As marketers and advertisers chase trends and tools to reach elusive audiences, they have often ignored experiential marketing in favor of digital and television ads.That is a serious mistake; experiential campaigns are more important than ever and will continue to be crucial for the foreseeable future. A confluence of market forces is making experiential indispensible. Perhaps the most prevalent is the fact that messaging is becoming more complex for people to process. Just think about all the telephone plans, offers and features that various carriers use to compete with each other, or financing options for appliances and cars. The higher the price of the item, the more experiential marketing is needed to inform, involve and incentivize people. Campaigns need real-world outreach and personal engagement. This is exactly the advantage that experiential marketing provides. Interestingly, an increasing number of TV spots are actually experiential campaigns on camera. Think of the Push For Drama video for TNT or any one of those car spots where real people take real test drives. Experiential ideas are becoming fodder to TV-centric work and more of this kind of hybridization is on the horizon. It’s important to note that at time when most people mistrust advertising, we are beginning to use real people to tell brand stories for us. This is as experiential as it gets. The ability to be authentic and credible through real-world experiences is integral for brand trust. Great brands should be eager to create unfiltered engagements with their audiences, and experiential approaches to their marketing strategies do just that. Experientialism is certainly found in broadcast and video content, but it is equally applicable to online and mobile marketing. As "digital" becomes more prevalent in our consuming life, the need for "physical" engagements will grow in parallel. In fact, creating bridges between physical and digital experiences will integral to experiential campaigns going forward. Products and innovations will follow suit. The physical-digital dynamic — increasingly symbiotic and important to marketing campaigns — manifests itself in many different ways. Take Amazon’s Dash button, for instance. This physical button lets you place an order for a single, specific product from brands like Glad, Gatorade, Clorox, Maxwell House, Tide, Gillette and Bounty. Stick the button anywhere you like and, when you run low, press the button and an order is automatically shipped to you. And Amazon sells each one for $4.99. A recent survey from Javelin found that people are now using their phones to buy more physical than digital things. "Even with the mobile purchasing of digital goods such as music, games and apps, physical goods now are the most popular products bought by the majority (51%) of mobile purchasers," it stated. "Physical goods are the only product type to grow in the world of mobile purchasing." This example, of how we will use our digital tools to transact physical purchases and experiences, provides a glimpse into the future of our business. And experiential approaches are at the heart of what’s to come. We will increasingly rely on real-world campaigns that require authentic engagements and live experiences. In other words, experiential will make marketing more personal, more responsive and more human. It’s a brand-new world, indeed. About the Author Max Lenderman in founder and CEO of School, a purposeful creative agency that specializes in digital, social and experiential campaigns. His book called Experience the Message has been cited as “the best book about experiential marketing.” His second book called Brand New World has been translated into five languages and is available in India. Twitter @maxlenderman. (The article first appeared on the Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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As weddings in India are getting bigger and fatter every year, each element be it big or small associated with them is also rapidly changing. Gone are the times when invitation cards for social events were merely simple announcements of nuptial bonds. Today these invitation cards have emerged as a medium to give its attendees a hint on what to expect from the invitees larger than life wedding. In a candid conversation with the biggest names of invitation card designs industry Ravish Kapoor of Ravish Kapoor Innovative Invitations and Sandy Khurana of The Entertainment Design Co, we at EE trace the emerging trends in invitation cards designs and the future that lies ahead of it. Q-What is the average price range of the invitation cards that you design and how flexible is it? Sandy Khurana- Well, it is a trick question as working on a invitation card is a creative process. On the basis of the brief we get we work upon a few designs, there are meetings, production cost for the samples and so much more. So it becomes a project cost rather than the cost of an invitation card. But in general sense you can get an invitation card for 400 INR and then the range goes up to as high as you want. It is basically like ordering the toppings on a pizza, the more toppings you want the more expensive your pizza will be. Ravish Kapoor- Price of an invitation card is a very personal subject. Whenever we are discussing a design with a client we ask them to come experience the kind of work that we deliver first and then we can discuss the other details. By sharing an approximate price for an invitation card we limit ourselves in terms of creativity and what can we add to the overall concept and hence its always better to give clients an experience of what we deliver and then everything else can follow. Q- Share with us the story of the most unique card you have designed so far? Sandy Khurana- The key to our business is innovation and doing something different every time so picking just one of our designs is very difficult. But to answer your question, for a client in Dubai recently we created a coffee table book on Shiv and Parvati as a part of the overall wedding invitation. The book was content driven and very artistic, also it had a brass trishool which locked the book and held it together. So i think it was one of the most unique and creative work that we have done so far. Ravish Kapoor- Recently for an industrialist we designed a box for I-Pad which was a very different concept. Also once we did an invitation card which also had a smartphone inside, which the attendee had to bring to the event for entry. For the box of the card we had designed it in the shape of a Lotus which went really well with it. The concept was unique and interesting and it was fun working on it. [caption id="attachment_22561" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ravish Kapoor Innovative designs[/caption] Q- What are the latest trends in terms of invitation card designs for social events? Sandy Khurana- I feel that the success of an invitation card today lies in its packaging. As it is a sure shot way of how can you make a card different from all the others. So innovation is certainly a long lasting trend but the emphasis on the packaging of the entire card is the latest trend. Ravish Kapoor- The wedding card invitation industry is so dynamic that every day there are new trends entering and taking over the existing ones. But I think digital innovation in cards is the latest trend as people have really absorbed the social media wave. Q- An on-going trend currently is the process of sending creative e-invites instead of physical cards. Do you think this culture will affect the traditional invitation card business? Sandy Khurana- Weddings in India are very big and everyone has big desires for them. E-Invites are best suited for international invitations in the absence of proper logistics or for 'Save the Date' invitations but sending physical invites for your wedding is a tradition as old as the concept of weddings itself and is very important. Even in case of e-invitations not everyone understands technology and hence i don't see anything taking over the concept of sending out invitation cards. Ravish Kapoor-Not at all, Indians are still very rooted and traditional in their approach. Yes there are a few new age couples who believe in the cause of saving the trees but the majority of people in India still prefer conventional and traditional wedding concepts and thus tangible wedding invitation cards are here to stay forever, Q- Do you predict any changes in the invitation card business 5 years down the line? Sandy Khurana- There will be a shift to digital and invitation cards in the future will see an innovative integration of technology in them. This is undoubtedly where things are heading as of now. Ravish Kapoor- Obviously technology amalgamation in invitation cards is the next big thing and we at Ravish Kapoor innovative designs are already in the process of creating something refreshingly new with it.
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With over 23 years of experience in the international exhibition industry space, Udo Schuertzmann, MD, ITE India, has closely seen the process of organizing exhibitions evolve over the years. Having worked with likes of Messe Frankfurt in Moscow, Reed Exhibitions in Germany, Miller Freeman and Messe Dusseldorf India in the past, he now drives the development of ITE’s New Delhi-based ITEI and also works closely with ITE’s Mumbai-based partner, ABEC. In conversation with BW APPLAUSE, Scheurtzmann shares the undergoing transformation of the global exhibition industry and the challenges exhibition organizers face in India. Q- You have been the exhibition organizing industry for over 23 years. How do you feel the industry has evolved during this time? I started out in the exhibition industry from Russia in 1992. At this time exhibitions were an important part of the overall marketing practices of brands. It provided them with an opportunity to showcase all their offerings at a place and also connected them with their audiences at the same time. Come in 1998, I was in Germany and noticed that with the advent of internet people who organized exhibitions were really scared of it as internet was establishing itself as a platform to communicate about a brand and features of its products, which organizers thought would take away from their business. However it is in the basic human nature to get a touch and feel of the product before making a purchase decision and this opportunity is only provided through exhibitions and hence the presence of internet had a limited impact. From that time to today, the exhibition industry has always had a tremendous future and always will. Not much has changed much over the years barring the part of how exhibitions are being marketed and participated in today. However the crux of how and why exhibitions are organized has pretty much remained the same. Even the business angle and the success ratio too has been constant. Q- As an exhibition organizer how differently do you plan and organize a B2B exhibition from a B2C exhibition? There are a few parameters but it all boils down to the topic of exhibition. For a B2C exhibition the topic, the marketing practices, the ambience and the overall vibe of the exhibition has to be very dynamic and inviting. Also you need to use mass media campaigns aggressively promote a B2C exhibition. However, for a B2B exhibition you are focused in your approach and work towards the main content of the exhibition more rather than just focusing on the marketing part of it. You have a database and an audience segment that you already know of who is the audience for a B2B exhibition and hence you can plan for them accordingly. For marketing for a B2B magazine one uses selective media techniques such as trade magazines and association. Q- What is the size of current exhibition industry? How is it expected to grow? The current scenario in the industry is reflecting growth for smaller exhibitions and organizers but for bigger exhibitions to grow we need better arrangements. There are small changes that we need to make and big positive results will follow. Currently we have more than 700 exhibitions being organized and the number is 10 times more in the unorganized sector. Exhibitor’s revenue when they book stalls varies from 900-1100 INR. So the real figures can be estimated accordingly. A big exhibition like Auto Expo not only mints money for the exhibition industry but also for supporting businesses such as travel, hotel, foods and logistics. We need to understand the true potential of the industry and develop adequate infrastructure to support it. Q- Where does India stand on the global map in terms of how exhibitions are being organized all over the world? I recently came back from ACE tech exhibition in Bangalore and to be really honest I was amazed with how organized and fluid things were. The exhibition was at par with any international exhibition organized anywhere in the world. So there is nothing lacking today in terms of how organizers are curating exhibitions in India but it is rather the infrastructural part of it that drags us down. India needs tremendous infrastructural development if it wants to organize an international level exhibition. In the capital like India there are hardly any good exhibition spaces. The Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida is good but it is perceived to be too far. Even In hubs like Mumbai there are no good fair grounds and the Mumbai exhibition center is always very crowded. So the infrastructure part of it desperately needs to be developed. Q- Most people who organize big exhibitions often outsource their work to smaller agencies. Do you think this technique works to organize better exhibitions? Frankly, I have been always associated with companies who conceptualize and execute exhibitions single handedly. You can obviously reach out to associations to get the required support but it’s always better to have things under one hand. Q-In your opinion what is one good thing and one bad thing about the exhibition industry in India? 100% the infrastructure is the bad thing as because that is the area we all are suffering. Organizers today create a paradise out of nothing but the current infrastructure available is restricting them. However, organizers in India have new ideas and are willing to experiment with concepts of exhibitions is something I admire. Q- Do you predict any changes in the exhibition organizing industry 5 years down the line? I organized my first exhibition in 1992 and till date the main principle of organizing an exhibition has remained the same. One change the hope is made will be how international brands are paying more taxes than local brands in the country. For an exhibition display if a foreign machine is imported then high amount of taxes have to be paid as security till the time the machine is exported back. This is the reason that international brands always have to partner with an Indian one if they plan to come to India. I think changing this business and taxation approach should be the next trend. (The article first appeared on the Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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The New Delhi Palate Fest came back with its second edition of the country’s biggest food enthusiasts garden party from 27th – 29th November 2015. It showcased India’s finest restaurants, chefs, entertainers & musicians and saw culinary experiences, a medley of tastings, events, promotions and celebrations. With families and young adults attending the food festival in large number throughout the three days, The Palate fest also hosted some of the most interesting art installations and brand activations as well. Ford showcased one of its new launches ‘EcoSport’ at the Palate Fest with Blue Hive India. Vibgyor Brand Services was roped in set up a large display kiosk at the food fest. The idea was to engage the potential customers and educating them about their product. Ford, a renowned car maker in India wanted to convey how their brand aims at comfort and luxury with an economic value. A lot of visitors were enthused to buy the car and the agency generated 59 genuine leads and 310 potential customers for the Ford.
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It is the last month before we say goodbye of to the year 2015 and its raining events all over. From marketing activations by brands to award ceremonies and food festivals by curators, December undoubtedly promises to be the most evenful month of the year.
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When it comes to experiential marketing, the automobile sector is among the top categories that needs no convincing of its impact on the consumer. A car is a milestone investment in the average person’s life and marketers realize that a good product experience can prompt a customer to frantically reach for his chequebook. Although Ford has been relatively controlled with its experiential efforts, the brand admits the importance of delivering personalized experiences and keeps an eye out for “original and practical” ideas. Coinciding with the launch of the new Ford Figo, Anurag Mehrotra, Executive Director- Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford India, goes off-roading down experiential-ville What is Ford’s marketing mix? 30-35% is TV, 35-35% is towards print media, 15-20% is digital and the rest is towards radio and out of home. What about experiential? An interesting thing we do at Ford is we create a ford dealer advertising fund where we along with dealers contribute a certain amount of money to create a common pool of fund which is used for experiential marketing. In percentage terms that will be about 5-10% of the entire marketing spends. The new Figo is equipped with a lot of technological features. Don't you think technology needs to be experienced to be understood? Yes you are absolutely right. So one of the things about Ford cars so not just the technology but also the drive dynamics that is subset of technology. It is best felt when you drive the car. Therefore at ford dealerships we insist a lot on test-drives. Once a customer walks in our zone managers make sure that he doesn’t leave the dealership without a test drive and that’s when we get a chance to talk and demonstrate these features on the product. But for that a customer has to come to a ford store. How do you entice customers? Yes he has to. To entice customers to visit one of our dealerships we have created ‘video snacks’ where the features are explained in simple terms. Consumers themselves create these videos because they are able to explain it in a far simpler manner. Potential customers get it conceptually and they think they should check it out and experience it for themselves. Now with easy access to internet, videos are the way to go. Experiential is exploding across industries. What are some of the experiential initiatives taken by Ford? When we launched Ford Fiesta in U.S, we transported 100 Fiestas from Europe and asked 100 customers to drive the car and tell the world what they have experienced. We did something very similar in India when we launched Eco Sport. The campaign was called Urban Discovery and its intent was to encourage people to get into the car, get somewhere and live life. It can be just going to Chandni Chowk or to Qutub Minar early in the morning, basically doing small things that make you get back into ‘living’. As part of the Urban Discovery campaign we gave about 40-50 odd people the Eco-Sport to drive. As a manufacturer you are very nervous to give a product to anyone before it is launched. But we still gave the cars away and allowed customers to report whatever they truly felt about the car. It speaks of confidence in one way but it makes marketers and agency very nervous because you don’t know what is going to come out. The key here is that you have to be very confident of your product and should be able to take punches on your chin when they come through. We have done these campaigns for Eco- Sport, Fiesta and Aspire and we think it has worked brilliantly. Immersive experiences are memorable. Most cars in India have a deity’s statue on the dashboard. When a car returns after a servicing job from a Ford dealership we place two flowers on the feet of the statue. Just this small gesture has proven to leave such a great impression with our customers. Are there any challenges you encounter when delivering an experience in India? In India every city is different. Delhi has a population of 16-18 million people. Just South Delhi has a population of 2.4 million. So, if we have to do a community based experiential program here it is that much tougher. Just the scale and the heterogeneity of the market is challenging. The only aggregators you have is social media which you can use to create a homogeneous set and then you curate experiential campaigns for them. Ford has 7 million people on its Facebook page but that does not mean they have the same interests. We have to find those smaller groups and create personalized experiences. I remember when I first opened a bank account I was given a predefined account number, but now banks ask you to choose your preferred account number, credit cards today allow you to have photos, banking can happen over phone apps, so the trend is of creating personalized experiences and that is where we need to put our efforts. What is Ford’s long-term experiential strategy in India? You have to become enablers of experiences today. So you have to find homogenous sets of people with common interests and see how you can become an enabler for them. You cannot charm them with product push because it’s all about the experience today. (The article first appeared in the Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
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A glittering evening which was held for a noble cause, saw a good turnout of well-wishers witness a unique fashion show held at the Aqaba in Mumbai last week. This year SWISS in India once again partnered with fashion icon Narendra Kumar and together joined hands with Mira Nair’s Salaam Baalak Trust Mumbai, a NGO & charity organization working to build a better future for the marginalized street children of Mumbai. These extremely talented children brought out their aspirations by combining their art with “fashion”. This endeavor was to work together with these children to create on paper, through various art workshops, their vision of the world with select themes of “Love”, “Friendship”, “Mumbai city” and “Promise”. Narendra Kumar worked with these images to create bespoke clothing couture. Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) globally, has been making an active contribution towards improving the living conditions and future prospects of children, young people and their families through the support of SOS villages and locally too, are working to enhance their social responsibility towards children’s empowerment. While SWISS has already pledged a certain amount to the trust towards the development of these children, Narendra contributed to this cause by designing bespoke outfits for charity. Contributions from these selected guests who brought and wore these outfits walked the ramp with applauses from the audiences. “It is a small yet significant step and an important one indeed for all of us at SWISS. We are now move into a new direction and are looking forward in supporting and making this a fulfilling and worthy journey” said Markus Altenbach, Head of SWISS India & South Asia.
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AXN is all set to thrill its audience once again. The English entertainment channel has now collaborated with the India’s one of a kind comic based convention, Comic Con India! AXN is the exclusive Television Partner for Comic Con India for its Delhi Comic Con from 4th to 6th December at NSIC Grounds, Okhla and Mumbai Film and Comic Con from 19th to 20th December at Bombay Exhibition Centre. As part of this association the channel has created a unique experiential zone at the events, giving fans an opportunity to interact with AXN characters and win exclusive goodies. At the main arena, AXN will have a dedicated zone to uniquely engage with the fans and visitors of Comic Con India both in Delhi and Mumbai. The AXN experience will include an experiential photo-booth known as the ‘AXN Wall of Hunks’. This will give viewers a chance to get clicked with their favorite characters, participate in customized character interaction opportunities and win exclusive AXN goodies! Sherlock, Hannibal, the Winchester brothers, Dexter, Hank Moody, Jack Bauer, Ray Donovan and many more will await fans at the exciting ‘AXN Zone’! Along with that, AXN will also host two special experiential activities at the AXN Zone with Ray Donovan and Hannibal. The Donovan’s Fight Club will have fans punching their way through a challenge that will get them beat the power of Ray Donovan’s fists and be eligible to win exclusive ‘Ray Donovan’ merchandise. The second innovative activation will have fans literally put their head on a platter at Hannibal’s very own dining table and get clicked. Apart from the interesting on-ground activations, the channel will organize exclusive AXN sessions on the main stage, wherein AXN will showcase the most iconic scenes of its key shows, followed by a Quiz for the audience. In addition, AXN will give a peek into the exciting lineup of upcoming shows on the channel, including the Hollywood’s biggest fixer, Ray Donovan.
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As humans, we all look for categorizations. They make our lives easier and more manageable.Therefore, it’s only natural that we at EE, after careful scrutiny, bring to you the list of Top 10 Experiential agencies in India today. For marketers and newbies in the experiential world, this list provides the top 10 agencies in India that have made their mark and given an excellent show as far as experiential is concerned. Keeping in mind the scalability factor, the brilliance in innovation, and the management of the audience, we have compiled a list of top 10 agencies. And the winners are – 1. Wizcraft Established in 1988, this agency is responsible for all the magic behind the IIFA Weekend and Awards, Green Globe Foundation Awards, Global Indian Music Academy Awards and the Film & TV Producers. Some of the prestigious projects led by Wizcraft most recently include the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the ICC World Cup’s Opening ceremony in Dhaka, the Oman Tattoo and the celebration of 150 years of India-South Africa friendship. 2. Percept Founded in 1984, Percept Limited, they are responsible for some of the biggest shows such as Sunburn (with over 1,00,000 attendees), Bollyboom, Filmfare, Ad Films, Feature films, Fight Night, GOD, Champions of the world, Windsong, and the list goes on. Celebrating 30 years of excellence, they provide creative services,media services, digital and mobile services and and also have a vertical that handles sports and entertainment for their clients. 3. LIVE Viacom 18 LIVE Viacom18 is a subdivision under Integrated Network Solutions (INS) whose mandate is to create LIVE IP’s in the Music & Entertainment space. They are the ones responsible for creating MTV Xtreme, the Comedy Central Chuckle festival, Supersonic, MTV Bollyland, Nickelodeon KCA India, etc. 4. Only Much Louder The guys behind the multi-city, multi-day Bacardi NH7, A Summer’s Day, The Scene, NH7 Smash Up, and NH7 Shake Down, MTV Bring On The Night, and producing the Cannes Lion-winning show – The Dewarists, OML has made their mark in the events industry. 5. Fountainhead Having commenced operations in 1995, Fountainhead has worked with top global brands like MTV, Philips, Hutchison Max Telecom, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and solid domestic brands like Tata, Blue Star, Aditya Birla Group and Bennett Coleman.They have also handled international acts such as Akon, 50 Cent, INXS, Spyrogyra, Buddy Guy and have created very successful music festivals like The One Tree Music Festival and The Mahindra Blues Festival. 6. DNA Networks A name synonymous with Entertainment in Sports, DNA Networks are the big guys behind events such as IPL, ICC Cricket World Cup Tour, ICC World Twenty20, Champions League, Athens Olympic Torch Relay. Besides sports they have also a number of music festivals such as Sound Awake, Rock’N India (an international annual music festival) and it prides itself on being the only events company in India to have produced live concerts with Music Greats such as Sting, Roger Waters, Lionel Richie, Iron Maiden, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams, Shakira, Aerosmith, etc. 7. 70 EMG Established over a decade ago, 70EMG, they are the curators behind festivals like the India Bike Week – a first of its kind biking festival in India, and the The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai since 2002 with over 6,50,000 visitors each year, the AAAI Goa Festival, South Asia’s answer to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – since 2007, the Nokia IndiaFest with over 12,000 visitors and the GJEPC India International Jewelry Week (over 800 exhibitors & 50,000 business visitors) amongst many others. 8. Encompass Events Having been in the industry for over 15 years and having more than 10000 projects in their pockets, Encompass events are the brains behind the award winning campaigns such as the P&G Thank You Mom mall activation, Gillette Shave For The Soldier campaign and the world launch of Toyota, Etios, People’s Gateway Movement, Mercedes Benz-Star Drive, etc. 9. DDB Mudra Max Founded in 1980, DDB Mudra Max has dabbled in experiential in a way that it successfully executed the 46 day long Grand Kerala Shopping Festival with the Government of Kerala, grabbed the South African Tourism OOH duties, IAA Olive Crown, and many more such properties along with handling experiential campaigns for a number of corporates such as Volkswagen. 10. Showtime Group Having been in the industry for over 30 years now, the Showtime Group has successfully executed events such as the BMW 3 Series launch, BMW Xperience, BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe Launch, DLF Mall of India launch, Swiss Unlimited launch, the Finacle Conclave, Hero Insolito, Jodhpur One World Retreat, MINI Countryman launch, Starbucks launch, etc.
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Back in 2011, the Indian Grand Prix was India’s shining moment after the near-fiasco 2010 Commonwealth Games. Close to one lac in audience, the Indian Grand Prix was an ultimate success. Fast-forward to 2013, a black cloud cast upon the supposedly bright future of the IGP. Threatened by a Supreme Court Case and the murky truth that the curtain is closing on the Buddh International Circuit next season, the Indian Grand Prix is standing with one foot in its grave. The hiatus is to allow organizers to shift the race to an earlier berth so they don’t have to stage the race twice in six months. Looking at the bright side it will allow time for the local promoters and the government to sort out the question of whether the government decides to recognize Formula One as a sport, or, as it does now, as a form of entertainment. Why the debate? It’s because being recognized as a sport allows for tax and duty exemptions and an easier visa process for journalists and team personnel. But Formula One’s current status flips the perks, making it subject to entertainment tax and not to mention the reams of paperwork that needs to be done months in advance. “Because we are not a government-backed sport, we are not even a government-recognized sport, we are classified as entertainment,” said Karun Chandhok, a former Indian Formula One driver who now does race commentary for the BBC. “And that is what has opened up this whole can of worms of tax issues.” The status of the event is not even the real problem here. The challenge India faces is the well-reserved truth that once a circuit is wiped out of F1’s charts, it’s very difficult to get it back on again. Yes, fans of the race who earnestly shelled out cash to watch Vettel win (again), 2013 could well have been the last year you saw action at the Buddh International Circuit. Now the question is, is all this drama really worth it? Is the Indian Grand Prix worth all this hype in India? If numbers speak for the game, then here is the blatant truth. The tickets for 2013 Grand Prix ranged between INR 1,500 – INR 21,000, the ticket for the costliest grandstand being 60 percent of the price two years ago. The number of fans that showed up for the race was about 60,000, which the organizers said was up to their expectations. But does that mean they have nothing to worry about? It is said that the number of people attending the race in the second year is always lower than the first. But if the number doesn’t rise in the third, the organizers have a lot to worry about. From an investor point of view, the Indian Grand Prix does not give a very bright picture. Given the downward economy, there is more risk than return. Companies are thinking twice before putting their money behind the event because after the dust has settled and engines have cooled, the only question that is left to be answered is – Is the event raking in the moolah? The Buddh International Circuit is one of the few F1 racetracks in the world that is not backed by government money. Other than the initial investment and running costs, Jaypee Sports International has to pay the F1 management a license fee of about $40 million annually. The revenues from TV rights and track sponsorships go to the F1 management directly. So the organizers mainly rely on ticket sales. And that situation you’re already aware of – no sunny skies. Speaking to F1 fans, this season had nothing exciting to look forward to. According to Virat Maheshwari, a self proclaimed die-hard F1 fan, there was nothing to look forward to this season. “Everyone knew who was going to win, and to be honest no one I knew was even watching it live or tweeting about it.”, says Virat. So everyone knew who the obvious winner was going to be, there was not as much excitement about the race as there was before, and you know that the event had died when no one was talking about it on Facebook. Seems like the $400 million dollar Indian circuit has lost its lustre.
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