are the big guys behind events such as IPL, ICC Cricket World Cup Tour, ICC World Twenty20, Champions League, Athens Olympic Torch Relay. Besides sports they have also a number of music festivals such as Sound Awake, Rock’N India (an international annual music festival) and it prides itself on being the only events company in India to have produced live concerts with Music Greats such as Sting, Roger Waters, Lionel Richie, Iron Maiden, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams, Shakira, Aerosmith, etc. 7. 70 EMG Established over a decade ago, 70EMG, they are the curators behind festivals like the India Bike Week – a first of its kind biking festival in India, and the The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai since 2002 with over 6,50,000 visitors each year, the AAAI Goa Festival, South Asia’s answer to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – since 2007, the Nokia IndiaFest with over 12,000 visitors and the GJEPC India International Jewelry Week (over 800 exhibitors & 50,000 business visitors) amongst many others. 8. Encompass Events Having been in the industry for over 15 years and having more than 10000 projects in their pockets, Encompass events are the brains behind the award winning campaigns such as the P&G Thank You Mom mall activation, Gillette Shave For The Soldier campaign and the world launch of Toyota, Etios, People’s Gateway Movement, Mercedes Benz-Star Drive, etc. 9. DDB Mudra Max Founded in 1980, DDB Mudra Max has dabbled in experiential in a way that it successfully executed the 46 day long Grand Kerala Shopping Festival with the Government of Kerala, grabbed the South African Tourism OOH duties, IAA Olive Crown, and many more such properties along with handling experiential campaigns for a number of corporates such as Volkswagen. 10. Showtime Group Having been in the industry for over 30 years now, the Showtime Group has successfully executed events such as the BMW 3 Series launch, BMW Xperience, BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe Launch, DLF Mall of India launch, Swiss Unlimited launch, the Finacle Conclave, Hero Insolito, Jodhpur One World Retreat, MINI Countryman launch, Starbucks launch, etc.
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According to a study conducted in 2013, it has been stated that the BTL industry has grown at over 20 per cent during the last two years. The massive shift in spends towards both ATL and BTL initiatives haveled to the result of changing consumer attitudes. At the same time, technologyplays a great role in differentiating both forms of marketing. BTL allows marketers to better target consumers, and to better track results and measure ROI,as per industry experts. Food brands, and other FMCG products, which fall under the impulse purchase category are dedicating more than 60 per cent of their marketing spend to BTL activations. Elucidating further on the changes seen in BTL activities over the last few years, EE consults industry experts- EE:What kind of brands seek to benefit from BTL- now and then? Valay Lakdavala, Director, Neoniche Integrated believes, “The last five years has led to immense change. An increasing number of brands have shifted their focus towards BTL initiatives to engage audience, Auto sector was one of the early adopters of this channel for car launches and promotions, FMCG and luxury brands which highly rely on word of mouth and direct selling, Consumer electronics brands like LG, Samsung and Sony are constantly seeking opportunities to directly engage with their audience.” Siddhartha Chaturvedi, CEO, Eventcrafter, develops further, “The idea of gaining one to one connect with the target audience and estimating instant response to the promotional exercise provides great opportunity to every client whether it be a telecom service provider, major food chain brand or even a cement or adhesive brand, the idea of capturing real time feedback that’s totally transparent can be derived out of an experiential promotion only.” EE:Why is BTL a better return on marketing investment? AnkurKalra, CEO, Vibgyor Brand Services Pvt. Ltd. feels, “BTL has the ability to measure the returns accurately – one can quantify the objectives and effectively track the returns generated within a stipulated time frame. The assumptions and generalizations are much lesser compared to traditional ATL campaigns and returns are specific, measurable, result oriented and time bound.” EE:In what ways are BTL initiatives different from ATL? BTL directly reaches out to consumers and gives them a ‘live experience’ of the brand. They engage, educate and entertain audiences of brands and touch consumers in a way most ATL campaigns cannot reach out to them. BTL campaigns have the capability of changing consumption patterns, building brand loyalty, creating lasting impressions and inducing instant trials, said Ankur. EE:How are the BTL ideas in India different from those in the west? In the west, campaigns are not constrained by budgets and permissions. Innovations in technology are more easily available and can be used to deliver superior experiences. The use of technology for reporting, monitoring and connecting with consumers is also quite advanced in the west. While there are various technology based activations here as well, case in point being Bullet Time Photo Stations powered by smartphones, a campaign created by Vibgyor, Ankur said. EE:How would you explain the reach and expansion of BTL initiatives in terms of urban and rural marketing? Siddhartha explains that the reason of this growth could not have been anything else but the mandatory need of communication at the BTL level in both urban as well as rural markets. The rural markets have specifically been exposed to brands, services and facilities due to this amplification of reach. Considering facts, Ankur stated, “In my personal opinion if one were to quantify the reach I feel that BTL activations are still being planned primarily in the top 17 cities of India since they contribute to around 60% of the total consumption as per a study of a leading audit firm. While rural holds a lot of potential for experiential, much of it is yet to be explored.” EE:How does BTL support the idea of emotionally connecting with its customers in today’s times? Both Valay and Ankur feel that BTL campaigns have the ability to touch, feel & inspire audiences and create bonds which are difficult to create through any other form of communication. Most BTL campaigns are very well amplified on social media and create emotionally compelling content. Thus brands that interact with consumers at various touch points and create connections in their personal world are capable to change a target group consumer to an influencer. AnkurKalra concludes by saying “The situation of BTL initiatives has changed drastically lot over the past 5 – 6 years with its market understanding increasing excessively. Some of the bigger BTL agencies which were earlier viewed purely as executers are now being considered as creative and marketing partners. We have seen various examples of activations being the focal point of campaigns and BTL agencies being involved at the ideation stage of brand planning rather than just the execution stage – I feel that BTL agencies that provide value have actually moved up in the food chain of brand planning over the last few years.”
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E-commerce, a sector that created significant buzz in the late 90s, has bounced back. Top e-retailers are showing immense interest in experiential marketing and outdoor advertising. India has emerged as the fastest growing and largest Internet market in terms of number of users in the present time. It is interesting to note that the purchasing pattern of Indian consumers has become non-virtual. E-shops are now looking at connecting with potential costumers extensively on offline platforms. Another important feature to note is that even the established brands have really small distribution scale, particularly in Tier I and Tier II cities. Thus Online gives these brands a great platform to reach consumers across the country. Online brands thereby use offline communication mediums like on ground activities for not only brand awareness but also for engagement. Looking at the intensity and galloping growth of the e-commerce industry in India several brands mainly fashion e-retailers took a step forward from online to on ground expansion in the year 2014.Currently marketing spends for e-commerce firms account for 25-40% of their overall spending. Here we look at the broader picture. To name a few celebrated affairs of this year, Jabong launched ‘The Jabong Online Fashion Week’ in the month of July. Jabong being an online fashion store stepped out of its virtual boundaries to embrace experiential in unique and innovative ways. Jabong with Talenthouse India launched the ‘India Online Fashion Week’, a great example to start with. At this five day festival, Jabong engaged fashion designers and stylists from across the country, hosting several competitions. At this event Jabong had enough engagement for both its participants and viewers. It allowed its guests to pick and shop from the fashion show itself. Thus this experiential activity gave Jabong a leg-up on its competition. Well not only this it has also become the official jersey partners of Mumbai FC in the Hero Super League. Another online retailer eBay did an unusual thing which was a gym work out session with ace cricketer Virat Kohli. eBay, in partnership with NGOs Save the Children India and the Virat Kohli Foundation held a charity auction online. The item that was auctioned was a work-out session with the cricketer. The charity auction received immense response with the highest bidding at Rs 1.57 lakh. The money generated at the auction was given to Special Care Center School to provide aid for 245 mentally challenged and hearing impaired children. Also, the highest bidder at the auction got a chance to have a one-hour gym session with Kohli. It is said that for eye optical brands that the only way they can let the customer understand the product is through experiential means. Thus this brand- LensKart engaged its potential buyers through on-ground activities such as eye checkup camps in corporate areas across major cities at free of cost. This gave people a chance to check their eye power. By doing this the company gave its buyers a chance to see the LensKart collection and place orders with on the spot. LensKart.com also provides its customers a home eye checkup program where they can have their eyes checked by a specialist with a minimal fee of INR 100. Lenskart also offers a ‘Try At Home’ facility where they allow consumers to place requests for a set of any 5 glasses which are then sent to their doorstep. After trying them on, if they like it they can finalize purchase and if not, they can return all of them and then call for another set being free of cost. Another renowned fashion e-tailer recently launched its very own fashion weekend- Myntra Fashion Weekend, in Mumbai. Yes it was none other than Myntra. From Rina Dhaka to Masaba Gupta to showcasing Vero Moda’s collection by Karan Johar, Myntra fashion weekend proved to be a treat to fashionistas. This grand event witnessed the presence of Hritik Roshan, Kalki Koechlin, and a few other celebrities. “Fashion is what gets created, Style is what we put together” and hence by associating with such events we get a close peep in understanding fashion that helps us in styling our range of products,”said Gautam Kotamraju, Chief Creative Officer, Myntra. Moving further, KOOVS, an online fashion destination collaborated with Nikhil Chinapa for its experiential venture. To celebrate this unconventional, outlandish range and the association of Koovs with Nikhil, an underground gig dedicated to the culture of EDM was organised in Mumbai. Initiating an experiential activity like “Go Underground with NikhilxKoovs”, Koovs has created a lot of anticipation witnessing consumer exhilaration. Providing a spectacular platform to budding artists around the nation, Koovs has built a brand connect with its consumers. “It’s not about brand value; it’s about doing something that our customers find interesting. Putting customers first is always the best way to build any brand and Koovs is always looking at new and interesting relationships within the fashion world and outside – we also have some great collaborations lined up over the next 12 months – but you’ll have to wait and see!” said Mr. Robert Bready, Creative & Retail Director, Koovs.com.
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There are several home-grown challenges that entrepreneurs face when launching in the Indian market. From navigating bureaucracy to raising capital, the list is endless. Here at EE we speak to Madhur Ramani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Stratum Consulting who aims to enable FMBs, SMEs, Startups and other businesses achieve goals through a strategic implementation of HR and treat it as a business discipline that focuses on employee motivations and financial profitability. Madhur throws light on some of the challenges plaguing the Indian start-up industry and suggests ways to resolve them. EE:What are the challenges faced by start-ups in India? Start-ups face challenges in a number of areas such as funding, mentorship/ecosystem and talent management amongst others. Although these hurdles are faced broadly by every start up, yet the nature of the challenge varies from sector to sector. For instance a software based start-up requires lesser capital than a manufacturing unit whose requirement is to raise a higher capital. A common challenge faced by start-ups irrespective of sectors is of talent management. While talent management consists of many aspects, three interesting problems that stand out are: Most of the times,mid & junior level people (employees) do not fully comprehend the business objectives and goals of the Start-up. This is due to poorly or miscommunicated information from the founder’s end. I feel there is lack of an objective performance evaluation mechanism in most Start-ups. Those Start-ups that do have performanceevaluation end up make it very rating-driven where the end goal is the annual appraisal. Here the rating-driven performance evaluation mechanism in-turn creates a negative environment for people. This is a primary reason as to why many organizations are altogether scrapping the performance evaluation mechanism. I would say that the culture in an organisation gets built in two possible ways – intentionally or accidentally. Usually organisational culture ends up being accidental, however, founders must understand that if a start-up’s culture is intentionally built it avoids a lot of issues in the future. EE: What according to you are the solutions to overcome these challenges? I would begin by saying that ‘business objectives, vision and mission’ must be defined clearly in writing at the start (and as they evolve). Once they are defined in writing, they need to be constantly communicated to people from the beginning and reiterated time and again. Infact, when candidates are evaluated during the hiring process, the fitment must be judged from the perspective of alignment with the vision, mission & objectives as well in additon to hardskills and softskills required for the role. Once business objectives are clearly defined and communicated to people, their individual goals must be cascaded all the way downards and linked to the organisational objectives in a quantifiable manner. This is the only way to ensure a fair evaluation to some extent.Also, the performance evaluation mechanism should be oriented to actual performance improvement and creating an environment of learning & growth, rather thanjust ratings for the purpose of appraisals. Most founders forget that many a times the issue isn’t with the performance evaluation system itself, but with the people implementing it. Most founders do not understand the importance of ‘intentionally’ building a certain kind of organization culture from the start. As organizations grow, there are chances that the internal culture can also go haywire. In addition, fitment from the perspective of this defined culture needs to be checked during the hiring process as well. EE: How start-ups in India are different from those in other countries and what can we learn from them? A stark difference between start-ups in India and abroad is that most start-ups abroad receive the right kind of guidance / mentorship and undoubtedly a fantastic ecosystem. Besides that, barring the new age tech start-ups in India, a lot of them in India are not looking for an exit, whereas, most start-ups abroad look for an exit after a few years. This ensures that their entire focus is on creating max value in a short amount of time. EE:What financial issues do start -ups face in India and how can they be solved? While there are multiple, process related financial issues in start-ups, a very interesting one is where founders usually have a misguided impression of profitability in the first few years because of not fully accounting for their own cost to company. Many founders forget about the opportunity cost they are losing by not being fully employed elsewhere.As an example, if someone who earned 20 lacs per annum before starting his business draws 5 lacs per annum as salary now in the first year of business,he / she is ignoring the lost opportunity cost of 15 lacs per annum. Ideally, this needs to be factored into the expenses of his / her business before calculating profitability (which would lead to reducing the Start-up’s profibaility by 15 Lacs).
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