Businesses face a continual challenge to market their products or services effectively. Marketers are overwhelmed with marketing strategies and there is a constant attempt to one-up the competition, using creative and cost-effective efforts aimed at building a brand. Experiential marketing allows for a level playing ground for all brands – big and small, as experiential marketing rewards creativity, and not merely the scale of the event. The buzz that can be created organically is the best thing that every marketer seeks to achieve. With increased spend in experiential marketing, every sector is utilizing the potential of experiential marketing to the fullest. While there is no dearth at the sheer number of experiential initiatives by companies, we at BW Applause wanted to felicitate the best work done in the area. For the same, we partnered with our research partner Traverse Strategy Consultants, where the research done by our internal team at BW Applause was supplemented by research done by Traverse Strategy Consultants. We looked at initiatives across a 15 month period from 1 May 2014 – 31 July 2015. The research looked at initiatives across all sectors, and the methodology included primary as well as extensive secondary research. A portal was created on the Everything Experiential website for agencies / brands to nominate themselves and share details validating the success of their initiative. The information collected was augmented by the secondary research which looked at data points collected across the following metrics: Audience reached Positive WoM and Media Coverage Live Market Research done Feasibility to scale up the event Digital Empowerment The final list of Top 75 experiential initiatives covers over 15 sectors, which is a testament to the fact that great experiential initiatives is not just meant for a select few sectors. With more marketers looking at experiential marketing initiatives as a regular tool in their marketing spend arsenal, experiential initiatives are expected to grow both in adoption and in terms of creativity. Rank Initiative Sector Brand Agency Name 1 Nissan Sunny launches across 130 locations simultaneously Automotive Nissan Sunny The Innuendo Communications 2 Halonix launches a 'safer city' experiential and outdoor campaign Consumer Appliances Halonix Cheil 3 10 city launch for Honda Mobilio Automotive HonaMobilio C S Direkt 4 OLX takes its on-air 'Womaniya' campaign on-ground E Commerce OLX Go Live 5 Nissan - Xtronic CVT Automotive Nissan Communique 6 Hero Motocorp combines power of new Karizma with passion for football Two Wheeler Hero Motocorp Axiom Gen Nxt India 7 Reebok JetFuse Run Apparel Reebok DDB MudraMax 8 Lenskart - Eye for an Eye Ecommerce Lenskart DDB MudraMax 9 Godrej Expert Hair Color - Market activation FMCG Godrej Candid Marketing 10 Philips - SpeedStyle Consumer Appliances Philips Pulp Strategy Communications 11 Jabong.com pioneers new e-fashion IP, India Online Fashion Week Ecommerce Jabong.com Talenthouse India 12 Star Sports promotes Pro Kabaddi League in eight cities Media Star Sports Pro Kabbadi Everything Goes! Communications 13 Maybelline New collection launch FMCG Maybelline Encompass Events 14 Creation of Revotron Labs in run upto Tata Motors' new car launch Automotive Tata Motors Wizcraft International 15 Bajaj Discover - Zing zong Two Wheeler Bajaj Discover Leo Burnett 16 Sony - Bravia 4K Series Launch Consumer Electronics Sony Bravia Laqshya Live Experiences 17 LG OLED Curve televisions travel to the customer’s doorstep Consumer Electronics LG Brand Promotions 18 Absolut celebrates Friendship Day with pool parties in Indore Alcohol Absolut Fusion Events 19 Jaguar concludes its month-long launch campaign for XJ Automotive Jaguar Percept ICE 20 Tempo sanitisers taken to foodies through Mumbai Dabbawalas FMCG Tempo psLIVE 21 7UP DanceUP competition FMCG 7UP DDB MudraMax 22 Usain Bolt launches Puma’s 'Forever Faster' in India Apparel Puma Cream Events 23 Nissan organizes multi-city promotions for its car Terrano Automotive Nissan Terrano The Innuendo Communications 24 Cipla - ‘BreathefreeYatra - A clinic-on-wheels’ Pharmaceutical Cipla RW Promotions 25 Fiat Chrysler launches PuntoEvo across five cities Automotive Fiat Chrysler Encompass Events 26 Tupperware - Wedding campaign FMCG Tupperware DDB MudraMax 27 Kurla’s newest landmark, Art Guild House, opens with art and aperitifs Art Art Guild House Percept ICE 28 AamAadmi Party goes experiential Political Party AamAadmi Party Brand Connect Media 29 Swiss Airlines Airline themed fashion show Aviation Swiss Airlines Ice Global 30 BlackBerry plays out a 360 degree campaign to launch the Z3 Consumer Electronics Blackberry Starcom Media 31 Axis Bank's Suvidhaa ATM taken to rural masses through an activation BFSI Axis Bank Augustus Communications 32 Lifebuoy makes washing hands a fun experience in rural schools FMCG Lifebouy Geometry Global 33 Radio City rolls out a month-long campaign to bolster its brand Media Radio City Scarecrow Communications 34 Chandigarh Tourism - Adventure destination Hospitality Chandigarh Tourism Percept Sports & Entertainment 35 Puma launches its Arsenal kits with the 'Tunnel of Time' Apparel Puma Cream Events 36 Amway launches its beauty product with a fashion show FMCG Amway EventSol 37 Amira Nature Foods - Durga Puja FMCG Amira Nature Foods Vibgyor Brand Services 38 Mahindra Two Wheelers GoGustoRide Two Wheeler Mahindra A for Pineapple Ideas & Executions 39 High Sierra lassoes in GenX with a promise of Monday adventures Lifestyle High Sierra Eccentric Engine 40 ACC cements itself in 25 cities across North India Manufacturing ACC Pinkstar Events 41 Sony- F3 Fiesta - Fun, Family, Fitness Consumer Electronics Sony A for Pineapple Ideas & Executions 42 Tic-Tac - Strawberry Fields FMCG Tic Tac Madison Integrated Experiential Solutions 43 Mahindra & Mahindra - Launch of Gusto Two Wheeler Mahindra A for Pineapple Ideas & Executions 44 TCS, Cigna TTK - Treadmillion Challenge Pharmaceutical Cigna TTK Procam International 45 Zee News - 'Misunderstood Scoreboard' Media Zee News DDB MudraMax 46 Auto-rickshaws advocate a Dr.Fixit this monsoon Manufacturing Dr. Fixit Madison Communications 47 9-city UNO Asia Challenge Retail Landmark Tantraa Events 48 Fevicol holds ‘Caring with Style' fashion show for cancer patients Manufacturing Fevicol Entertainment Bay 49 Za partners with retailer newU to showcase its skin expertise FMCG Za Vigbyor Brand Services 50 Fiat PuntoEvo - Promotion Automotive Fiat Punto Work Ventures 51 Star Plus launches Raw Star with a power-packed entrance Media Star Plus Madison Integrated Experiential Solutions 52 Mall-goers doodle with light in Gionee's light bending stalls Consumer Electronics Gionee Vibgyor Brand Services 53 BMW - i8 Launch Automotive BMW Encompass Events 54 Mika Singh and DJ Suketu rock the night for Apps Daily E Commerce Apps Daily GoBananas 55 Brand Promotions and Datsun bring in Bustlemania Automotive Datsun Brand Promotions India 56 New Vespa Elegante with new palette of colours Two Wheeler Piaggio Talenthouse India 57 9X Jalwa and 9XM Media 9X Everything Goes! Communications 58 Simpa Energy conducts rural campaign to spread solar power awareness Energy Simpa Energy Global Visionaries 59 XiaomiMi 4i smartphone launch Consumer Electronics Xiaomi Percept Sports & Entertainment 60 Vodafone and GFDC celebrate the spirit of football in Goa Telecom Vodafone Livewire Events & Promos 61 Zoya unveils its new Mumbai store Retail Zoya Phase 1 Events & Entertainment 62 Puma unveils Arsenal’s kit with club legends Ray Parlour and Sol Campbell Apparel Puma Toast Events 63 Launch of Taco Bell in Delhi Hospitality Taco Bell Brandwidth Events 64 Asian Paints - Colourpro Leap Manufacturing Asian Paints Work Ventures 65 Summer shopping campaign of Mumbai Duty Free, DFS Retail Mumbai Duty Free The Brand Brewery 66 SRK celebrates the 'Don’t Crack Under Pressure' motto with Tag Heuer Lifestyle Tag Heuer Vibgyor Brand Services 67 Asian Paints’ brand Nilaya Manufacturing Asian Paints Encompass Events 68 Pogo makes science 'Fun-tastic' for kids Media Pogo Candid Marketing 69 TVS Tyres road safety campaign in Ahmedabad and Lucknow Two Wheeler TVS Axiom Gen Nxt India 70 Thomas Cook drives tourists to Vienna with mall campaigns Hospitality Thomas Cook Brand Promotions 71 Super Saturday keeps 5,000 Bestseller customers up all night Retail Bestseller India Cream Events 72 Kidzania Father’s Day bash Hospitality Kidzania Phase 1 Events & Entertainment 73 Ferrero Rocher pyramid Hospitality Ferrero Rocher Vibgyor Brand Services 74 DLF Cyber Hub sports a new Diwali look Hospitality Cyber Hub Theme Weavers International 75 Ganga kiSaugandh Campaign Media ABP News RW Promotions
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In mid November this year the city of Chennai woke up to its worst nightmare ever. Unexpected downpours brought with them massive crisis as the life in the sun city of the country was brought to a halt. More than a hundred lives were lost in these floods while more than a thousand people were displaced. As a result work and production stopped, the modes of transportation were severely affected and an imbalance was created in the demand supply curve of food supplies. The army and the government put their best foot forward and rescue operations to help Chennai went full throttle. Yes, this was a tragedy in its worst form. However, some brands took the initiative to help Chennai by extending a hand of support. They created positive experience among flood struck areas and populace in an attempt to bring the life in Chennai back to normal. We at EE this time list down brands that turned the Chennai Floods "Tragedy to Triumph" with their initiatives. 1- Zomato- The online food ordering and restaurant search e-platform Zomato recently launched a meal plan for Chennai flood victims. Their customized offer called 'Meal for Flood Relief' was announced by their CEO Deepinder Goyal, who said, "Help get food to those affected by #ChennaiRains. We buy a meal for each one you buy here". As per the offer if someone bought a meal for Chennai flood victims, Zomato would add one to it and send two meals instead of one in the flood affected areas. Through this marketing move Zomato was able to extend support to the flood victims in Chennai and also made sure that the entire country did too. 2- Ola/Uber- Ola, the cab booking service via mobile app added the much needed support to the affected Chennai transportation system by launching Ola Boats. These boats made commute for people easier in the turbulent times and hence Ola managed to create a positive impact in the minds of the people through this unique initiative. Meanwhile Uber too added more cars to their fleet and issued emergency numbers where people could contact if they were stranded. Uber also provided free pick and drop services to hospitals for the flood victims. 3- Paytm- E-commerce platform Paytm, which emphasizes on e-wallet facilities launched its Stay Safe Chennai initiative to help the Chennai flood victims. Through its blog, the company made the announcement, "If you would like to recharge anyone's mobile number so that they can remain connected during this tough time, please call us at 18001030033 and share the mobile number. We will recharge it with Rs 30 worth of talk-time, free of cost." 4- Airtel/BSNL- Mobile operators BSNL and Airtel extended their support to Chennai through free talk time and data packs. Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently declared that state-owned telecommunication company BSNL will not charge its customers in Chennai for one week starting today. Airtel also announced free talk time with a credit balance of 10 minutes for Airtel-to-Airtel calling and 50MB mobile data to its customers in flood-hit Chennai. 5- Practo- Health app Practo came to the aid of Chennai by putting together a list of verified doctors & hospitals available to help. The list is being updated every hour. Anyone in Chennai who feels the need of consulting a doctor can check the list and get the treatment done for free.
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Do you remember the days when sports for ‘entertainment’ meant sitting in front of a 17 inch black and white TV screen watching a cricket match with half the neighborhood in attendance?In hindsight, sport was watched with the same passion as today but back then advertisers had not yet awakened to the severe possibilities of harnessing all that energy to their advantage. Sure, brands were advertising then too but the relative level of engagement was not only poor but also fleeting. Fast forward into 2015 and sports entertainment has taken a stupendous new meaning. From running contests allowing fans to bowl to their favorite batsman, to frenzied fans sporting branded gear with the utmost passion to thrilling in-stadia games and engagement opportunities, brands are going all out to connect with it’s sports loving consumerand raking in dividends like never before. A spectator base of 1.28 billion people, over a dozen sports television channels airing sporting content around the clock and a forever mounting list of keen advertisers waiting to invest in emerging sporting platforms, is reason enough to agree that the relationship between entertainment and sports in India is inseparable and interchangeable. Be it ‘KarboonKaamal Catch’ or ‘Vodafone Super Fan’, the immense value presented byexperiential marketing is increasingly being recognized and utilized with a more focused approach. Since the arrival of IPL in 2008 several parameters and trends have impacted and shaped the sporting industry, numeroussport IPs have mushroomed and unprecedented amount of sponsorship monies have been pumped in. The worldwide popularity and fan following of American sporting leagues such has Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) have served as the main inspiration for IPL, the success of which acted as the catalyst for several similar leagues cropping up in the sub-continent. The industry has also seen incredible support from the government, largely to favor economic welfare of the country and also to promote the nation on the global front. The conversation around how India is perceived as a one-sport nation finally came to an end and newer fan groups saw an emergence as people began moving their attention towards other, so far under-utilized, sports. According toa study sponsorship towards sports in India was pegged at 3250 crorein 2014 and is estimated to be around 12500 crore in the next 4 years. While cricket continues to be the driver of Indian Sports, brands have opened up to engagement and experiential opportunities other sports can deliver, creating newer platforms for connecting with newer audiences. The Changing Sporting Landscape The last two decades have been transformational for India in many respects. The economy opened up to global markets, with global brands came international standards, career opportunities widened and disposable income increased across segments, the travel industry took off, with more exposure awareness grew, digitization happened, and the list could go on. A multiplying effect of all this change resulted in several other indirect changes and the face of India was drastically transformed in a relatively short span of time. Goes without saying, cricket, considered almost a religion in our country, also underwent a major facelift and, in the process, paved the way for other sports to follow suit. Ashu Jindal, COO, IMG Reliance comments, “The narrative of sports in India is an ever-changing one, especially with the socio-economic transformation that the country has seen in the past two odd decades. People are not just talking about one sport these days, but several - football, kabaddi, and of course, tennis. This revolution in sports is spurred not by policy change but by the private capital pumped in by sports enthusiasts. In addition to this, there are a whole lot of Indian sports stars shining in international circuits which indicates to younger generations that gaining global accolades is not impossible.” Now everything that is evolving has challenges but it is also important to realize that this evolution offers immense opportunities especially in a country like India. “While football might still be distant second to cricket in terms of visibility, the participation level for football in the country is promising”, says Sukhvinder Singh, CEO, Goa FC, Indian Super League. He adds, “The economy and demographics of India are favorable to football. This is something that is being researched well not only by stakeholders like us but also the investors in sports that would include brands, companies and institutions. I would like to look at football as a proposition that still needs that push but our jobs are becoming easier day-by-day.” The domino effect of the changing landscape is not just restricted to mass appeal sports such as cricket and football but mid scale, upscale and elite sports such as tennis and golf have also been embraced equally by the populace. Mr. Ihab Sorial, Qatar Airways, VP, India says “The over-whelming response received from the last season of International Premier Tennis League showcases the interest of Asian tennis fans in the region and the success of the format. The partnership with IPTL strengthens our commitment to be associated with large- scale sporting events and sports legends. We are delighted to come on-board as the ‘Presenting Partner’ for this prestigious league and our three-year partnership with IPTL reiterates our commitment to bring people across the globe closer.” It’s not just the league format sports that have cracked the code, a popular sporting platform to have gained massive momentum over the last decade are running events. Vivek Singh, Co-Founder, ProcamInternational states, “In 2003 I and my brother Anil visited the London Marathon and saw the phenomenal London Marathon unfurl in front of our eyes where young, old, professionals, businessmen, traders, grandmothers were all running together with a certain look in their eyes saying they were different. We said, this phenomenon, this magic must come to India. Whether India was ready or not wasn’t something we could put our finger on. Since February 2004 after it kicked off in India this running phenomenon has grown into a movement and is easily the fastest growing sporting activity in urban India. There is no other activity growing at the pace of distance running. More people from across the socio-economic bandwidth and across the generation divide are lacing up their shoes and getting out there to run.” Vinit Karnik, National Director, ESP Properties(formerly Group M ESP) adds, “It is true when they say sports is a great leveler. The sheer competitive power and the ‘viewer hook’ is testimony to how powerful sports event can attract people. Sports Marketing has undergone a huge transformation from vanilla in-stadia advertising to integrated content campaigns and structured sponsorships and deals. In a perpetual state of evolution and moving towards a more systematized sporting economy, India is at the brink of a much larger wave that consists of varied hues of content, sponsors, fans, in-stadia experiences and sports as a whole. From single screen views to the ‘second screens’ and content airing to content ‘sharing’, the landscape of sports has become a channelized stream of messaging, revenue and a serious business. There is tremendous excitement on sports in the market today.” Beyond Cricket In mid 2000’s the Premier Hockey League was formed in India that actually gained a lot of traction. It was the first hockey league that attracted players from all over the world. NavrozeDhondy, Founder and MD, Creatigies comments, “Every league needs a strong governing body for survival. Because the Premier Hockey League system and the board itself were fragmented, and it did not have a strong support system like BCCI is for cricket, it died an early death.” In 2008 IPL gave a template to other sports by providing the impetus to monetize cricket and initiate a process. And with BCCI at the centre of all affairs, the property has grown from strength to strength over the years. “It is a beautiful example of sport-tainment where in for 8 seasons IPL had the biggest names, players and imbibed the team spirit through regional sentiment. Kabaddiis another great example where a traditionally ‘rural’ sport changed perceptions, drew popularity and created a fan base of its own. Year 2014 could be well labeled as the year of the sporting leagues as Pro Kabaddi League, Indian Super League and International Premiere Tennis League came along offering crisp content and a short duration stickiness. Multi-lingual feeds across different screens helped in elevating the status and reaching out to many more households”, says Karnik. But with so many new and emerging sporting platforms how does a brand decide which one to bet on? Karnik adds, “The business of Sports can be looked at from ‘viewer’ and ‘on-ground experience’ lens. Depending on the key objectives of brands and the desired goal, properties may differ. For a premium real estate or a luxury car category brand, golf may work well as it helps connect with a niche audience in a captive manner where as FMCG and telecom may prefer cricket or football that has a larger fan base and following. The deal structure, content elements created within it and targeting the audience with minimal wastage is the key before opting which vehicle of sports to use. The idea is to see how leagues can build them up as successful properties.” Seeing the success of sporting leagues in India, a new entrant to jump aboard the bandwagon is ProSportify with the Pro Wrestling League slated to be held in December 2015. Speaking on this subject Vishal Gurnani, Director, Pro Sportify says, “We believe Indian audiences are changing, the approach of marketers towards sports, other than cricket, is changing and the numbers that the other non- cricket sporting platforms have achieved over the years are extremely encouraging. Sports offers brands and advertisers integration and interaction opportunities like no other medium can. We believe that the kind of euphoria induced amongst consumers during a sporting event is unmatched, and advertisers are increasingly capitalizing on this captive audience”. In response to how the Pro Wrestling League will be differentiated from all other leagues in the country, Vishal says, “The Pro Wrestling League sees representation from maximum countries around the globe as compared to any other league in India. The GMR Group has taken over the Delhi team, JSW has taken over the Bangalore team among other industrialists and business conglomerates who would be announced in the coming few days. The league offers a strong entertainment quotient, novelty factor, structural diversity and a bouquet of on-ground and on-air marketing solutions for associated brands. We feel marketing has moved beyond branding and signage, therefore we want brands to be woven into thedna of the league across its various touch points.” NavrozeDhondy of Creatigies, comments, “Today there are leagues being planned for billiards and snooker and basketball. When ISL came in last year no one thought that in a match where Guwahati is playing against Kerala it would be a houseful. The average attendance last year was 26,00 people. Which is phenomenal. Even in Delhi 20,000 people attended the match. The finale in Mumbai had 48,000 people viewing the match.” Big Spenders “Sponsorship of cricket began in the 80s and cigarette brands were among the first category of products to get attached to this sport”, says Navroze Dhondy of Creatigies. He adds, “Wills was the first sponsor of the Indian cricket team. Then in the late 90s there was a huge ban on cigarettes associating with any form of sports. Suddenly interest of booze companies grew and McDowell’s and Bagpipers found their interest in sports and a nice way to remain in the system. The McDowell’s cup, sponsored by McDowell’s, was among the first few branded cricket events in India. Cold drinks Thrill, Sprint and Rush, manufactured by McDowell’s group, were also marketed at the event. Till the late 90s although money was coming into cricket it was still very small, but it was showing signs of becoming bigger in the long-run.” Brands are increasingly recognizing the value of event sponsorship as a driver for overall brand amplification over traditional unilateral techniques of advertising. VinitKarnik states, “Brands need to understand the finer nuances of the business and look at it from a strategic investment than a short tactical result for maximizing returns. A Pay-TM –BCCI deal is the perfect example of leveraging sports sponsorship. While earlier brands which were just flirting with the sport through ad-hoc deals, this association suddenly gave Pay-TM its share of voice, recall and stand vis a vis other big spenders with equal alacrity.” According to the 'Group M-Sportzpower Indian Sports Sponsorship Report 2015, total brand spends have increased by about 10% to INR 48 billion as compared to 2014. The same report in 2014 reflected an increase of about 92% as compared to the late 2000s when brands collectively invested about INR 22 billion into sporting events. The moment Pepsi retracted its partnership from IPL no one could have imagined the Vivowould pick it up in les than 24 hours. “When DLF decided not to continue their 5 year deal people thought IPL would die, but Pepsi came and doubled the amount and Vivo matched it this time around”, says NavrozeDhondy. “DLF held the sponsorship for five years after which Pepsi held it for three years and now Vivo has snatched it for two years, so clearly there is no dearth of brands marketing through sports”, he concludes. Debabrata Mukherjee, Vice President- Marketing and Commercial, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, adds, “We feel that the time has come for India to truly become a sporting nation. All of the sporting nations are multi-sport in nature. Hence, we believe that sports like tennis will start getting a wider acceptance and traction in this country. Like around the world, Coca-Cola in India has been associated with several marquee sporting events and also grassroots sports in the country. Apart from tennis, we have been associated with hockey, squash, badminton and football amongst others. Our partnerships with these sporting events have brought us closer to our consumers, who love and cherish watching and enjoying these premier sporting spectacles. In the same vein, Coca-Cola IPTL is one of our most prestigious partnerships, which seeks to provide an opportunity to witness the global sport of tennis and its superstars battling in an exciting format.” The initial investment put in by Standard Chartered into the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon was 5 crore. Today that amount has grown multi-fold with a range of brands waiting to jump on the opportunity incase it becomes available. Vivek Singh, Co-founder, Procam, comments, “We have been fortunate that our sponsors Standard Chartered, Airtel, Tata Consultancy services and Tata Steel have stayed with us year after year because they are reaching people directly and making a difference directly in their lives whether its through health and fitness, or charity and communal harmony. Today brands are looking at connecting with the consumer at an emotional level andnot just through branding, signage and mileage.” Traditionally most sporting events would have one title sponsor, a presenting sponsor and a handful others. While the cost of ‘front of the jersey’ branding for an IPL team ranges from 7 to 18 crore, the ISL front of the Jersey can go from 2 to 7 crore, For HIL it ranges from 75 lakhs to 2.5 crore. The league format works well as it allows each team to secure its own brand partners and brands get to create innovative marketing solutions. Since brands can opt for unique initiatives they do not feel overshadowed, their image isn’t diluted and they feel they’re getting their money’s worth even in a cluttered environment. Vinodh Bhat, Co-Founder and President of Saavn- sponsor of team Mumbai City FC comments, “While professional cricket is currently India's ‘national pastime’, we believe that football is more accessible and actually played by more people. In addition, there were also many natural integration points with Mumbai City FC, such as supporting the team and the players using our advertising inventory, working with existing sponsors to promote their association with the team, and most importantly, getting fans excited about the season. Furthermore, sports and music naturally go hand in hand. People listen at the gym, while on a run, or to pump them up before a game.” Another brand that has a history of partnering with sporting events globally is Renault. ViratKhullar, Head of Marketing, Renault India adds, “In India we do have a presence across sporting events as advertisers, but Mumbai City FC is the first sponsorship for us. We are not only analyzing both the tangible ROI in terms of the chatter on social media, enquiries at our showrooms etc. but also the intangible ROI which will be the equity that we derive as an automobile partner for Mumbai City FC.” Indranil Das Blah, CEO of Mumbai City FC says, “My opinion is that the sports pie in India today is large enough. Brands have multiple options across sports, across price points, across audiences and that works both for the leagues and the sponsors. We are a very nascent market but evolving quickly. I don’t see the Indian sports industry developing too differently from the European or US sports markets, where you have multiple successful sports leagues while two or three leagues are more successful than the others. As of now, I don’t see any cannibalization happening between the various sports properties.” CEO of Goa FC, Sukhvinder Singh, confirms that the sponsorships towards ISL are at a very encouraging level. These are the highest ever values that I have seen for football in India. I also believe that the numbers will grow as and when the clubs start putting a longer orientation towards their commercial partnership where the values won’t be limited by the 3 months of the competition but by 12 months of activation that includes community outreach, fan engagement and most importantly grassroots and youth development.” While the tournament itself spans a few weeks, the opening and closing ceremony are full-fledged events in itself. Encompass organized the opening ceremony of IPL this year with Modern Stage services handling the stage and production set-up, Sound.com managing the sound system and local support from Edge Events. Showtime Events won the mandate for the opening ceremony of ISL this year. AvikPrabhu, Managing Director & CEO, Showtime Events, stated, “10 years ago this would have probably been a press conference in a 5 star hotel. The concept of opening ceremonies for private sporting events had not yet become critical to the business model. However, now in a crowded sporting calendar with the number of Leagues competing for consumer attention it becomes critical to announce one self to ensure that eyeballs are on you.” Celebrity Alliances If cricket is considered religion in India then Bollywood celebs are nothing less than demigods. The association of celebrities with sporting events gives it a certain acceptability and marketability. From Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkatta Knight Riders to PreityZinta’s Kings XI Punjab and ShilpaShetty’s Rajasthan Royals, ever since the Indian Premier League took off Bollywood celebs have come to develop a keen commercial interest in sports. While AbhishekBachan owns Jaipur Pink Panthers in the Pro Kabaddi League, RanbirKapoor with his love for football bought into the Mumbai franchise of Indian Super League. Indranil Das Blah, CEO, Mumbai City FC says, “Having an entertainment celebrity as an owner of a sports franchise definitely helps as we have seen with the IPL. Ranbir is someone who is passionate about his football and he knows his football. At the same time, he trusts his team and doesn’t get involved with the technical decisions. He is there whenever he is needed and is also a big inspiration for our payers, especially the Indian ones.” “Saavn’s partner, creative collaborator and friend, RanbirKapoor, is a passionate football fan and owner of the team”, says VinodhBhat, Co-Founder and President, Saavn, a sponsor with Mumbai City FC. “When his agency CAA-Kwan briefed us about their plans for the team, we immediately aligned with their vision and felt that we could help create hundreds of millions of more football fans over time given Saavn’s user base and growth”, he concludes. It seems celebrities lend a certain credibility to a cause since they have a public image to maintain and are expected to be visibly accountable for their actions. IDBI has recently announced its commitment to support all cricket in Bengal. On the development Vighnesh Shahane, CEO, IDBI Federal Life Insurance shares, “Our partnership with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is an exciting opportunity for the organization. Through a comprehensive association like this, the company will gain immensely from the high brand visibility opportunity it offers. Also we feel confident about the growth strategy that CAB is working with. Their Vision 2020 surely has immense potential given the pedigree of its various mentors and coaches. And above all, SouravGanguly being at helm of affairs at the CAB gives us immense confidence that the state’s cricket board and administration will truly gain from his captaincy acumen.” Sukhvinder Singh, CEO, Goa FC, comments, “ViratKohli is the co-owner of our club and has invested not only the capital but also his time and energies for the brand. VarunDhawan has been an excellent ambassador who is incredibly passionate about football and connects deeply with our fans. Their presence and association is benefitting FC Goa at all levels i.e. fan engagement, commercial and credibility.” There is also keen interest from B-town celebs for the upcoming Pro Wrestling League in December. Veteran actor DhramendraDeol has bought into the Punjab team for a price of INR 8 crore as revealed by sources. Other celebrity tie-ups for each of the six teams of the league would be announced within this month. Be it an international rock star or the next DiaegoMaradona, celebrities all over the world have an immense capability to influence consumer habits for a multitude of products, and celebrity evaluation services provide updated, relevant market intelligence to identify key markets that account for maximum celebrity brand impact. Instruments like Repucom’s Celebrity DBI are driving celebrity marketing science in the global marketplace via data and actionable insights. Celebrity DBI is an index that quantifies and qualifies consumer perceptions of celebrities. It is a global celebrity evaluation service designed to provide brand-relevant insights to identify the right talent and assess impact of celebrities for endorsement deals. Ravi Chavan, Vice President – South Asia, Repucom comments, “Celebrity DBI helps strategically identify individuals that will enhance brand messaging initiatives and maximize campaign ROI via a data-driven approach that quantify and qualify a celebrity’s marketability and potential to impact consumers brand behavior. The CelebrityDBI study measures consumer perceptions of over 7000+ celebrities worldwide covering athletes, actors, musicians, models, politicians and more by evaluating them on 8 key success factors – awareness, appeal, breakthrough, trendsetter, influence, trust, endorsement and aspiration.” Catch ‘Em Young Brands realize that targeting the young consumer may not help them achieve immediate sales but will earn them significant dividends in the long run. By imprinting the brand in the minds of the youth from an early age it converts them into brand loyalists so when they acquire purchasing power they are already emotionally invested in the brand. Coca Cola’s Debabrata Mukherjee comments, “With a view to promote active healthy lifestyle, we have promoted grassroots football, where we have partnered with All India Football Federation (AIFF) to organize The Coca-Cola Cup for Under-15 football players. AIFF’s partnership with this tournament is instrumental towards identifying young talent for the India national Sub Junior team. Says VighneshShahane, “In the month of August we announced the launch of country’s largest ever student direct contact programme, Star Sports Young Heroes. The programme aims to discover the most dynamic next-gen football talent across various schools in India. The programme aims to provide guidance and a platform to under-15 footballers from over 650 schools across 15 cities in India. The mega-activation programme will reach out to about 4, 20,000 students. JamshidNassiri, Ex-Iranian striker is the Head Mentor for the Star Sports Young Heroes initiative. Despite the fact that we have a very large TV fan base for international football, India has a distinct lack of footballing prowess, at least for its home-grown talent. With the world's second largest population, many feel India is under-represented in the world's most popular sport. As an organization we were keen to partner the discovery and training of football talent across the country at the grassroots level.” In context of football, Ronnie Screwala, Founder, U Sports stated, “With the Indian Super League, the changes are positive in Indian football, but there needs to be an effort to develop the game at the grassroots level to actually help improve the standards of Indian football.” Giving Back Brands, in all their attempts to connect with their consumers, know one thing for a fact that the most lasting and deep impact happens when they are able to create emotional equity for the consumer with their service or product. A spokesperson from Tata Steel comments, “Besides promoting health and fitness, it is an opportunity to deepen our engagement with society for a noble cause. Funds generated from the event go towards supporting the cause of underprivileged cancer patients in eastern India. Proceeds generated also go towards funding the expansion of Tata Medical Center at Kolkata. The idea is to promote a culture of fitness and deepen our engagement with society while at the same time raise funds for various charities.” The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is India’s largest charity platform for non-profit organizations to raise funds. Participation by 292 NGOs in SCMM 2015 represented causes such as arts, culture and sports, civic and community development, disability, education, environment and wildlife, health, human rights, social services, vocational training, and women, children and the aged and collectively raised INR 24.71 crores from the marathon last year. Says Vivek Singh of Procam, “Our sponsors are associating with the consumers at their point of sweat and are not merely as spectators.That emotional connect that you build has a lasting impact on the consumers mind.” He adds, “The SCMM platform is large and open and allows for many experiential initiatives. One which comes to mind very quickly is the Good Deeds program that Standard Chartered created last year for SCMM. It encouraged people to go online and post their good deed of the day. I think it was fabulous that people across the country could log in and put down their deed for the day, thus, how it made them feel.” Road Ahead Between 2008 and 2013, while on-ground sponsorship in football went up from INR 8.5 croreto INR 14.2 crore, in marathons it rose from INR 28.5 crore to INR 42crore. According to a white paper released by Group M ESP and IIM Ahmedabad the size of the sporting industry in mature and emerging markets as of 2011 was termed to be $620 million and is growing at a rate of 6%. Our findings suggest that, specifically in India, the sports industry is growing by an averageof 10 per cent– up from *INR 4102 crore in 2011 to INR 5740crore in 2015. “The badminton league, IBL, will be re-launched in 2016”, says VinikKarnik of ESP Properties. He claims, “With players like SainaNehwal, PV Sindhu, AshwiniPonappa and JwalaGutta, the sport has become more popular in recent times. With channels and web-casts, the lesser-popular sports will now have a stage to showcase, reach and package befitting content that a population like ours is happy to devour.Early adoption of digital media, shorter and newer formats to engage audiences and regional commentary are areas where broadcasters have already made strides. These will shape the future of sports broadcasting in India.” Mahesh Bhupati, ace Indian tennis player and founder of International Premier Tennis League comments, “The response from Season one of International Premier Tennis League was overwhelming and Season 2 can only exceed expectations. The addition of a new franchise and stars like Rafael Nadal and Leander joining the ranks will surely make for some wonderful tennis on the cards. Ultimately it is about connecting tennis fans in India and Asia with some of the world’s best across the singles and doubles format.” CEO of Goa FC, Sukhvinder Singh, believes that we haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to creating competitive environment for sports in India. He says, “While the influx of the leagues indicates the optimism within the sporting fraternity, it is critical to have a sustenance plan around the concepts. Brands on the other hand evaluate and support any sporting property not only from immediate ROI perspective but also long-term leverages. The brand managers are getting smarter with their sports marketing bucks and prefer investments on solid foundations.” “No other nation in the world has the potential we do because of impending demographic dividend so if clubs and leagues are able to successfully mobilize local fan support then the future is bright”, says AvikPrabhu of Showtime Events. Tom Annear, Tournament Director, Aircel Chennai Open,opines, “I was taught many years ago that there are four partners in making any sports property a success- the players, media, sponsors and the spectators. You need to stay focused on all these partners. You cannot stay idle in the event world with any one partner or you will not “earn” their business in the future. We are constantly being pushed to offer these partners a better experience than the year before. A couple of examples - we moved to a great hotel, improved the food service and hospitality areas for players, VIPs and the spectator; increased the visibility of the ACO by taking the tournament to the people – a road show that featured a trophy tour, exhibit and fast serve challenge at local colleges, schools and malls, the stadium and site had a makeover this past year thanks to GOTN funding so the players had better facilities – inside the stadium and on court. A lot of improvements have been made over the years.” With the whole fitness and wellness movement gaining steady traction, sport in India is certainly headed in the right direction. More categories are opening up each year giving more opportunities for wider engagement with consumers. The report by Group M and IIM also suggests that the upcoming times will be beneficial for sports marketing and entertainment as the average spending by households on education and recreation are expected to grow from 5% to 9% between 2005-2025. An added bonus to the figures is the expected average salary increase for every household that is expected to increase from 4%-41% between 2005-2025. Thus, the more entertainment served will lead to more profits earned. Size of Sports industry in India Year 2011 INR 4102 crore Year 2015 INR 5740 crore Total sponsorship in events Year 2014 INR 4320crore Year 2015 INR 4800crore (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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With worldwide billings exceeding US$33 billion, MediaCom is one of the world’s leading media communications specialists. In India, MediaCom is a joint venture between Madison World’s Sam Balsaraand WPP’s GroupM and is one of the top six agencies in the country with billings in excess of USD 479 mn and blue chip clients including P&G, Volkswagen, Dell, and SAB Miller among others. For the last 5 years MediaCom India is led by Debraj Tripathy, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta with over 21 years of experience in the agency, media and technology domains. In conversation with Yamini Singh, he talks experiential, agency partnerships and award winning initiatives. Q- How has experiential marketing evolved over the years? The main development has been in the area of technology and number of possible touch points. Q- Experiential marketing is steadily rising on every brand's media plan. What is the reason behind this phenomenon? Experiential marketing has always been an important element of clients’ communication plans, though off late there has been a perceptible increase. This because of two reasons The understanding that stickiness among consumers increases when they actually experience that brand, has deepened. The number of touch points and technology have multiplied manifold. This gives brands more opportunities to include experiential marketing in their communication plans. Q- Is it because of the change in the client’s objectives, consumer mindset or marketing landscape? Objectives have not changed nor has the consumers' mindset. Market landscape has changed thanks to technology. This has made experiential marketing far more exciting and easier for marketers to execute and to get consumers to experience their brands. Q- MediaCom recently bagged 10 metals at the Emvies '15 with Ariel 'Share the Load' and Whisper 'Touch the Pickle' campaigns. What was common with both initiatives to make them award winning entries? Both pieces of work, like any other MediaCom project, were deeply rooted in consumer insights. They were all multi touch point campaigns with messaging tailored to each touch point. Experiential was one integral element of the multi touch point campaign. Q- Which experiential agencies worked on both the campaigns? Both Ariel 'Share the Load' and Whisper 'Touch the Pickle' campaigns were executed by Encompass. Q- How important is the role of the experiential agency while delivering the experience? The experiential agency is very critical in the delivery of the brand experience. It helps in selecting the right touch point, creating the right messaging and delivering the experience using the right technology. Q- Does it go beyond just delivery or do the agency have a role to play in strategizing too? More often than not the experiential agency works with the creative and media agencies in building the communication strategy. Where the media agency/ creative agency and the experiential agency are the same or are able to work very closely, is where brands get the best results. Q- How is MediaCom strengthening its core to create more engaging and memorable experiences for brands? MediaCom has invested in its own experiential marketing team. This is part of what we globally call MediaCom Beyond Advertising (MBA). The MBA team works very closely with the brand teams to provide the most appropriate solution to clients. (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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The term ‘Wedding’ itself has no concrete definition. While some say it is a day where two lovers make their celestial bond official, a few others might feel it is an event that one organizes and pays for while others rejoice and dance away. Truly, weddingsare constantly evolving into more customized and more subjective experiences. And perhaps this is the reason why different people across the world are opting for some crazy and unique ways to celebrate their special day. Here’s our handpicked selection of few whacky weddings from around the globe- Oregon Weed Bar Wedding An interesting fact about living in Oregon is that the consumption of weed is permitted in small amounts. And basis this law, couple John Elledge and Whitney Alexander decided to give their guests a ‘mind altering’ experienceby setting up a weed tent. Alongside the open bar,the wedding celebration saw a weed tent and a ‘budtender’ to help guests in need of a little guidance. The celebrations saw 13 different varieties of pot being served to the guests. A special wedding planner from Lake Oswego's Bridal Bliss was brought on board to help with the legal proceedings and the couple also made special arrangements of safety transportation on their way back for the guests. The photographer claimed that she got the best candid photographs of the guests from the party. And the photos served as great memorabilia for those who couldn’t remember much from the wedding. Superheroes Wedding in England Every kid dreams of being a superhero but sadly life unfolds different plans for us doesn’t it. However, bride SharinWetherwell wasn’t willing to let go of her childhood dream so easily and therefore decided to have a superhero wedding to celebrate her special day. Sharindressed up as Wonder Woman and married her groom who wore a Batman costumeat their wedding. The guests of the wedding too followed the Superhero theme and even the families of the couple went along with the theme dressing as The Incredibles, Lara Croft and Iron Man. Interestingly Joker was in attendance too, but did not create any trouble. Wing WalkWedding Yes, being in love does gives wings to a lot of people but can you imagine getting married on top of the wings of two planes, 1,000 feet above the ground? Well, the adventurous couple Darren McWalters, and his bride Katie Hodgson had an unimaginable wedding strapped to the top wing of a biplane where Darren proclaimed his love to Katie who flew alongside on the wing of an identical aircraft. With the couples dressed in the traditional wedding attires, the ceremony was made official as the reverend flew ahead on the wings of a third aircraft and married the couple via an airborne communications system. The ceremony, previously delayed twice due to bad weather, had speakers throughout RFC Rendcomb Airfield, to communicate the congregation on the ground. LA Underwater Wedding with Sharks Most couples are on the lookout for exotic locations on the world map where they can have their dream wedding. Kym Dabney and Devon Brignoni were just another unique couple whose idea of a dream wedding was to haveit underwater, with sharks as attendees. The couple decided to have this unique wedding just because of the grooms love for ocean life and hence a team at the 120,000-gallon Lost City of Atlantis Shark Exhibit was hired to execute the challenging wedding. Even though the ‘environmental conditions’ left little room for choice, the adventurous couple refused to compromise on their outfits and wore regular elaborate wedding attires. Surprise In-flight Wedding in Rhodes Why book a venue for your wedding when you can get married mid- air? Sounds intriguing doesn’t it? Alexander entered a Valentine’s Day contest by Thomas Cook and was selected from 25 entries. Just after takeoff, he dropped on one knee, and proposed at 30,000 feet to Marieke van De Wal. The bride got her makeup done in the flight attendant galley while crew members hung flowers from the overhead bins. De Wal walked down the tiny aisle and was brought to tears as she discovered that her family and friends were hidden at the back of the plane.
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E-Factor Entertainment founded by Samit Garg in 2001, is acclaimed as one of the most celebrated wedding planning agencies in the country and proudly sits on its laurels of having organized some of the most high-profile weddings. After having secured a niche in the social events space, the company is now putting the pedal to the metal by creating memorable experiences around the country. The first step in that direction is the Taj Balloon Festival, which is a first of its kind experience allowing guests to enjoy the aerial view of the majestic TajMahal from as close as 500m. Interestingly, Samit has also signed a 5 year PPP with the government to Rajasthan to take over the Pushkar Fair. With an ambitious plan of launching 5 event properties in the coming 5 years,SamitGarg, Founder Director- E Factor &SkyWaltzhas a great set of cards. We find out how he’s going to play them. “It was an idea that was brewing in my mind since the past two and a half years. Taj is obviously the most photographed monument in the country and ropes in the maximum international tourism for it. However, when people view Taj, its beauty is only be enjoyed through the front, no one ever gets to see this pride of India through an aerial viewpoint. Co-incidentally statistics show that balloons are the second most photographed things in the world after a celebrity. Hence, we decided to combine both to create the most mesmerizing experience one can have.”- says Samit elucidating on how the concept of Taj Balloon festival born. However, Taj being a national heritage weaving an event concept around it was not an easy feat. Speaking on the challenges he faced while bringing his ideas to reality Samit adds, “Without a doubt it has been a tough journey. It has taken us two and a half years to get all the necessary permissions in place. Right from the local administrative authorities, to the airspace, to the licenses all had to be taken care of individually. But thankfully with god’s grace we got the permission in place and the necessary support from the respected Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.” Scheduled to be held from the 14th-16th November in Agra, the highlights of the TajBaloon Festival will be, 15 hot air balloons coming in from different countries, evening night glow concert that will showcase the sight and sound of the balloons lighting up the dark night sky along with the performances of locally and nationally recognized artists. Samit shares that a balloon flight will cost a tourist 275 dollars while just enjoying the morning and evening spectacle is free of cost. With most event properties deemed to be unprofitable in the first few years when asked upon if the Taj Balloon Festival is expecting to make profits in the first year itself. Samit responded by saying, “There is no profitability angle in place as of now as it is the first year. However, profits can be expected from the second or third edition of the festival.” Samit also shared that he has since spent 1.5CR to create this property. Talking about his recent endeavor on signing a 5 year public private partnership agreement to organize the Pushkarmelahe says, “I have been going to the annual PushkarMela for the past 5-6 years and havealways enjoyed it. For me this mela has always been an interesting canvas filled with multiple opportunities to create diverse experiences for people. Moreover it attracts a million people from across the globe over a period of 5-7 says so this was a property that we wanted to elevate to another level.” It is after the takeover by E-Factor that the marketing of the 100 year old PushkarMelahave gone full throttle online. Known to attract more than 50,000 camels, horses and cattle, 8,00,000 tourists and 60,000 expats from across the world, the PushkarMela is hosted every year on the edge of the Thar Desert, in the tiny desert town of Pushkar, Talking about this edition of the mela Samit says, “The highlights of the mela this year are the VIP Hospitality arena, an especially curated Sky Waltz Café, an engaging opening and flag off ceremony, fusion music performances, hot air ballooning, 360* podium, adventure activities and night glow music concert among other elements.” Additionally the mela which is scheduled from the 19th to 25th November is offering a wide range of customized packages for visitors. Also reputed bands like Astitiva, Prem Joshua and Indian Ocean will be elevating the entertainment quotient at the annual festivities. With two interesting international event properties at his helm, Samit is certainly one man to look out for. More importantly so as he reveals his plans on creating 5 more of such intellectual properties in the next 5 years. (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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The Delhi Comic Con organized by Comic Con India saw a massive turnout throughout all 3 days of the fest. The convention which started on December 4 and ended yesterday on Dec 6 at NSIC Grounds, Okhla saw the audiences rejoice with the line-up of International Guest appearances, Experiential & Gaming Zones by brands, exclusive fan sessions, Cosplay, Book Launches and so much more. With more than 250 participants exhibitors from across the world, the highlight of this years Comic Con was the presence of Actor, Kristian Nairn who is best known for his role as Hodor in the award-winning HBO fantasy drama series ‘Game of Thrones’. Additionally international personalities like Rob Denbleyker, Author of Cyanide and Happiness; Ty Templeton, Eisner Award Nominated, Comic Book Artist & writer and Dinesh Shamdasani, CEO, Valiant Entertainment were also a part of the event making Comic Con Delhi a significant success. In a candid conversation with EE, Jatin Varma, Founder Comic Con India talks about the success of the fifth edition of Comic Con, the expected revenues and why is the property a dream engagement platform for brands. What is the kind of response you have received so far? So far the response we have received is that people have enjoyed themselves. I was very worried about doing a show outdoors because this sort of a convention in mostly done indoors and it was challenging for us too as basically we had to convert an empty parking space into a welcome, fun and jazzy venue where something like a Comic-Con could be organized. What was so different in this year’s Comic Con vs. the one you organized last year? A lot changed for us after we executed the Comic Con in Delhi last year. We got bought over by Reed Exhibitions, a new team came in, the way how we worked was changed, and the way how we positioned our shows was changed as well. In terms of content this there was more research involved, people like Cos-play so we decided to incentivize it bigger this time. Also for the first time we have had celebrity guests at Comic Con and we are doing meet-and-greet opportunities with them. We are also doing a fair bit of research as people leave to make sure we work on their feedback both good and back and come back stronger the next time. What have been the major obstacles that you faced in creating this property? My first two Comic-Con shows in Delhi were executed out in the open. In the first year at Delhi Hatt it was a free entry event where it was a basic exhibition style concept but from thereon we decided to make the concept bigger. Last year in Delhi, we faced massive issues with the venue in terms of people finding ways to get in so there was an idea of taking the property out of Delhi to NCR regions. But we were of the opinion that this is Delhi Comic-Con and we wanted to organize it in Delhi itself and hence we selected this venue after rescheduling the dates. But why not have it at Pragati Maidan? Pragati Maidan is not feasible in terms of business as firstly the rental is really high and secondly they take 50% of your revenue in addition to rental so one might as well stop doing business and start a charitable organization. It ironic as well because it’s called a trade organization. Also the show that I am trying to create is slightly premium and doesn’t really gel with the concept of a Pragati Maidan. In terms of the audience participation what is the number so far? So far we are at par with the last years number which is 35,000 but considering today is the last day, its Sunday and hence we are expecting more crowd to come in the evening. We are seeing a lot of brands like Alto and AXN doing some really cool experiential engagements. How did the association with these brands happen? It has been a watershed for us in terms of brand engagements. Brands are really happy as well as they are getting premium youth customers here who want to get engaged as they are spending a lot of time with us. Even brands are realizing that this not a conventional mall crowd coming in, instead it is a more premium youth crowd which is looking towards having a nice time and brands are going all out to create those experiences for them. Comic Con is certainly a dream engagement platform for all the brands. In terms of revenue have you earmarked something that you are looking forward to pack with this edition of Comic-Con? In terms of exhibitor sales we are looking forward to top what we did in Bangalore in our last edition, which is 3-4 crore.
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In spite of new launches, expansion of dealership programs and a 360 degree ‘Crafted for Car Lovers’ media campaign, Fiat India has failed to increase its share in the automobile market in India. As per a recent news report by the Financial Express, the brand merely sold 4,204 units in the first six months of this fiscal year and currently holds a minimalistic 0.24 percent market share. In an attempt to reestablish its position, the automobile brand has now launched two new products under the 10 Lakh price category in collaboration with the company’s performance division Abarth. The new AbarthPunto and Avventura powered by Abarth aim to provide the thrill of a racing car without hampering the fuel efficiency quotient. Kevin Flynn President and Managing Director Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India is vociferous about the importance of India as a market and eyes a dominant presence for the company witha new campaign in place and new products in the market. In an exclusive conversation with EE Correspondent Shantanu Jain, Kevin unfurls the plans ahead for the brand. Q- Tell us about the latest media campaign to promote Abarth Punto and Avventura? We currently have the TV ad in place that revolves around the philosophy that the steering wheel and a car are not just elements of commute but they are also elements of having fun. What we have tried to deliver with the launch of these two products is the thrill of a race car experience married with high performance in terms of fuel efficiency and our media campaign will reflect upon the same concept. At the launch event too, the ambience that we have used is dark and menacing which resonates with the products that we are offering. A different idea like this will surely give us an edge. Our new media campaign is supposed to do a two-fold job for us. Firstly, to create awareness about the new products and secondly to still be in synch with the kind of presence we have maintained in the media so far. Q- Are there any brand experiences associated with the new campaign? In terms of experiential we will be doing a lot of mall displays, road shows and exhibitions with these products as I fervently believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It’s really an experience that we are trying to sell at the end of the day so we are definitely looking for a lot of demonstrative dealership deals, we have also invited a lot of car club owners to experience the products. The newly launchedproducts open up opportunities for experiential and there is so much more than we will be doing with it. We are currently working to create an optimum mix for experiential campaigns but first off we want to focus on traditional media there is a real need to create something new and spicy. Q- Fiat holds a very minimalistic market share in the automobile segment. What is it that you hope to achieve with the new products in place? Yes, I do understand that we have not been doing well as far as the sales numbers are concerned but like a lot of people we do have our goals in place. What we have focused on with these products is to deliver on the consumer insights received as we understand that big colorful promises are not going to work now. We are going to use every channel on the marketing table to clearly get our piece of the market. I have a set of realities that I am working with. Q- A common trend among automotive brands in India is leveraging on the various platforms of digital and social media. Is there a strategy in place for Fiat to use the same platforms? Our new marketing campaign is majorly going to focus on the aspects of social media and experiential. Though I have only been in India for 7 months, the insight I have gained is that there is already too much noise in the ATL and outdoor mediums today. The answer here is not to invest more money into it to make it noisier but create unique ways to cut through it. As a result in a few weeks you will see us using both the spaces innovatively and intelligently to create memorable experience for our target consumers. (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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Motorola is without a doubt a crucial player in the overall mobile market of the country. With an estimated 7.6% market share at its helm, the brand is the fifth largest mobile company in the industry and caters to varied age groups through an array of phonemodels including Moto G, Moto X and Moto E. What distinguishes Motorola from its rival brands is the unique marketing strategy that the brand has resorted to since its revival. The brand is only known to market its products through the national e-commerce giant Filpkart with an extensive social media and print campaign to support it. Interestingly so far the brand has kept away from on ground promotional campaigns and experiential endeavors. But with the most recent Moto X and Moto E launch, Motorola too has joined the consumer engagement bandwagon with its latest Moto SpotLight campaign. Rachna Lather, Marketing Head, Motorola is vociferous about the brand’s decision to sketch for itself an experiential roadmap. She says, “So far the marketing activities for the brand were sales oriented but at Motorola we understand that consumers are looking for engagements and hands on experiences as well. We wanted our target customers to have a better connection with our brand and this is the reason why moving on we will be coming up with more experience driven initiatives.” The pilot experiential engagement by Motorola, Moto SpotLight was unveiled in October this year. Through this initiative Motorola has customized buses into platforms where people can showcase their talent. Customers can participate in the Moto Spotlight campaign by registering online and submitting their talent videos. After the videos have been uploaded they are shared on social media platforms and the most voted for are then judged by an esteemed jury. The chosen few will get to perform at Moto SpotLight bus tour which will travel 12 cities across the country and will also get a chance to showcase their talent at Bacardi NH7 Weekender as a part of Motorola’s on-ground initiative during the music festival. Speaking about the maiden experiential initiative, Rachna says, “We wanted to come up with a platform where our customers can come experience our products as well as showcase their talent. Motorola SpotLight offers just that and so far the response that we have received is extremely positive and welcoming.” Interestingly, Cream Events, which has been a regular event partner with Motorola,is not the agency behind this campaign. Rachna Lather reveals that it was Fountainhead Entertainment that came up with the entire concept of this experiential campaign and were hence given the mandate to execute it as well. On being asked what are the upcoming experiential campaigns by Motorola? Rachna explains that since this is the first customer engagement attempt by the brand, they are waiting for the feedback and will accordingly customize their subsequent ground activities. She responds, “Moto SpotLight is an attempt by us to set the base as far as experiential initiatives by Motorola are concerned. It is a 63 day road tour which is in progress right now and the upcoming engagements can only come into picture after we have received the inputs on this one. We have always been a brand that has kept our customer in its focus and hence our next initiative will be customized depending on the customer feedback received.” However, Rachana establishes that Moto SpotLight is a flagship engagement by the brand and will make its presence felt every year now. Sharing her views on the availability Motorola phones only through FlipkartRachna adds that the brand is open to diversification and will now be more attainable in the market with a slight shift in its usual strategy. She says, “With the launch of Moto E we have for the first time partnered with other e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Snapdeal too. We have for long had an association with Airtel and hence some of our key products will also be showcased through Airtel stores exclusively.” Emphasizing on the overall philosophy of her brand Rachna says, “Whatever we do at Motorola is not driven by an attempt to capture the maximum share of the mobile industry pie but by the spirit to provide the best mobile phone experience to our customers. We want to deliver satisfaction and value for money with all our products and that is our ultimate motto at Motorola.” (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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What is an experience, if not unforgettable? And when I say ‘unforgettable’ I don’t simply mean the sheer magnitude and size. To me, an unforgettable experience means so much more. They are experiences that are powerful, evoke emotions, shape opinions and make things happen. And it is the very motivation to deliver these experiences that has inspired and driven me to finally start out on my long pending journey in the world of blogging. I want to highlight the importance of creating experiences that impact, not just businesses, but touch lives along the way. Experiences that live on in our minds even years after they are executed. My travels over the years and my participation in many global properties form the basis of some of some key insights I’ve absorbed, certain key observations I’ve gleaned, lessons I’ve learned and pretty much anything that blows me away. I want to interact, absorb and exchange valuable insights, trends and takeaways of experiences that make this space tick. Today all events are hopping onto the digital bandwagon. Integrating across all platforms to provide that holistic edge that turns it into a lasting experience. From my point of view, it’s these digital aspects that take these experiences to the next level and give it that X factor resulting in a truly Digitalized India. I mean Thank God for Whatsapp! Me and my wife now sort our ‘I said you said’ squabbles in minutes on Whatsapp, saving the dramatic confrontation and the impending anxiety till the Mrs. finally decides she can let the matter rest. A few angry emoticons, a rushed exchange of words and a few doe eyed sorry smileys and yeah baby we’re back in business! Being in the business of creating experiences, the past 25 years has taught me so much. A journey nothing short of a Broadway production. The disciplinarian father who wanted his son to prove his mettle, the drive, the determination, the grind, the drama, the hard work, the beautiful woman and now my eternal partner in crime, Shital, and then the quest to conquer. Yup my very own claim to fame story. A whirlwind indeed! Way back in the day in 1990, when I started out as a stagehand to the Sultan of set design and the industry’s pioneer, Rehmatali Tobaccowala, my father, little did I ever imagine I would be orchestrating some of the industry’s defining moments. The first memory, very close to my heart, is the Liril event we did in 1990 - my first big break in this space. Other milestones included enabling Coca-Cola’s return to India in 1993 and Tata IBM’s first appearance into India. The mid 90’s saw us enter the automotive space with the big launch of the Tata Indica. Come 1997 and I was named CEO and took charge of the reigns and along with me Shobiz got its three pillars of strength in the form of Tejpal, Rajesh and Subir who came on board as trainees. From being colleagues to becoming great friends, the Shobiz journey would not have been possible without them. The new millennium saw us produce our first international world tour in 22 international cities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East for a renowned IT firm. 2004 too was a lucky year for us as we spearheaded ‘The Century of Trust’ campaign for the Tata Group, as well as conducted the first ever SAP TechEd an event we produced for 10 consecutive years after that. And believe me I was so damn proud of how far the industry has come when the world applauded Shobiz with a global award – the Exhibitor’s Corporate Event Award for the Tata Nano Superdrive in 2011. From being one of the country’s leading production houses, to the transition into one of the country’s first experiential communications agency, I feel blessed to have made it from sweating it out at the carpentry workshop to the man behind the wheel today. How time has flown! And yet ironically deep down inside, I’m still that long haired 18 year old boy on a quest to fill this industry with impactful out of the world experiences. I want the Indian experiential space to be able to churn out the kind of stuff only dreams are made of. Every day, for the rest of my life I want to wake up with the same fire in my belly. To create experiences that impact in the space I refer to as my home turf. E-narrating these blogs, travelling the world and hitting the perfect Tee shot in the many golf courses around the world that I’ve dreamed of playing on. The industry is making major advancements with the next level experiences its creating all around. After all, events are the experience you take home with you. It should awe you, shock you, inspire you and impact …… And it will. Sooner than you think! About the Author Sameer Tobaccowala is the Chief Executive Officer at Shobiz Experiential Communications Twitter- @tobaccowala (The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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