It’s a nippy winter night but you can feel the slight warmth in the air because of all the twinkling lights strung to announce the celebrations. Everywhere you look, festivities are in order. You have to go to your far off relative’s daughter’s wedding, while your son has bought tickets to a rock concert and your daughter has plans to go to the diwali mela. Yes, it’s that time of the year again. But what do the newspapers next day read? The stage at a wedding broke, riots broke out in a concert, and someone got caught in a naked wire at the diwali mela, but we barely even raise an eyebrow. So much for big party celebrations. Why do big scale events in India always turn out to be even bigger failures? Is it because event management companies don’t care about the security of their attendees or do they just become careless and adopt the Great Indian Jugaad when it comes to maintaining security? Or should we blame it on the fact that we don’t value lives in our country? We got in talks with Avishkar Tendle, Managing Director at Natura Adventure Crew, to understand the current situation of large scale events in India. Are we really safe? EE finds out. EE: Is India ready for staging adventure themed events? How do you see this industry in next five years? I think India is at the cusp of getting big on adventure themed events, these sorts of events are already growing. Since customer engagement is the holy grail for all the BTL activities, adventure themed events are bound to be on the rise because of the ability of adventure activities to engage the audience. The next few years are very critical in ensuring that Adventure stays on a safe and an upwardly progressing path, considering there are more number of events which have adventure fused into them from making the bride groom fly on to stage to doing bungee jumping at malls, it is equally important to make sure the number of accidents don’t increase just because the total number of events have increased. EE: As communication is witnessing a shift towards events and creating experiences through them, what is the most important component of an event? Customer engagement. As I said earlier customer engagement is the key and essential component of an event, ability to engage or the lack of it can make or break a brand, it’s about creating a high impact through an experiential medium, this trend is being seen in multiple places from experiential education to experiential marketing. EE: How does the safety quotient vary with the nature of an event? I don’t think safety quotient varies with the nature of events, what changes are the number of parameters to create a safe environment, if it’s a simple MICE event on the lawns of an resort, then the parameters will be highly limited. For example, considering if there is any possibility of injury to the client due to open electrical wires, slippery pathways etc. At the same time if it’s a massive event with 10,000 people then you have those many parameters to deal with to make an event safe. Based on an event you cannot say I can only strive for 60% of the safety level, it is critical to achieve 100% on all the parameters irrespective of how many parameters are present. EE: How is safety in indoor shows different from safety in outdoor adventure events? It varies a lot, whenever we talk outdoor’s we have to take into account weather conditions, and any other factors which might disrupt the event. Is it going to be raining? Is it going to be windy? What wind zone does my venue come into? Is my structure prepared to handle those wind and rain conditions if it were to occur? How am I protecting the audience in case of any calamity? Am I equipped to handle stampede? Is my emergency evacuation plan ready? Is there a person who is going to take that call of evacuation? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves when we are into the midst of organizing an event. At the same time Indoor safety is completely different. Are we prepared in case of a fire emergency? Can we handle crowd properly? Are there more people inside the venue than there are supposed to be? etc. EE: How critical is safety addresal? Are we equipped to handle the safety needs of events? Does anyone want bad press because some participant got injured while taking part in their brand’s activity? By default safety is the most critical aspect of an event, whether it is an adventure themed event or not. Even a music concert should have safety as a critical aspect. Is the truss erected safely? Is there proper crowd management? What happens in case of fire? etc. When it comes to adventure events, safety becomes a non-negotiable aspect. Is the adventure operator qualified? What experience does he have? Who are the people managing that activity? Are they qualified? What is the equipment being used? Is it certified? Is there a log of usage of that equipment? All these questions are necessary and important. These questions asked at the right place at the right time are likely to avert a major incident. EE: Please share the safety drills and mandates followed by you for ads and films? How do you train your teams to meet 100% safety assurance? We at Natura are very paranoid about safety. We follow the dictate of “when in doubt don’t do it, or change it”. Every activity that we do, whether it is an adventure activity or an aerial performance, we will only go ahead if we are convinced that it is safe. There is always a site Manager on our events. That person is single handedly responsible for the safety of that activity. He has a checklist in his hand, every time before our system is engaged, he goes through it one by one and checks if everything is in place and ready to go. During rigging we change the systems constantly if we think there is a small possibility of risk. We change it till the time we are convinced at the risk of delaying the setup and eating into the rehearsal time. It is always better to be slightly delayed than being sorry. We only use certified equipment and keep an extensive usage logs of that equipment. So that we know if we need to replace something and when to do it. We always have a backup independent system to our main system, incase our main system fails, our backup swings into an action and avoids the accident. We always have a person certified as an internationally trained First Aider on all our programmes and we make sure all the in-house team is re-certified every two years (check out Wilderness Advance First Aid course curriculums that we attend – http://www.nols.edu/wmi/. EE: What does it take to have a good adventure infrastructure? Does it currently exist in India? Adventure Infrastructure is almost nonexistent in India, we do not have paramedic or rescue teams to jump into action in case of a calamity, even our urban ambulances are not very well equipped, our disaster management teams are a national joke, we don’t have a set of protocols and procedures in place for adventure nor do we have an audit team that can govern these policies. Currently the adventure tour operators of Maharashtra Association and adventure tour operators of India are working on such principles to be put into place but on the flip side we have innumerable destination alternatives when it comes to adventures venues. At the end of the day we have the mighty Himalayas which attract thousands of foreigners, and there are few operators who specifically cater to them and adhere to stringent international standards but those constitute about 1% of the total adventure operators. EE: What are the challenges in delivering adventure content in India? Cost is the major challenge, since people right now do not realize the sort of effort that goes into making adventure systems safe. Right now, everyone wants to involve adventure content into their event, but when it comes to paying for it, everyone wants it at lower costs, and costs are always reduced at the expense of safety.Safety is treated as an add on to an event and only taken into consideration under few circumstances e.g. when the client has larger budgets or when the client has asked for it specifically or the event manager has had a past incident and does not want that to happen again. If being safe is treated as a non-compromisable aspect of an event then the costs should be built into the budget. EE: At Natura, what is your approach to execute, conceptualize and manage adventure theme events? It depends on what service is requested from us by the event management companies. We usually sit down with the event management company to understand the client’s brief and the intention behind the event. Based on the intention we come up with an entire concept of the event, and infuse different adventure activities which align with the event. At times we even create new activities to achieve the engagement. Our operations team then gets into action and starts the preparation for the event, recon trips are done, rigging plans are created, team is finalized, and show flow is created all leading up to the setup day. Based on our experience of managing adventure themed events, we have devised another approach in which we deploy our proprietary design of the Adventure Challenge tower, which houses 6-8 adventure activities in a mere space of 50ft X 50ft, This tower has turned out to be a perfect product for the event managers wherein they can provide engagement of 6-8 adventure activities in the smallest space possible thus bringing Adventure to your doorstep in the urban environment. (www.adventurechallengetower.co.in) EE: How do you manage the regular pressures of conventional event management and blend in a high degree of safety control in it? It’s a constant tightrope walk for us, traditionally we are always taught to take as much time as possible when you are executing adventure activities. This is where Natura is very unique, since we understand the time pressures in conventional events; we have optimized our operations in a way where we achieve efficiency during setup and execution and at the same avoiding any compromise on the safety. There is a strong documentation culture and a log which everyone needs to compulsorily adhere to during an event, these internal checklists and systems enable us to a achieve high degree of safety at our events.
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Retired soccer player, international sports icon and walking billboard advertisement, David Beckham, will bring fans together from around the world on Wednesday 30th October at 3:00PM BST with the launch of his new photo-book and an innovative digital book signing. The event will be broadcast live to his millions of fans on Facebook. Reinventing the traditional format of book signing, Beckham from a central London location will use inventive technology to provide lucky fans with a personalized digital signature at locations in London, Hyderabad, New York, and Sao Paulo. It all comes down to “reinventing the traditional format of the book signing” through the use of “groundbreaking technology”, says Beckham. “In partnership with Facebook, I want to do a truly global signing to coincide with the launch of my new book,” he announced. “If you are in London, New York, São Paulo, or Hyderabad, you can enter to win a ticket to take part in these events and receive a personalized digital signature from me via ground-breaking technology.” Those that can’t be present in person at any of the events will be able to watch and contribute questions to a live Q&A through their computer in a specially created Digital Stadium, hosted by UK sport presenter, Jake Humphrey. At the London event, David will reveal the stories behind personal and iconic images in his new book which looks back at an amazing career spanning three decades. David Beckham said: “I always like innovative and original ideas. What has been created is ambitious but it should be a fantastic event. I love the interaction with my fans but not only will I be able to do this in London, I will be able to sign for them in locations across the world.” Glenn Miller, who leads entertainment partnerships for Facebook across EMEA, said: “Through Facebook David Beckham is bringing his fans together from around the world to experience his official book signing in London. Every fan who registers or attends in person will receive a digital autograph from David himself. This heralds a completely new way to launch books. Facebook is where people go to connect about the things that matter most to them and this global event is a great example of how we can engage with public figures in a meaningful and authentic way.” David made the exciting announcement on his Facebook page as well; the message can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/Beckham?fref=ts For the chance to win a ticket to attend in person or to register to watch live from the Facebook Digital Stadium go tohttps://www.facebook.com/Beckham/app_608627272528736 Fans can ask questions using #BeckhamBookFB
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New Delhi has forever been tainted by its ‘unorganized’ culture and for this reason, till a few back, was easily overlooked as a destination for international acts, concerts and big-crowd events. So when I heard that Canadian funny-man Russell Peters was planning a performance in the city I was immediately ecstatic. More so as my shameless hints to an influential friend were picked up and now I had a certified ticket in flesh and blood. Nothing could go wrong. Turns out I wasnt the only one who’d heard the big news. Tickets in all four cities-Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru- were a clean sell out weeks in advance. What was initially a feeling of excitement quickly transcended into fear. Now, I love Delhi. But I know if you put ten or more people from Delhi together in one place you have a sure-shot recipe for disaster. This mob culture is characteristic of every event. Be it at a Bryan Adams concert a decade ago or Sunburn Greater Noida earlier this month. There is always this looming fear that someone may get hot under the collar and the whole situation might explode. Last I was this excited was when Metallica had come to Delhi last year and we all know how badly that bombed. I was going to wait for my eggs to hatch this time. As I drove in towards the Huda Grounds arena on the day, I half expected to see a frenzied crowd pushing and shoving at each other, women trying to keep their bottoms from being pinched, people scheming to avoid getting frisked or trying to slip past without a valid ticket. Little did I know, I was in store for a revelation. It was a Delhi from my dreams. Well behaved people, sharply dressed ushers, ‘queues’ for the love of God. 4500 people enjoying the show in unanimity and not one disturbing handphone, pain inducing sound of ‘OYE’ in the backdrop or single casualty in the first-aid booth (surprisingly an achievement for Delhi). Something is different here. Something that has brought forth the good side of the mob. The crowd was obedient, no fights broke out and people came and left in an orderly fashion. So after much observation and calculation, I have reached upon this justifiable formula: Act aimed at the urbane community + trained management/ushers/security + hiked ticket prices – alcohol = A possibly enjoyable event in Delhi.Peters has been performing for the past 24 years and is an international stand-up comedy icon. Though he has toured in India before, use of repetitive material thanks to the internet and being relatively less popular in the country, did not yield expected returns back then. The Notorious World Tour is evidently his biggest wager in the country. The event was sponsored by Micromax, a brand that has embraced experiential marketing tactics with complete gusto. Initially perceived as a chinese brand, Micromax is one of the few companies that has travelled up the funnel in terms of popularity. After successfully establishing itself within the rural market it is now aggressively riding on unique marketing and branding strategies aimed at urban India. “Our marketing strategy is largely driven by entertainment. We know our target audience connects with music, cinema and sports therefore we constantly invest in strengthening our product portfolio through R&D and innovative marketing strategies within this area”, says Shubhodip Pal, Chief Marketing Officer, Micromax. In the year 2012 Micromax has sponsored big music events such as Sunburn Goa, Snoop Dogg India Concert Tour, Enrique India Tour and MTV Video Music Awards. “With Russell Peters Notorious World Tour, Micromax is yet again taking a lead in bringing the best in the world to enthrall Indian audiences across the country for the first time”, adds Pal.
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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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With a population of 1.2 billion, it is no surprise that India is sold on the idea of weddings. During peak season, on any given auspicious day, thousands of people are known to tie the knot in our country. Big cities, small towns or villages, if you’re somewhere near 30 chances are your family has spent the last decade deliberating your wedding. Stereotyped across the world for our inherent miserly nature, ironically when it comes to weddings Indians suddenly develop a no-holds-barred attitude. And so with every passing year the business of weddings is flourishing leaps and bounds. It is actually the perfect business model – demand is high, unbounded cash-flow, forecast is perennial and possibilities are endless. But wait. Ever stopped to think who may be the ultimate beneficiary of this upswing? (Drumroll)…AND THE WINNER IS…well, not you! We’ve been made to believe that when there is great advancement within an industry the entire economy stands to gain from it. But if this was true, shouldn’t the payback be somewhat noticeable by now? What happens when money raised does not trickle down the funnel? When business becomes the monopoly of a selected few? The rich become richer and the poor even poorer. Sadly, thats exactly the model our wedding industry is based upon. If Bittoo tikki walla is contracted at a wedding and his live tikki station is operational for a standard duration of three hours within which he sells an average of 30 tikkis/hr at the rate of 1 tikki every 2 minutes, then he sells all of 90 tikkis on each stall. Even if there is a minimum of 3 stalls, thats 270 tikkis consumed at the party. The standard rate of a popular tikki walla at a wedding exceeds 1.5 lakh Rupees. If a plate of 2 tikkis is retailed at Rs 30 thats Rs 15 per tikki as opposed to Rs 210 per head at a wedding. We think you get the point being made here. “There is unfortunately a complete disconnect between the private sector and the government with regards to wedding – and the potential of it as an industry. Weddings even today are seen as largely private affairs. YOU spend what YOU can afford and that really is your own business that does not concern anyone else”, says Chetan Vohra of Wedding Line. He adds, “10 years ago, having a DJ was still a luxury reserved for the classes. Today there is a DJ at every function for no matter who and at what budget they have. Such is also the evolution being seen in decor, in F&B and in the number of functions you “need to” host. Everyone wants bigger and better – and it does not matter if they can afford it or not – they must have it because they want to secure their social status, and this social status is so strong that it eclipses all before it.” Baraats have become a public nuisance and there is no state intervention to alleviate this problem. “The simple ghori now has to contend with elephants, camels, chariots – sometimes with up to four horses, vintage cars, DJ set ups on the move and, of course, if its Delhi then the famous Car-o-bar cannot be left behind. Baarat processions in modern times are probably comparable to political processions or rallies. If you have the might – you have the right”. Says Vohra. Although one needs to notify the local area police station as a forewarning of the anticipated baraat, a simple box of ladoos can relax the rules to a great extent. It seems the government has turned a blind eye to the immense potential to raise revenue from the wedding industry. And because it is not profitable for the government it does not excite the state enough to invest in. While the ‘baraat’ causes road blockages, there are no government standards for health and safety at the venues, state owned lands for weddings are highly restricted and provision for parking is often poor. Vohra says, “It is indeed a pity that we in India have not matured to look into these aspects of revenue generation or simply develop a broader mindset. Our monuments and palaces come with a list of do-nots that sometimes exceed the checklists associated in making an event happen. I did once speak to someone to explore the possibilities of doing a social event for a client at the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta. The official was at first amused and then proceeded to reprimand us by giving us a sermon on how it was against the culture of the state and these were public areas allocated for the general enjoyment of everyone and could not be hired out even if it was for a day. There is a serious dearth of government approved spaces for weddings and events across the country. Mumbai has the Turf Club and then the set of Gymkhanas that line Marine Drive where one is at the mercy of private cartels that operate without check, simply because they are privately run. Delhi has people being restricted to commercial or private farm houses, but again have very few parks or landscaped gardens that may lend itself to the kind of clientele that is willing to spend money on a venue, that would add to that special day.” The state needs to realize that if money could be raised from leasing state owned lands and monuments it could be channelled towards the maintenance and upkeep of the neglected historical establishments. The not-so-fortunates could be given subsidies on land and state-run facilities so that a dream-wedding is a privilege available to all and not just a monopoly of the classes. “It is indeed sad to see how easily people stray to avoid taxation and thus choose alternative routes. The downfall of India came with the invention of “Jugaad” and that has come to rule us today. Everyone wants to fix what is not right, rather than be right and have to avoid the fix altogether. There seems to be a certain thrill in beating the system, similar to the school-boy who snuggled in a little chit into the exam – not knowing that he is not cheating the system but himself in the longer run”, adds Vohra.
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The sixth convention of EEMA – EEMAGINE 2013 came to an end in an extravaganza glistening with industry honchos who shared their expertise, practically redefining the axioms of the events and entertainment industry. EEMAGINE 2013 was organized in Rajasthan and was witnessed industry gurus giving out their best. Sam Cannon, Senior Events Booker, Ministry of Sound, London, Sanjay Vazirani, Min Chang, President Asia Pacific at DAS (Diversified Agency Services) are a few too name. There were a number of sessions on topics including Industry & Innovations, The ever expanding landscape of social events and Role of Activation in Brand Building. The sessions and discussions pointed out how the arrival of Gen Y with their gadgets and social media has changed the very dynamics of the events industry. Also, it bought home the fact that an event is no longer a mere party or award function with elements of entertainment. It is now an art which has the just correct blend of entertainment, marketing and advertising. A panel discussion on ‘Advertising tells but activation sells’ highlighted the importance of activation. The discussion, exhibited effective advertising, and showed that activation will be at the core from now on for it is the strongest option among tangible media tools. Various examples were showed by the panelist which also included Cannes Grand Prix winner Dumb Ways To Die. The most important element of EEMAGINE 2013 was the EEMAX awards. The awards are indeed a boon to the events and entertainment industry as no other body looks at this platform exclusively. Leading EEMAX this year was Encompass Events with a total of six metals. The agency won one Gold, two Silver and three bronze metals. Followed by Encompass Events was Candid Marketing that managed to grab five metals. The agency was awarded five metals with two Gold, two Bronze and one Silver. A number of agencies followed on the third place with three metals including Krayon and Wizcraft International Entertainment. In addition to the enlightening sessions, Brian Tellis, President, EEMA shared his vision for EEMA in the coming year. EEMAGINE 2013 also hosted a number of delightful performances by Shiamak Davar and Ali Zafar. Pakistani Darbar Dance Umrao graced the event to enthrall the audience with her graceful performance. The convention managed to leave a mark on all the participants and it exhibited how much the industry has changed in the past few years.
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Yash Raj Films’ Shuddh Desi Romance, which just made it to the list of Top 10 highest openers of the year, flaunted research findings to market the movie. How do you possibly market yet another romantic comedy? How do you tell the world that hey this one’s actually different? How do you grab eyeballs and also pitch the contents of your film? Yash Raj Films’ new release Shuddh Desi Romance, starring Sushant Singh Rajput (Kai Po Che), Parineeti Chopra (Ishaqzaade) and new girl Vaani Kapoor, took the survey route in a first-of-its-kind approach to movie marketing. With the help of Ormax Media, the production house went about asking 5,000 youngsters across 40 Indian cities their take on relationship, commitment, pre-marital sex and marriage. The results of the survey, which had samples taken from big cities and small towns, were used to drive home the concept of the film – “a fresh and very real love story about the hair-raising minefield between love, attraction and commitment”. Called “Shuddh Desi India ki Romantic Soch”, the research aimed to “create ownership of the three lead characters of the film by creating a resonance with their life and their issues”. It had a four-point strategy to achieve the same. 1. Intrigue: Buzz and anticipation around the research findings to set the genre expectations from the film. 2. Research: The actual research process (field and online) 3. Reveal: Revelation of the research findings and their contextualisation to the three lead characters in the film. 4. Engage: Discussions around the results, involving the lead characters and their ideologies in the film. Once they were ready with the results, the three lead actors – Sushant, Parineeti and Vaani – revealed the findings at Welingkar College (another youth destination) in Dadar. The findings were in direct relevance with the contents of the film Shudh Desi Romance. So if the movie has the characters of Sushant and Parineeti in a live-relationship, the survey results highlighted are: 72% Indians believe that live-relationships don’t end in marriage but in break-up and that 4 out of 5 parents believe that young men and women who enter a live-in relationship are “loose characters”. Again, since pre-marital sex is a big issue in the film, the research underlines that 89% of Indian parents still believe that sex before marriage is unacceptable and should not be practised while 51% youth disagreed with them. The survey added that 50% young men believe that young Indians who are above the age of 18 but still virgins, are old-fashioned and how only 33% young women agree to that. “Why we did this survey was not only to market the film but also bring out facts as opposed to myths,” says actress Parineeti Chopra. “Most people outside the country think that Indians only want to do arranged marriage but our research shows that more than 70% young Indians would rather have a love marriage as opposed to an arranged marriage. The film also tackles this confusion in our society.”
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It turns out that 150 million times a day someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product. From Lux to Kwality Walls, Wheel detergent and Fair & Lovely, Hindustan Unilever Company continues to grow as one of the most respected FMCG companies in India. A company with a plethora of products in its kitty, creating strategies to market a varied product range calls for a strategy of its own. And what could be the A1 game plan to sell cheap products to millions? Hire the best (and the most expensive) brains in the industry, of course. In conversation with Ateet Mehta, Media Services Head at HUL, we gain perspective on how it all falls together. EE: Unilever spends a significant amount of sum in its advertising. Out of your entire budget, how much do you devote specifically to experiential marketing? It’s very difficult to qualify numbers in terms of how much money is spent on experiential marketing. It all depends upon the brand’s objective and the jobs to be done. So if a job to be done for a brand is to communicate the message and give it an engagement then the expenses will be higher but if a brand’s job is to only create sales and awareness for the brand then it will be much lower. So it’s completely dependent upon the brand’s objective. EE: What do you think about experiential marketing as a marketing campaign? Is it more effective than over-the-line marketing campaigns? There are no right or wrong answers. It again depends upon the objectives. So today, if I want to showcase that by using a particular shampoo you will get very, very smooth hair or a nice bounce to your hair then it is more effectively done by experiential marketing because you’re giving the consumers a demonstration of your product. But if I have to showcase something which does not require product demonstration but a regular communication then experiential will not make sense. So it’s completely dependent upon what message you’re trying to put across. EE: You have big and small brands in your portfolio. As Unilever, how do you arrive at a marketing strategy targeted at multiple brands? Unilever has a plethora of brands catering to each and every consumer segment. At the bottom of the pyramid there are brands like Lifebuoy and at the top, high end brands like Pond’s Age Miracle and the recently launched Toni and Guy Range. Marketing strategy is a function of a brand’s marketing communication objective and its marketing measurable objectives. So if the objective is to reach as many people as possible then it’s all about broadcast media. If I want to reach pan India then certainly the strategy is to use television, which is a mass communication channel. But if the marketing objective is to reach 2 million people out of the billion people in the country, residing in the 6 metros, then mass media does not make sense. At that point you look at options that are particularly catering to the specific needs of the target audience, both in terms of demographic and psychograhic. You select mediums that appeal to them, the consumer behaviour and the media they consume and on that basis you decide the strategy. For eg, Fair and Lovely, which is a pan India brand and the largest selling fairness cream in the country, it would require a mass media approach. But for Toni and Guy and Tresemme, which are shampoo brands selling in some parts of the country, focussed on modern trade, television does not make sense. Then you look at other mediums like digital and hard core non-casting segmented targeting campaigns. EE: The missed call initiative engaged 18 million people. Do you foresee similar initiatives for other brands as well? After the Wheel Missed Call Activity there have been a plethora of brands that have joined in this campaign. Last year, we had signed Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha for our Red Label brand of tea – it was missed call activity with a call to action. Like Red Label there have been similar campaigns for Fair & Lovely and a number of our laundry brands, so all brands that are catering to that segment of the society where a feature phone is the only device we are able to reach and television is not reached because of power shortage or because the overall presentation of television is less, feature phone features are used extensively to reach these consumers
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Hitting a three week high, Canon Inc. went up by 4.5 per cent on 4 September becoming the third most traded stock by turnover on the mainboard. Clearly the company is doing something right. As one of the front runners in digital printing and imaging technologies, Canon has swiftly spread its roots in the Indian market ever since its debut in the year 1997 as a subsidiary of Canon Singapore. Dr. Alok Bharadwaj is the Executive Vice President of Canon India and is amongst the “Global Top 100 People” Influencing Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS). He has received the “Pride of the Industry” Award and also the “Best CMO” Award by the CMO council. A strong advocate of the efficacy of experiential activity, we got a taste of his ideology when midway through our interview a popular tune suddenly flooded the office and employees did a shimmy in their personal work spaces. What a great way to revitalize an otherwise dreary day! He calls it ‘experiential learning for employees’. In his interview with EE he tells us how Canon is implementing experiential marketing to promote consumer experience and shares his vision of experiential marketing in digital printing and imaging technology. EE: What ‘images’ come to your mind when you talk about experiential marketing? When we talk about marketing its all about creating desirability, either for the brand or product. It is an endeavour to position ourselves in a way that the consumer is influenced to love us more. Experiential marketing is an attempt to add to this pursuit of creating intense desirability among the targeted consumers. While conventional ways of marketing may positively stimulate the consumers imagination, experiential marketing goes a step ahead and hands the product to the consumer to touch, feel, grasp and understand it in real-time. Experiential marketing, to my mind, is a great tool that marketers are now increasingly beginning to realize and make good use of. For example, we take great pride in being the number one brand in digital imaging but even then we need to compete with various categories of smart phones, tablets, ipads and other devices. So today we need to create a compelling desire among the customer to look at Canon as not only the best camera but also look at it on a priority before he considers any other device, be it a smartphone, an ipad etc. Experiential marketing is the only tool that can achieve such a task. EE: What makes a campaign truly experiential campaign? An experiential campaign essentially means inviting the consumer to be part of the brand’s ecosystem. So, for example, when i’m trying to sell my customer a printer, my aim is not only to produce a high quality print but also meet the customer’s need to be able to connect the printer to his other devices of choice and enjoy the entire process in the bargain. So I’m not just marketing a printer here I’m marketing the whole way of using it. The idea is to create an enhanced experience using a variety of elements in such a way that your brand is projected as dominating and indispensable within that experience. The attempt is to try and fit your brand into the lives of your customer so that using your product seems natural to him and he can relate to it better. EE: How is Canon using experiential marketing to reach out to its potential customers? Canon has taken digital imaging and printer technology to various dimensions. One is the B to B segment where our copiers and printers are in high demand with their feature of internal document security. In the B to C category, besides printers, our cameras are the highest selling product. Cameras have undergone a major reconfiguration over the past few years where digitalization has advanced tremendously and features such as remote capturing allow the customer to use their smartphones to remotely operate their cameras. So while you can ‘test-drive’ a few products to understand the technicalities what it ‘can’t’ do is often more prominent after the purchase than what it ‘can’. I think the index of measuring the output of experiential marketing is basically the ratio of the extent to which you experience the product before you buy it divided by the experience of the product post-purchase. The efficacy of a successful campaign should be aimed at 70% or more. In our case we keep that as an aim when we try an experiential activity. We have 105 retails stores that we call ‘Canon image square’ where we encourage our customers to entirely experience our products before making a purchase. EE: In an attempt at experiential marketing we believe you conduct a lot of photography workshops as well, how has that worked out for you? Photography has undergone tremendous transformation in the past few years. People would earlier capture photos, then print them and then finally see and enjoy them. But then came along digitalization, and photography became limitless. It became less and less about capturing a moment and more about telling a story. Then came social networking and people began instantly sharing their stories. And this became an integral part of ones life. Photography has now become a language where instead of words photographs are used to communicate the message, often better. The brain has a logical side and an emotional side. It is through the use of imagination and art forms that we feed our emotions. The cameras we offer allow people emotional gratification by not just capturing moments but also creating them. Therefore in this attempt to giving this experience to our customers, workshops become key. We have a tie up with several workshop centres in India in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore and we are in talks of including other cities too. So when someone is buying a camera from us he is also signing an invisible emotional contract with us where our responsibility becomes to ensure we enrich his life using photography as a medium. The outcome is that the customer now begins to like us more and becomes a protagonist. EE: What are the criterion for someone to enroll in such a workshop? For the last two years we’ve conducted hundred workshops each year across about 25 towns in India. This is a free of cost single day workshop with the purchase of a camera. Since photography works very well in a community, our customers are also registered on a portal where members help enhance each others skills and, in the bargain, experience photography more closely. We also conduct 2 hour workshops once a week in all our retail stores. We are also planning specialized workshops especially for kids to harness their creativity at a young age. In this light, one demand for an SLR camera coming from the child is usually a 100% strike rate. We soon realised our customers were demanding smaller groups for specialized training and more personalized attention. Therefore, we recently implemented the training of smaller focussed groups on a chargeable basis. We’ve named it the EOS Academy. In fact we’ve noticed the price tag has actually added value to the program and we are increasingly being approached by commercial photographers and photography enthusiasts for training. This activity has made a considerable impact on our sales. It has also helped us get acquainted with the challenges our customers may face while using our products, their features and technical issues. EE: What media channels do you use to promote such kind of workshops? We largely spread the word through social media, our retail outlets and product brochures as we are mainly targeting the hot prospects. These workshops are not leading people to buying a Canon but definitely allowing people a greater opportunity to enjoying their Canon. EE: What is the future of experiential marketing in digital printing in India? In printing, while the content is becoming more electronic, the consumption of content is also becoming more electronic. People are increasingly reading books on screen, greeting cards are being sent online, bills are viewed on the screen etc. With a result the overall need of printing is becoming lesser and lesser. So now our focus has shifted to showing our consumer multiple applications in printing that can add a different flavour to their normal activities. Be it printing directions to a place or printing 3D images, the idea is to break out of the ordinary and into lesser explored territories. EE: What are your thoughts on experiential marketing in the space of digital imaging? The comparative landscape has shifted from the traditional competitors to competitors from different categories. These are the categories that we could’ve never imagined could pose a threat to us. So there is a struggle to retain the consumers who are now increasingly being enticed into newer domains such as instagram and similar others. Therefore, it is imperative for us to provide a stronger gratification to our clients and create higher exit barriers. So we have to let them experience things they could never imagine a camera could do earlier. With features such as advanced low-light photography, cinematography, high optical zooms etc. we try and ensure we create an experience for our client that no other platform can provide.
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Einstein said, “If you do the same thing twice and expect different results, then it is nothing but insanity.” Agreed. We all have a learning curve. Steep for some, not so much for others. But the truth remains that no matter what heights you plan to accomplish, or how many times you fall, you always have to rise from the foothills. And the most important thing to remember- you can never move your eyes from the prize! Experience on-the-go, on-field practice and growing wiser with each mistake made is the prelude to any success story. Today we acquaint you with a few such stories. Accomplished event entrepreneurs share with us their first ever experience of organizing an event. The first of many accolades they were destined to receive, the mishaps they could never forget, and if they were to do it all over again, how they would do it today. Rajesh Varma Claim to fame- Founder and Director, CRI Events The first ever event I organized was in the year 1993. It was a Jagjit Singh concert at Shri Fort Auditorium. Godfrey Phillips was the sponsor for the show. I was thrilled to have landed this break but also petrified as I did not have a team in place yet. I knew this event could either make me or break me. In the events industry you are as good as your last event. The prospect of landing any events down the line and the future of my career depended entirely on that one day. Needless to say, I gave it all I got. What also worked in my favour was the amazing team of stage and sound guys and the entire crew actually. And it paid off. The event was a sell out. The sad part- I did not make a penny from the event! Why you ask? Well, mostly because I was young and stupid and did not have the business sense to pan out the financials in detail beforehand. It was a ticketed event and like most such events I was to get a share from the sales of the tickets but it so happened that the sponsors, venue and artists had already reserved a considerable number of tickets for their near and dear ones. Besides them, there were several influential people who were obliged with free tickets. It was definitely demoralizing that I didn’t earn from the event after putting in so much time and effort. But I also knew that I was onto something here and this would prove to be my beginning to something great. And as a rule, since that day, we don’t do any ticketed events anymore. If I were to do the same event today then I would definitely hire the same crew without a doubt. Diligence is indispensible in this field. Back in the day we only used printed backdrops and wallpapers that have been surpassed by digital substitutes today. LED lights, 3D projection, the possibilities are endless. I would stress upon high tech visuals and an advanced sound technology. I would engage my audience on social media platforms much before the event and monetize by airing the event live. And this time I’m confident I wouldn’t go home with empty pockets. Samit Garg Claim to fame- CEO, E-factor Entertainment My first event was thirteen years back in the year 2000 at Jaipur. We were a team of four people and the client was Smirnoff. When I look in hindsight I often wonder how a group of young and inexperienced newbies managed a relatively big-league account such as Smirnoff. Well, the answer lies largely in the fact that we were true to the client and, most importantly, true to ourselves. We were given a budget of Rs 42,000 to wine, dine and entertain a party of 140 people. So we got started by calculating what was expected from us and whether or not we could deliver it. It was our sheer transparency with the client and our promise to get him maximum for his spend. Numbers did not matter to us then as it does not matter to us now. Our focus since day one has been to deliver a memorable experience through our events and we retain this ideology till date. What has changed in so many years is how we package our stuff. In the year 2000, besides us, other companies were taking shape like Wizcraft, DNA, Encompass and Percept. We did not want to be part of this rat race so made the switch towards social events and began carving our niche there. Today 70% of our work includes social events with the rest being a mix of corporate and other miscellaneous events. Our team consists of 40 top professionals from the industry who try and create a ‘touch and feel’ experience with each event. Be it constructing an air-conditioned glass-house for a day wedding during the monsoons or mimicking the insides of a submarine through a 360 degree projection to create the experience of partying underwater, for us challenging the impossible is the ultimate high. Rajeev Jain Claim to fame- Director, Rashi Entertainment The events industry does not operate on the number of people you have employed or how old you are in the business. It runs on the passion you exude and the promise you display. In the year 1999 I was approached by the Dainik Bhaskar group to organize an event celebrating their launch at Ajmer. We were a team of 5 and had to make arrangements for a crowd of over 70,000 people. So we hired 50 local guys. It was a free-for-all event and Jasbir Jassi and Richa Sharma, at the prime of their career, were scheduled to be performing. The turnout at the day exceeded 1 lac people. Ajmer had never witnessed an event of such expanse before. It was surreal. We immediately knew we had been launched into the market. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to manage a crowd of 1 lac people. It makes the head spin. Entire cities sometimes comprise of fewer people. But we had major support from the State police and the government. We were spanking new in the business and had outsourced our light and sound arrangements. They did an immaculate job as per the standards at the time. If I had to organize the same event today, I would erect a multi level stage with 3D mapping and make intelligent use of lights using LED backdrops and Xenon projection. A major challenge we faced that day was that people had to wait for hours before getting into the stadium, also security and safety posed a looming threat. Technology has advanced tremendously over the years. We now use RFID cards (similar to that used to enter and exit train/metro stations) that prove to be time-efficient and are very cost-effective in mapping logistics. To tackle security issues we mainly use Mozzo barricades unlike the feeble fencing used at the time. Since our first event together we have been managing Dainik Bhaskar’s launches, conclaves and power dinners. We truly have been partners in each other’s growth since then.
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