Tata Motors, one of India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer recently launched its all new TATA Ace Mega with the tag line of “Ab life mein jo hoga Mega hoga”. This variant is TATA’s strategy to continue the legacy established by Tata Ace “Chota Haathi” which has over 14 Lakh customers on road. To introduce this new entrant in the market, TATA Motors launched series events across India, executed by T.I.C. This series is one of its own kind of project through which Tata aims to reach out to more than 150 cities. As of now, more than 120 cities are already covered. The series features two formats of the events; large scale and small scale. Cities which are already covered include Jodhpur, Cuttack, Jaipur, Udaipur, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Thane, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, and Bangalore among others. These launches showcased Ace Mega along with Quick change and illusion acts, quiz shows, UV acts, dance programs interacting sessions, followed by the dinner. These acts were well received by the audience who found these acts unique, entertaining and informative at the same time. The biggest challenge for T.I.C. while executing the series was maintain the consistency in event delivery in both big metros but also in suburbs where basic infrastructure is not available. However, with T.I.C.’s past experiences and TATA Motors support, the company was able to organized, manage and deliver these in every city.
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Kolkata is all set to give a roaring welcome to hundreds of Harley-Davidson owners and their families as they come together from 11th – 13th December, 2015 for the fourth edition of the Eastern H.O.G.® Rally. During this edition, Harley owners from across the country’s 15 H.O.G. Chapters will come together to give the ‘Cultural Capital of India’ a flavor of the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. The 4th Eastern H.O.G. Rally, organized exclusively by and for Harley owners, will witness an exciting line-up of activities. These will include a H.O.G. Talent Hunt, a special Kolkata themed street food festival and the signature H.O.G.® Custom Contest where riders show-off the passion, creativity and inspiration they have put into their motorcycles. Mr. Manoj Joshi, Chapter Director, Bengal Harley-Davidson said, “West Bengal has always had an incredible motorcycling culture. The launch of Bengal Harley-Davidson in 2012 has given an opportunity to the riders to be a part of the global H.O.G community as we welcome a growing number of Harley Owners to the brotherhood. This will be the third H.O.G rally being hosted by Bengal Harley-Davidson, after rallies in Bodh Gaya and Puri, and is the first of its kind in Kolkata. We expect more than 300 Harley owners from all over the country to come together for the 3rd Eastern H.O.G Rally in the City Of Joy!” The Harley Owners Group in India encompasses the true spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie, something that Harley-Davidson® is known for all over the world. The Zonal H.O.G rallies are conducted at regular intervals, for customers to ride and experience adventure, self-expression and the freedom of the open road. Harley-Davidson customers don’t just buy a bike, but embrace a culture and a lifestyle. Over the past 6 years, the company has led the way in developing the leisure motorcycling segment in India. From organizing the event, to encouraging fellow riders to join the rally, these customer led events are a true reflection of the passion the riders have for the brand and the H.O.G. brotherhood.
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It is the shared passion for good food that unites different religions, castes and gender biases in the world. And while people across the globe eat to live, we Indians are known to ‘live to eat’. From over 1,00,000 different kinds of known food dishes being served across the country today, India is definitely the food capital of the world. From continental, to Italian, to Mexican to French, everything has comfortably found its place amidst the love India has for food. Till October last year the country surprisingly lacked an event that celebrated nothing but our love for food. But with the entry of the first ever NDMC Palate Fest in November 2014 in Delhi, people now had a reason to celebrate their gastronomic desires. This first of its kind food festival in the capital opened up to a thunderous response with people pouring in from even neighboring cities to join in. Interestingly, this was perhaps one of the few timeswhen something had received such aunexpected response. What followed wasa slew of food festivals serving a chance to experiment with different flavors at one place. As most mid level food festivals failed to re-create the impact of Palate, the creators AditiKapoor and RuchiSibal made a return in February 2015 with a mini edition of the Palate Fest. During this time all the other mid level food festivals went unnoticed. Then entered Aman Kumar, Arjun Jain, ChaitanyaMathur& Mani Singh with a new food festival named ‘The Grub Fest’ in April and the battle of food festivals got more interesting. With massive marketing campaigns and an extensive entertainment line-up The Grub Fest became the second food festival in the country to be organized on the same scale at Palate Fest. And though they could not deliver to all what they promised on the first edition. The recently executed second edition of Grub Fest nailed the expectations of the audiences to near perfection with the attendees going gaga over it. Another considerable edition to the food festival business recently was ‘Foodistan’ of the 10 Heads Festival by Trifecta Entertainment. While The Plate Fest and The Grub Fest were standalone food festivals, the 10 Heads hadFoodistan as one of 10 themes of the overall festival. In conversation with AditiKapoor&RuchiSibal, the creators of The Palate Fest, Aman Kumar, Arjun Jain, ChaitanyaMathur& Mani Singh, the directors of the Grub Fest and AbhishekMankad, Festival Co-Director, 10 Heads Festival we decipher their recipes of making their respective festival models a clean hit. The Grub Fest Q-How did you all meet and how did the concept of The Grub Fest originate? Arjun-Coming up with something like a Grub Fest had been Aman’s idea since 2011. He had discussed it earlier with his wife Sim and after a lot of contemplation he brought it up with his partner Mani. So the concept actually belongs to him. Chaitanya- I was working in London as a banker and once I came back I was doing banking here as well. I later completed my chartered accountant course till level two and started my own events company called EME and it was during this time when I met Arjun. Aman- Mani and I used to own an event company called Tricon media which did corporate events. We conceptualized the MRF challenge series. Plus we also did a lot of work for corporateslike Tata in Delhi we also have an office in London called Tricon Digital London which does digital marketing. So somewhere down the line we all were engaged in the events fraternity and were somehow connected. And rest as they say is history. Q- Were there any inspirations from international food festivals? Aman-Well, we wanted to do a premier food festival and by premier we meant creating pop-up restaurants via large spaces. The inspiration for these have been us visiting places like Chicago, LA, Seattle, the food festival bite of Seattle and Taste of London. However, since we had to create something like an international food festival in a format that fits the landscape of India. And hence, instead of having no seating arrangements like international food festivals we decided to create pop up restaurants. Our biggest pop up in the second edition was 2400 sq feet which is a 120 people seater restaurant. Our aim has always been to create an international food festival experience designed for India. Q-Establishing a new IP from scratch is a daunting task. What were some of the challenges that you faced? Aman- We mainly faced government related challenges, from license hassles, to prior approvals and local administration to support from the government. Our plan is to take the fest international, ironically when you conceptualize a festival outside India you get a lot of support from the government and that’s the challenge you face India, you are not supported at all to create something new. Arjun- Basically we had to go to 8 different offices to get a permission, there is no support that the administration was willing to give easily; they would rather drag you back than actually helping you. They don’t understand it’s something good for the society, something that the tourism can also benefit from. They are more of a hindrance than a support. Q- You had a tough time dealing with the cops at the first edition of the fest. What happened there? Arjun- All the challenges have made us who we are now. The problems that we faced with the cops was that they made us move our box office and they also cancelled our entire entertainment lineup just two days before the event because we were also serving alcohol which they objected to. Chaitanya- JLN being in the VIP area, it was the first time an event so huge was executed there with alcohol which the police were rather skeptical about. They thought if someone got intoxicated and perhaps misbehaved then it could be a big issue for them. So, 2 days before the event they came and said we cannot allow this to happen. So our second last advertisement of the event had our entire entertainment lineup and our last advertisement had no lineup at all. They only allowed Veer Das to perform as there was no music. However, lessons were learned and for the second edition of the Grub we had all permissions in place. Q-What were the reactions and footfall in both the editions? Mani-We had 75,000 people who came to the first edition and 50000 people came to the second edition since we were only covering Gurgaon and a small part of south Delhi in the second edition. We also received requests that please make this a permanent structure as we had some of the best food brands at one place with so much happening at the same time in terms of art installations, engagements and also stellar line up as far as entertainment is concerned. Overall people loved the ambience of both the editions.Grub also received great reviews from people in terms of the security aspects as well. Q-What is the kind of money you have invested in creating the Grub Fest? Aman- Well, we cannot share the exact figures with you but all I can say is that in food festivals we would be investing more than 2 million pounds over the next year. That is our plan and that is the kind of investment you should be looking at if you are serious about creating a food festival of a different level. Q- What is the number of sponsors you had in first and second season? Aman-I believe, no other event in the country attracts close to 1,00,00 people so events like Grub are a heaven for a sponsors. Compared to a music festival which has 10,000 people at a food festival you are looking at just 10 times the audiences and different levels of engagement. We really multiplied our sponsors in the second edition by 4 times. Chaitanya- It was easier the second time, since the concept was introducedpeople already knew about it. Q-What were the highlights of the second edition of The Grub Fest? Chaitanya- For the first time we came up with a four storied travelling restaurant,which provided a 360 degree view of the entire festival. We had Varun Behl doing art installations; we hadflash mobs, infrastructure wise we were more sorted this time as we had luxury washrooms, luxury carts to take people from one place to another. Mani- We also had Grub Explore, where people could have cuisines from around the such as Bengali .Nagaland, Costal, Kashmiri, Iranian and others. Q- The Grub Fest came after NDMC Palate fest had already established the concept of a food festival in Delhi. Obviously there are direct comparisons between the two. What do you have to say on that? Mani- We have a lot of respect for the girls who introduced Palate. When Palate came it showed us something that we had already planned to do but never implemented. With that being said we believe in healthy competition with people who have a vision like us and Palate is something that we have always admired. Q-When is the next edition of The Grub Fest happening? Aman- Well, plans are to go to Bangalore, Pune and come back to Delhi in March again. We are also excited about taking the festival out of India to places like Dubai and Singapore. Chaitanya- We will also be creating properties around Grub such as a Grub Carnival which will be much bigger in magnitude and Grub Express which will be a food festival for tier two and tier three cities. The Palate Fest Q-How did you two meet and how was the idea of creating Palate fest born? Ruchi- We met as parents while our kids were in the same class in nursery so that is how we became friends. During that time itself we decided that we should do something big and different as it makes no sense to do something which is already out there. Once our kids were a little older our common passion for food has us discussing about creating the first of its kind food festival and that is how NDMC Palate fest was born. It took us 1.5 years to decipher on what should be the elements of the festival, what should it showcase, how to get the best hospitality partners and other crucial elements. We feel really glad to see that our efforts paid off and none of this could have happened without the support from the government. Q-Was the idea of Palate fest inspired from any international food festival? Ruchi- Actually no. For Palate fest we did our own curation from scratch. Most food festivals that we have seen so far have just been about having a kiosk and selling what they have, this is something that we really wanted to change and thus creating Palate festival was a different concept and experience all together. Q- What were some of the biggest roadblocks in your journey? Aditi- Since, Palate was the first food festival of its kind to take place ever the country it took a lot of time for us just convincing people about our vision. There were a lot of people who supported us and a lot more who didn’t. Also a challenge was to bring different cuisines, embassy partners and the necessary art & music support. Our idea was always to create a food festival that could be enjoyed by anyone from the age of 1-101 but since we were the first ones to come up with this concept it took us a people a lot more convincing. Q-We have seen two other food festivals recently. One being The Grub Fest and the other being Foodistan, both of them had an entry fee. What makes Palate Fest free? Aditi- Our idea for a food festival has always been people enjoying in the park as if it’s a family picnic. So Why to stop them or put a cap on entering the festival? They will anyways be paying for the food they eat. Yes it is challenging for any food festival revenue wise to not have an entry fees but our vision was always very clear. In fact, we also had many people sharing that drivers also attended the festival with their families. And that was the idea of what we wanted to create, a family experience that anyone could enjoy and thanks to the support of the government we managed to do that. Q-What was the response that you received at the first edition? Ruchi-We had some 1,00,000 people entering by day 2 and then we just stopped counting. Q-When is the next edition of the NDMC Palate Fest and what can we expect from it? Ruchi- Well considering this is second Palate fest it is obviously going to be bigger and better. One can expect more than 60 restaurants to participate in comparison to 35 last year and over 35 cards compared to 22 in the previous edition. We have a lot of surprises as well in terms of different cuisines and art installations. Bands like Euphoria and Nasha are also slated to perform as far as the music quotient of the event is concerned and we are also partnering with Hindustan Times who will be creating on-ground engagement at the upcoming New Delhi edition on the 27th-29th November 2015. Q-What according to you is the size of the food festival business in the country? Aditi-I think we are standing at a very nascent stage of organizing food festivals in the country and it is too early for us or anyone to actually comprehend of its business size. The fact of the matter is that it is getting bigger and better with every edition which is being organized which makes it very interesting. Plus Food is the essence of life in India and hence food festivals always have a great future ahead. Q-The second edition of The Grub Fest has received positive reviews from the people. Does that put a pressure on you? Ruchi- No, as we have our own niche and goals in place. Our idea has always been to put 200% of our efforts into creating this and we have our own vision so with or without any other food festival in place we would have worked the same as we are working now. Q- When is the next Palate after Delhi this November? Aditi- We also have a Palate happening in Chandigarh at Leisure Valley 25th-27th December this year. Next year we shall begin with the Palate Mini in Feb. Our plan is to expand into cities like Pune and Bangalore as well and make Palate an annual property there as well. 10 Heads Festival Q- 10 Heads Festivals had ten different concepts in one property which included the food festival Foodistan. Any reasons for not creating a standalone food festival? Abhishek-We had that idea as well but decided to elevate it up a notch. We wanted to go beyond food and engage people completely. At a food festival what happens is people come eat, listen to music and go whereas at 10 Heads what we saw was families coming in and staying longer period. We wanted to create a family experience that had something to offer to everyone and hence we created 10 Heads Festivals that offered the experience of a food festival but with so much more. Q-What is the amount of investment you had put in to create the 10 Heads Festival? Abhishek- We spent somewhere around 3.5 crores to create the entire festival together. Q-Why do you think a concept of 10 different themes of experiences works better than a conventional one-themed festival? Abhshek- There is no comparison between 10 Heads Festival and other conventional food carnivals as the engagement with 10 heads is 10 times more considering it has more variety to offer. We got some amazing feedback from the audience as well. People appreciated the concept we came up with and even the government officials were really happy. It was a differentiated festival and was enjoyed by all. Q- What was the footfall registered at Foodistan? Abhishek- We had approximately 50000-60000 people coming over 4 days of the festival. Q- When will we see the next edition of the 10 Heads festival? A-Well we will now be travelling to 3-4 cities with individual festivals themes like Foodistan. But considering we have just executed the festival nothing more can be revealed as of now. (The article first appeared in Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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Taiwan Excellence Gaming Cup Brief-After the success of the first edition of the DOTA 2 gaming championship last year, the gaming festival was back for its second edition with double prize money and promising bigger fun. The challenge was to match the gaming experiences curated at International level gaming championships. Agency- The Brand Brewery TBB created a platform in the form Taiwan Excellence Gaming Cup and promoted it across various social media platforms garnering high PR and awareness. With almost half a million impressions on Facebook and more than one lakh twitter impressions, the cup became a talking point on national gaming arena. The grand finale saw an impressive display gaming environment complete with high-end gaming gear from Taiwan Excellence.TEGC, was the only gaming championship in the country to be executed at such a large scale. The participants, as well as the crowd of avid gamers and techies were inspired to see the level of gaming in the country. The finale was also streamed live on Twitch TV with more than twenty five thousand views. Client Quote- “The second edition of the Taiwan Excellence Gaming Cup was a sensation and has made a big mark on the US $250 million gaming industry. None of this would have been possible without the flawless execution by team TBB”-Michael Lin, Director of the Taipei World Trade Centre Liaison Launch of Topshop&Topman for Jabong Brief- The e-commerce platform Jabong wanted to host a fun-filled fashionable event at the Mehboob Studio to celebrate its partnership with British brands TOPSHOP and TOPMAN.Cream Events was given the mandate for the event after the first round of presentation. Agency- Cream Events The main concept for the event was the art décor that featured the RGB Light experiment. An image was created in layers such that each layer gets highlighted when red, green & blue lights fall on it. Artist Viraag Desai was commissioned to create a series of images that showcased the brands models and their designer prints from the Autumn-Winter 2015 collection. The entire studio was divided into different zones. One being the entrance tunnel outside the studio featuring spinning fans with TOPSHOP & TOPMAN prints, another being a press pit for photographers and videographers and lastly, the main party area with the stage enclosed by RGB art and branded panels that hung from the ceiling. Additionally, wooden tables that looked like crates were crafted & weathered tin sheets were used for the façade of the stage and the central bar. A visual artist was roped in to sync and mix brand footage with stock graphics that were a reflection of the brands and the music performances at the event. Client Quote- "We are thrilled to have power players TOPSHOP and TOPMAN as additions to Jabong's premium fashion brand portfolio and our partnership could not have been better depicted than the execution by Cream Events.” -Praveen Sinha, Managing Director & co-founder, Jabong.com One Touch Response to make Delhi safe Brief- One Touch Response had set out to right all the wrongs in Delhi/NCR via their mobile app and promised to be a tap away in case of any emergency. With an activity the security agency wanted to show how they were available to help people in any emergency situation, within minutes. Agency-CRI Events During a month long campaign, innovatively designed and executed by CRI events, installations were setup at several Malls and RWAs with a biking awareness tour happening simultaneously across the region. To give people a hands on experience about the One Touch Response services, CRI Events created a mall installation featuring a unique setup where a shelter was created. The seats of the setup played musical notes on being pressed. The idea behind the activity was to promote that one touch could raise an alarm and get you back to safety in times of emergencies. People won instant gifts on successfully playing a tune. The activity turned out to be a major attraction for all. Client Quote- “Our dream was to democratize safety to the ordinary citizen and with this thought, we launched the One Touch Response Emergency Services in Delhi and NCR. CRI events understood our ethos &our strategy and came up with innovative outreach solutions to reach out to our identified TG. Thank you CRI for truly partnering this with us”- Priya Batra, Head Marketing, One touch Response Services. Vodafone bazaar initiative Brief-Vodafone Delhi wanted to reach out to its existing and prospective pre-paid base, targeting the lower echelon of Delhi population by engaging in activities which rewarded and acknowledged the support the customers. Agency-Time code events For the activity, Time Code Events created an ambience of crowded bazaars in the midst of localities of Delhi-NCR targeting the low lying areas such as slums. They invited people to participate in lucky draws by taking a new Vodafone pre-paid connection or existing Vodafone customer buying a pre-paid recharge of as low as Rs 10 or Rs 5 at Vodafone Bazaar, and get a voucher which entitles them to a lucky draw. Daily winners were chosen and rewarded in the form of groceries like atta, eggs, oil, sugar, rice etc. The Vodafone Bazaar was promoted locally through Van announcements, music, emcee and other activities relevant to the interests of local residents. The initiative ran for a total of 16 days engaging more than 1500 people and initiating 823 recharges with 274 taking new Vodafone connection. Client Quote- “Vodafone Bazaar is one such unique initiative that offers - engagement, entertainment, value proposition and rewards - to both existing and prospective customers. It is a way of providing the pre-paid segment that is heavily dependent on the paper recharges, the same excitement that they experience at the usual bazaars.”- Apoorv Mehrotra, MD, Vodafone Delhi
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20 years ago, I told a school junior about Delhi University, about the thriving nightlife of the hostel, college festivals. He was sold. Once school was out, he had arrived in New Delhi and we had already dreamt up our first company Point Counterpoint. We did odd jobs for people who didn’t have the time for it. Today I see Timesaverz and Taskrabbit and smile to myself. Our idea was way ahead of its time. But our second idea was apt for the chaos that was the events scene in the 90s. It was called Encompass. And the school junior was Sukrit Singh, the driving force behind Encompass today. Being a radio jockey and TV host in 1995 a natural extension of what I did on air was to do it live. Be a show host. And so I was in Ludhiana a Wizcraft event and a stadium with Baba Sehgal at a Magnum Nexus one, interviewing an UrmilaMatondkar for Lux at an Opus event or quizzing at a Showbiz Unilever conference. These were some of the best names in the business back then. Delhi was largely the wild west of events. Unpaid talent and suppliers, disgruntled clients, terrible venues. Being a performing artist this bothered me to no end. I also was a regular seller for advertising agencies. And here the chaos was better managed. There seemed to be a system , clients trusted agencies with their brands but never the event manager. I shared this with Sukrit who was freelancing during his masters as an event designer. We flirted with the idea. But what sealed the deal was a monumental blow, less to our bank balances and more to our egos. Both of us were simultaneously ditched by an event manager. The idea plagiarized was mine, the execution that remained unpaid was Sukrit’s. We decided to do something about it. Create an all encompassing marketing solution. What else could we call it but ENCOMPASS. From a room in my house to a basement in Chittaranjan Park to a first floor to many floors, we moved as we grew. We spent quality time with our landlord negotiating rents rather than contracts with clients. But our office space was big, and rooms need people to populate them and dreams need doers. And over the next few years we built a team. Our clients pushed us. ShuchiSarkar at Motorola nudged us from the comfort of launching pagers at a hotel ballroom to selling pagers at Nehru place through a roadshow. Our first roadshow was a disaster. Nobody gathered for the event. This wasn’t a cushy invite only affair. This was attention marketing. We recovered next day with dholwalas and the promise of money falling from the skies. We had a crowd and their attention. Through many such devices of engagement we did an MBA on the job. We never did the obvious and so the road less traveled was more like ‘roadless’ journeys into areas where we needed to make our own path. Our activation giveaway would be a set of audio tapes as the trucker community still listened to cassettes and so we were away in Mumbai negotiating deals with TIPS, the churning of the sea would launch the next big Paging revolution and Sukrit was negotiating with boisterous boatmen in Chennai for an inflatable to be launched from the water. Our ideas seemed infectious; we began to be called by many the Ogilvy of the events business. We got on board our first CEO (Sue Fertal) who stepped over from a mainline agency to Encompass. The advertising agency from which she moved still holds a grudge I think for its a rare LakshmanRekha that is crossed. We were burnt by bad clients, scorched by performing artists on occasion (oh those unpaid F&B and phone bills), we rose like the phoenix every time someone wrote our epitaph. We were the rock of Gibraltar on rolling skates (Thank you Tom Peters). An advertising agency head once said, he would never do events. ‘We make a print ad or TV commercial and everything’s pre approved, there are no last minute issues except maybe placement or time slot.’ I could never explain to him the rush of adrenalin we feel at a live venue. Event people are the ones given the brief everyone else refuses to do. Why do we do it? Events make memories. Experiences that you give birth to leaves stretch marks on your soul. Where else would you get to launch KBC across 10 cities with the thrill of outdoing the TRP that a India Pakistan match gets when Sachin is about to hit a century, manage the Formula one and get two million fans for the lead sponsor Airtel and shoot a commercial with Schumacher, run the Obama visit (and get a personal thank you note), execute the mandate of the external affairs ministries for India Africa Summit or do an IPL opening. But these aren’t the only ones. In 2007 Sukrit came to me and mentioned how he was worried for the future. We were still running quarter to quarter, still pitching endlessly, winning mostly, executing flawlessly, exhausted daily. In the final analysis we were the one night stand, left at the altar of communication by the brand manager for the boring yet faithful advertising agency. But something was changing. We knew the consumer. We had found the secret source and the secret sauce. The briefs that everyone else rejected and we took up had won us respect. And we had built an award winning reputation. We may not have had millions in the bank but had a clean balance sheet that was worth its weight in gold. We decided to look at a partnership. And advertising agencies were beating down our door as suitors. And in 2008 we sold majority stake to WPP. I am often asked the numbers, people still speculate was it a 100 crore deal or more? Sukrit and I laugh privately. We have never mistaken net worth for self worth. The WPP Encompass journey has been epic. In 2015 we are Geometry Global Encompass network, reenergized, towards bigger goals. The journey taught us to manage our moneys better and our reputation even better. Both Sukrit and I got the opportunity to serve on the Cannes Promo Jury. And the results: Encompass is the most awarded specialist network in the industry today. A heady mix of insights enabled by passionate delivery. We handle more brands then you can believe. We’ve found people who have helped us build what in 2015 is the largest activation and event network in India. There are too many of them to thank but Sukrit has been the architect of our growth. He has been ably supported by TanuRandhawa, Chanda Singh, HemaBhagwani, Nupur Jain, NitinAgarwal, Subhash, Supriya, Reshma. There are many more stalwarts who are not a part of Encompass anymore. We have birthed many agencies through our lifetime. And when many walk back through our door after years for a visit or to join in the new vision they all say one thing: We are home! About the Author Roshan Abbas is a radio Jockey, theatre actor, emcee, writer, director and the founder of event management agency Encompass. Twitter- @roshanabbas (The article first appeared in Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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Many would agree that the future of great brand experiences lies in innovative digital integration. Brands are increasingly looking beyond the audience in attendance and are trying to amplify the experience across various digital platforms. Here’s our pick of some truly engaging brand experiences that rode the digital wave with flair. Kokuyo Camlin reinvents the Digital Rakhi for Smartphone Users Brief- Camlin, the stationary brand, wanted to help brothers and sisters celebrate the tradition of RakshaBandhan through its Camlin Experience App. The idea behind the campaign was to integrate the brand and its presence into the lives of siblings who could not be together on this auspicious day. Agency-Big I Tuna Tying rakhis has been one of the most common traditions among children during Rakshabandhan. The Camlin Rakhi Maker was conceptualized to bring alive this tradition virtually. It explored a new dimension of scripting by enabling users to create designs with Camlin products that will be reflected in multiple sides to create a Kaleidoscopic effect. The addictive nature of the Rakhi Maker resulted in hundreds of virtual rakhis being created and shared on the occasion of RakshaBandhan. The Mumbai based digital agency created and incorporated the ‘Rakhi Maker’ feature to the Camlin app, which lets users create artistic digital rakhis and share them virtually. Using a select set of powerful tools in the Rakhi Maker, anyone can create a stunning Rakhi design within minutes. Beyond designing personalized rakhis, they can tag and share the Rakhi with a loved one on Facebook within the app, or download it and share via email. To help users create an endless number of intricate designs in a flash, the Rakhi Maker also enabled a kaledioscopic effect that reflected every drawing action in 20 sides. Users could choose from any of the art mediums and colours, and also alter the number of side reflections. Key Success Indicator – 1.5 lac users engaged with the ‘Rakhi Maker’ app during RakshaBandhan ASUS Sand art revisiting history of India Brief- ASUS India wanted to make an announcement about its local manufacturing plant in Sricity, Andhra Pradesh though a digital campaign that celebrated the glorious history of India. Agency-BC Web Wise There’s a lot that makes India incredible, and there are some incredible feats that are ‘Made in India.’ To celebrate this fact ASUS India unveiled a sand art video titled ‘Incredible Made in India’ on its Facebook page that revisited the historic feats that have distinguished the nation in the global arena. The sand art video showcased several historic inventions by Indians and institutions right from the invention of Zero, or building the world’s largest railway network, to the most economical Mars mission, and even Sachin’s 100 centuries in ODI cricket. It closes by adjoining ASUS India’s announcement to manufacture the Zenfone range in India. Conceptualized & created by digital agency BC Web Wise, the video went on to reveal that the high-end ASUS Zenfones will now be ‘Made in India’. Inspired by the brand’s tagline ‘In Search of Incredible,’ the core idea behind the video was to sensitize audiences and instill a sense of pride in all things ‘Incredible Made in India’. The use of sand art was done to creatively emphasize the ‘incredible’ nature of India’s accomplishments through history while projecting its readiness as a manufacturing hub. Key Success Indicator - The ‘Incredible Made in India’ video has garnered more than 176,000 likes on ASUS India’s Facebook page with 20,32,824 Impressions and 67 Million estimated Impressions on twitter. NBA Click to Calendar campaign Brief-NBA has a huge fan base in India and is telecasted on Sony SIX channel. However, since the sport is not on standard time in India and is aired as early as 4.30 AM in the morning, most of its fans miss the game. The channel wanted to roll out a digital campaign which could tackle Sports not on standard time problem and also increase the TRP of early morning games. Agency-WATConsult The agency came up with the idea of running banner ads on targeted websites which enabled the best ROI on campaign. Any user who scrolled the website on his mobile could see the ad banner on their mobile phones. Upon clicking the ad banner an automatic reminder at the timings of the game would then be set on the mobile phones of the user. Thus, reminding them about their favorite NBA game being aired on the channel at that time. The campaign was run during a period of 3 months. The campaign not only helped making NBA more popular in the country but brought the desired spike in the TRP’s of the channel. Key Success Indicator - 2,1396,949 impressions on mobile, 189556 reminders set and 70 % increase in TRP during the campaign for the channel.
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From being an International Odissi dancer to cinching the Miss India World title in 1992 and from anchoring television shows to creating her own niche in theater, Shivani Wazir Pasrich is a versatile personality donning multiple hats. In a candid rapid fire, Shantanu Jain catches up with the acclaimed actress, fashionista and compere. Q- Fondest memory as an actor/anchor? While working for the serial Mumkin I was able to perform a comedy scene with MukulDev and a tragedy scene with the same impact and conviction. Also while shooting for Dil to PagalHai, Madhuri Dixit asked me which acting school I went to? So that is another fond memory. Q- If you had to change your name, what would you change it to? Hidimba, the wife of Bheem. Q- What do you do to have fun? I laugh. I can laugh at the silliest things. Q- If you could have an unlimited storage of one thing, what would it be? I already have 16 cupboards of clothing, bags and accessories. Q- If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it? Namaste Shivani Q- What is one thing that you cannot stand? Dirt and mess Q- One thing that melts your heart? My girls Q- Typical bedtime? Being a travel host for so many years where we used to work round the clock. I have grown accustomed to sleeping anywhere and at any time. Q- Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. Q- Your style icon? Dr Karan Singh’s wife YashoRajya Lakshmiji. I feel she was the most elegant woman ever. Q- Your favorite TV show? I don’t watch television. But whenever my daughter comes back from her boarding school we sit and watch Desperate Housewives. Q- Your comfort food? Water caltrop (Singhara) and iceberg lettuce. Q- Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line? Back on TV with my rural awareness reality television show.
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So, when the editor asked me what an anchor should do to capture the audience’s attention in the very first minute, it got me thinking. Thinking about how simple it is and yet how destined it is. Let me try and put in in the simplest words. Why is the anchor’s entry the first drum to roll on an event? Precisely, that’s why! It is the first gong meant to arrest the audience’s attention. To convert the captive into the captivated. Like love at first sight. They should be eating out of the palm of your hand. There should be bombastic applause when you close the show. You should be the first topic of discussion over post-event- hors d'oeuvres.So, how does this happen. Does it happen on its own? Or, do you have to play cupid? I’d say, both. You have to be born a bit of a Bahubali. And you have to work at it, a bit.But most of all, you have to want it. Yes, your attire must be appropriate for the occasion and of good quality, your make-up and hair should be trendy and with the times, you must look the best you can. Yes. But that just the physics of it. The chemistry starts thereafter. The way to their heart is through the words. If during the first minute, they are listening with rapt attention to what you are saying, you’ve got them. One must understand, the audience takes thirty seconds to size up a great suit or dress. Beyond that, they want to savour what you say, how much you say & how to say it. It is all about how involved you can get them to be with your talk. So, how do you get them to listen to every word you say. I am not the expert here, all I am doing is sharing with you, what I have learnt at work, over the years. The first requisite is a microphone that helps you sound as good as Nat King Cole. The biggest demoralizer for me is bad sound. Why some clients compromise on hiring the best sound equipment, is beyond me. The other thing that I do not comprehend is how artists, with unsuitable voices are hired as anchors? Should that not be the first requisite? Why does a handsome face or a gorgeous body take precedence over the quality of voice? Anyway, once you have a good sound system supporting you, thenext trick is to make them feel like kings and queens. Welcome them with the warmth of your heart and a smile that encircles the earth. And then start to talk the stage, start to own it, start to conquer their senses. Say it with raw, tingling energy.Say it eye to eye with an infectious smile in your voice. Say it with honesty.Say something they don’t know or have not heard about the subject at hand. And before you know,you will feel the doors of their minds opening. The vibe will surf onto stage. And you’re set. After you have them, don’t let them down, not even for a second. Like in the game of Kabaddi, the first inhale should be after crossing the boundary, after closing the show. It is important to know that the audience cannot be fooled even for a minute, whichever the genre of event you are executing. So, apart from your own karma, what are the external factors that help a live host perform well? Which is the other question the editor slipped my way. Let me begin by saying that the hosts who started their careers post 2008, are very lucky. Many of us, who have worked through the earlier years of eventdom in India, barely had anything that resembled support. We were one man armies. But it was a solid learning ground and I am better from having worked through that phase. Today, hosts are paid handsomely, have the support of content writers, stylists, prompters, backstage managers and make-up and hair professionals. I have stressed for long enough that anchors need make-up and hair support on all events, big or small. The time has come for the industry to pencil in it as a regular cost. It would only serve to lift the anchor’s presence on stage to another level. You see, not every anchor has the required expertise to do good make-up. Good and sensitive backstage support is important too and can sometimes prove to be crucial. Artists, mostly are beings with fragile hearts. (Not me though!) The more loved an artist will feel, the better he or she will perform for your event. Instructions and feedback need to be communicated calmly and respectfully or they may boomerang, especially with new artists.Anything urgent needs to be communicated with a straight face, sans the drama.More often than not, I find myself taking over the walky talky to understand the instruction that the backstage manager is unable to me clearly, due to panic. The backstage and walky talkies need to be free of huha-monsters who ruffle nerves and thus affect concentration.The backstage also need to be free of noise pollution of the social kind. Drawing room chats between the crew, hostesses or other artists are best conducted at low volume. Especially, if you are around a host who is stepping up without cue-cards or prompter support. Then comes the greenroom, which is mostly in order and mostly without a roof! Nine times out of ten, even on the biggest events, I ask for it to be covered from the top as hotel venues have cameras all over. But these are all factors that come in much later. A clear and timely brief is the most crucial factor for good output on stage, unless you are working with a highly experienced MC who understands the route to take, to draft your content. I find more than often that clients and event managers exhibit a lack of patience of giving the host an in-depth brief. An in-depth brief can lift the show to unimagined levels. But most of the time, they just want the job done. Neat and nice seems to be the new brilliant. I would especially like to make a mention of conferences where briefing is mandatory. Post which,75% of the bulk of work is - homework. I spend considerable time reading, researching & drafting the content. The content at conferences has to be world class. Beyond expectations. The biggest takeaway from a conference is knowledge. And the anchor has to be a vehicle of the same. At the same time, the host has to be a great ball of energy through the conference day. If it is a product launch or a channel partner meet, the content should make sure the brand/product on hand, shines through. Every word said needs to be approved by the client.Then there are events that are executed for the government sector where it is wise to pick an anchor with nerves of steel and a grand command on language. These are shows where the anchor has to stay within the boundaries. Nowadays hosts get readymade content that they need to execute on stage. Which is good, because not everyone can write well for an event. It is a specialized skill. In cases where a content writer has drafted the content, the agency needs to make sure the host has gone through the content carefully and has internalised it, has become one with it. The reason I prefer writing my own content is that it is much easier to internalise. And I sound like I know what I am taking about. I must add here that the agency needs to make sure that the content writer does a good job. In the few times that I have been made to go with content written by a writer, I have been sorely disappointed by the quality of it. Then there are events where you have to spread your wings and just fly. Just jam with your audience. Concerts, social events & employee days are all a delight to host. It works differently for different events. There are informal, fun events for which I make it a point to prepare minimally and bank solely on spontaneity. I just make sure that I look good and feel good. Then itall depends on a jugalbandi between the audience and me. They contribute as much to the fun, as I do. And these are the events I have the most fun in, because I can be, me. Lets just say, if they listen to you more than they look at you, you will talk till you stand. And it’s all in the talk, my love, it’s all in the talk. About the Author Geetika Ganju Dhar is a live host, TV anchor & content writer for events Twitter @geetikaganju
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The Top IPs in India is an attempt by BW Applause to identify the best IPs in the country. That being said, we wanted to ensure that the list covers IPs cross various categories. This research was done in partnership withour research partner Traverse Strategy Consultants, where we used a bottom - up approach and created a universe of IPs across sectors. This was followed by identification of the best IPs under each category – where every category shared some metrics but also had some individual metrics unique to it. A portal created on the Everything Experiential website allowed IP owners to nominate themselves. Extensive research and engagement with IP owners was done to gather information pertaining to all these metrics, given below: Attendees / Viewership* Sponsorship Positive Media Coverage Live Market Research done Digital empowerment Media Vehicles The two fold change we see is that existing IPs that have been around for years are rebranding themselves, and that there are many new properties mushrooming in varied sectors. The consumer acceptance across all these various formats of experiential marketing also will in turn will encourage more properties to be created. Category Rank ART & CULTURE 1 Jaipur Literature Fest 2 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 3 Comic Con India 4 India Art Fair 5 Vadodara International Art & Cultural Festival Category Rank AUTOMOTIVE & BIKE 1 Tata Prima Truck Racing Championship 2 India Bike Week 3 Bike Festival of India 4 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare 5 Harley-Davidson H.O.G Rally Goa 6 Agra Taj Car Rally 7 Indian National Rally Championship 8 BMW Experience - Multi City 9 MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 10 MRF MoGrip FMSCI National Supercross Championship 11 Toyota Etios Motor Racing Category Rank AWARDS 1 IIFA Awards 2 Filmfare Awards 3 Life OK Screen Awards 4 GiMA Awards 5 Star Guild Awards 6 Zee Cine Awards 7 Stardust Awards 8 Star Parivaar Awards 9 BIG Life OK Now Awards 10 Big Star Entertainment Awards 11 Mirchi Music Awards Category Rank FASHION 1 Amazon India Fashion Week 2 Lakme Fashion Week 3 India Couture Week 4 BMW India Bridal Fashion Week 5 Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour 6 India International Jewellery Week 7 Bangalore Fashion Week 8 Pune Fashion Week 9 Chennai International Fashion Week 10 India Beach Fashion Week Category Rank FOOD AND DRINKS 1 Bandra Wine Festival 2 Sulafest 3 Grubfest 4 New Delhi Palate Fest Category Rank MUSIC 1 Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2 Sunburn 3 VH1 Supersonic 4 Kingfisher OctoberFest 5 Ragasthan 6 Mahindra Blues Festival 7 100 Piper VH1 Sound Nation 8 Enchanted Valley Carnival 9 Kasauli Rhythm and Blues fest 10 Kingfisher Final Wave 11 GoMAD fest 12 Escape Festival 13 Axe Boat Party 14 Magnetic Fields Festival Category Rank SPORTS - NON LEAGUES 1 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 3 TCS World 10K 4 Puma Urban Stampede 5 The Spirit of Wipro Run 6 Pune International Marathon 7 SBI Pinkathon 8 Reliance Sabarmati Marathon 9 Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 10 Vodafone Cycling Marathon 11 Firestorm 12 Auroville Marathon 13 The Kaveri Trail Route 14 India Surf Festival Category Rank SPORTS - LEAGUES 1 Indian Premier League 2 Hero Indian Super League 3 Hockey India League 4 International Tennis Premier League 5 Pro Kabbadi League 6 Indian Badminton League
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The most comprehensive ranking of the top dealer-oriented initiatives in India Experiential marketing is aimed typically at creating a closer bond between the end consumer and the brand. But is that all? Can experiential marketing be used successfully to reach out to other stakeholders as well – such as dealers? This question laid the foundation for us to also felicitate the Top 10 dealer meets. The study period was the same as consumer oriented campaigns - a 15 month period from 1 May 2014 – 31 July 2015. While these initiatives are typically closed door – being directed to a very specific stakeholder of the company – one cannot understate the importance to reach out to this very specific group. While organizing extravagant dealer meets is not a new concept, and firms across sectors have been practicing it for a long time; now dealer meets have become grand affairs, with professional agencies conceptualizing and executing these events. Considering the importance of dealers to a firm, the effort is well directed and the money spent is surely worth it. BW Applause worked with Traverse Strategy Consultants to identify the Top 10 Dealer Initiatives, which recognizes the best dealer – oriented initiatives. Rank Initiative Name Brand Agency Name 1 Reebok and Adidas trade shows Adidas Cream Events 2 Sony P4 Mobile series channel partners launch Sony A for Pineapple Ideas & Executions 3 The Tata Motors Annual Suppliers Conference 2014 Tata Motors SALT Experience and Management 4 Honda Press launch and dealer - supplier business meet Honda Radiant 5 Lodha Channel Partner Meet Lodha Corporate Events 6 The Aditya Birla Group Birla Cellulose Liva launch Aditya Birla Fountainhead Entertainment 7 Asian Paints Dealer's Meet Asian Paints Candid Marketing 8 Oriflame’s Managers Seminar Oriflame Fountainhead Entertainment 9 UltraTech and Jaypee Partner Meet Ultratech Encompass Events 10 Grohe’s Annual Meet Grohe Vibgyor Brand Services
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