The Indian Premium League (IPL) is one of the most sought after branding platforms. It engages cricket fans from not only India but around the world. Cricket as a game surpasses the boundaries of gender, age and community and provides the brands with a wide demographic they can easily target. From the inception of the tournament in 2008, for the first time a part of the season is being held in UAE, allowing the brands an even bigger platform to delve in. With the start of the seventh IPL season numerous brands are coming forward with innovative promotions and partnerships. Twitter has seized the opportunity and partnered with the most sought after tournament this season to bring real time experiences to fans. After their association in 2013, IPL and Twitter are set to unveil a live, interactive and conversational experience for cricket fans globally. The partnership between the two brands will be incorporated on-ground, on-air and online. ‘This partnership represents yet another watershed moment at the intersection of Twitter and sports. By bringing together Twitter best practices and innovation at such scale to a global audience, IPL is again truly connecting to the pulse of today’s cricket fans. We congratulate them for giving fans around the world meaningful opportunities to discover content, converse and self-express as part of the live, public conversation that is IPL,’ said Rishi Jaitly – India Marketing Director, Twitter. The social networking website has rolled out eight new initiatives that will provide the fans an opportunity to get up from their benches and be a part of the global cricket conversation. The initiatives include Twitter IPL Calendar, IPL Pulse, Best Tweets and Hashtag Battles, #IPL Selfie, #IPL Magic, @IPL SpiderCam, #TwitterMirror and Twitter Q&As. The IPL Calendar will allow the fans to set reminders for their favourite matches. This can be done simply by tweeting @IPL with the hashtag #Calendar. Through this fans will receive calendar entries for every IPL match on their mobile phone, which will remind them of the match’s starting time, 10 minutes before that start of each game. With IPL Pulse, fans will also hear the story of IPL 7, as told through Twitter Data and data visualizations depicted in broadcast highlighting the most buzzing players, conversations, and trends. This feature will also be available on the IPL website during the tournament. Fans that are present at the stadium and are cheering for their favourite team or player can tweet with #PepsiIPL as well and experience the visualization growing larger-than-life on the giant screens. The fans will also have the opportunity to see the best tweets on the screen with the Best Tweets feature and Hashtag Battles will allow them to vote for their favourite teams and players. With the teams battling it out on the field, Twitter will become an off-the-field war zone for IPL fans. The results of the battle will be showcased in real-time throughout the match. The concept of ‘Selfies’ has spread like wildfire. With the Oscar Selfie going viral on twitter, it is now the turn of cricket buffs to join in. With #IPLselfie, fans tweeting with this hashtag will have their photos featured on the IPL website. At the end of each match, supporters will have a chance to receive a personalized photo message with an iconic image from every match of the latest season of IPL when they tweet to @IPL with #Magic. The #IPL Magic is a great way to connect directly with the fans as this initiative is personalized for every user with a message by the captain of the team featured in the photo. This will be the first global interactive experience for a sports league at this scale. Ever wondered what the players are doing when they aren’t on the field? The @IPLSpiderCam feature will provide fans an access to exclusive behind-the-scene content from the game. The photos will be available real-time through @IPLSpiderCam Twitter account. The current season will also see the debut of the autographed #TwitterMirror feature which will allow the players and members of the winning team the ability to share candid messages with fans through customized photos, which will be tweeted from @IPL. The story of IPL will also be told through six-second Vine videos through the 2014 season. The final feature, called Twitter Q&As, will give the fans an opportunity to interact with players and commentators on a one-on-one basis. The official twitter handle of the tournament, @IPL, presently has over 1.3 million followers and will be used for this interaction. Ranjib Biswal, Chairman, IPL Governing Council, shared his views on the partnership, ‘IPL has always set the bar high for fan engagement. This next phase of our partnership with Twitter will ensure that fans can not only take in the action this summer but participate in the fun in real-time with unique interactive experiences.’ The Indian Premier League is all set to revolutionize the social experience of cricket this season.
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Indian coupon site mydala showcases local deals in over 150 cities as well as deals and coupons from most leading ecommerce sites. It lists over 150,000 plus deals from over 100,000 brands and business mainly in restaurants, health and beauty, ecommerce, travel sector. “Innovation is what drives and motivates each one at mydala, and thinking out of the box is just an alternate lifestyle for everyone on the team”, says Mydala.com CEO & Founder Anisha Singh. They have come up with some quirky yet remarkable ideas along the journey. Mydala pioneered the concept of “Sure Shot Deals” which were priced at Rs.99 where customers got a guaranteed chance to win products like Apple iPhones, smartphones and tabs. All they had to do was buy as many vouchers as possible and stay on top of the Leaderboard. The format also had a live chat section where users could cheer or heckle each other while trying to win. The concept received an overwhelming response and saw a single deal sell over 1 lac vouchers in a span of just under 7 hours. One of things that mydala rode on initially for creating user engagement and excitement is the ABC’s that cause excitement in India. By relying on astrology, cricket (IPL matches) deals and engaging with Bollywood, Mydala has become Bollywood’s preferred social marketing partner due to the excitement it generates at a local level pan India. Movies like Don 2, Kahani, Agneepath , Barfi , recently Ragni MMS were all marketed on a local level . For example for Don 2 mydala created a game for its merchants and users where if a user managed to click a picture of shahrukh on mydala posters at a merchant outlet and send it in, they automatically got discounts prominent multiplexes like PVR, Cinemax and Fun Cinemas up to 90% off. Mydala also runs several contests where lucky winners could win movie goodies from stars like Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and have done meet and greet with stars like Sunny Leone, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh and many more. “Since we’re all about going local we’re constantly thinking of ways to engage the merchants and users at a local level”, says Anisha. Mydala’s pub crawls, a concept where users gets free drinks and deals on food have become an eagerly awaited event which the users got real time crucial updates on freebies while crawling and walking to different pubs and restaurants at the popular Hauz Khas Village bars and Ambience Mall bars. In order to ensure everyone gets back safely, mydala also tied up with cab services for those evenings for discounts from the venues. A never before seen deal came into light on March 31st this year where select mydala customers got a surprise deal in their mailbox. Who would’ve thought one could literally Rent a Tiger for just Rs 49! Of course this was an April Fool’s prank that got close to 12,000 people clicking on the “buy now” button. Every customer who did though got a “free deals for a month” subscription, so it was a pretty sweet end to the prank. “Our belief is that to keep customers engaged and hooked on; the folks at mydala need to be happy and live it up. Though regular happy hours and celebrations are a norm at mydala’s office rooftop, the “all women” happy hours are famed. The women on mydala ‘s team kick back with cosmopolitans and other cocktails and the partying can be heard all over the office complex,” concludes Anisha.
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Until a couple of years back experiential marketing was a very different ball game altogether. One’s first thought was typically the now dirty word – guerilla marketing. Which meant brand ambassadors would pass out product samples to potential users or a vehicle endorsing the name of the brand would be placed outside an event. Stagnant and boring. Most of the times not even doing any good to the brand. But then came along the rise of SoLoMo (social, local and mobile) technology – and the world was never the same. Brands came to learn the importance of combining digital technology with personal experience to effectively communicate with their consumers. Brands began to recognize that actual physical and emotional experiences, versus just brand swag, help link the offline and online world and build loyalty and trust in consumers, something that really didn’t happen before the influx of digital. Consumer Becomes King The rise of social, local and mobile channels have made the consumer supreme. Now the consumer has complete reign over the experience he wants to have with the brand and share it within his own social channels – albeit any restrains. And everyone knows the value of an independent voice. Check-ins, hashtags, likes, and more have become the de facto standard for many brand experiences and retail doors. Building on how retail has played a role in this, many brands have started to drive awareness, buzz, and even promotion and CRM into consumers’ lives through the smart integration of digital, mobile, and social technology into their brick-and-mortar businesses. For Kate Spade’s new weekend-wear line, Kate Spade Saturday, the company created four interactive storefronts in New York, all digitally powered and including one large touch screen and zero products. Using the touch screen, consumers are able to browse and purchase products from Kate Spade’s new line–a new version of the in-store retail experience. The rise of technology has allowed the consumer to interact with the brand in a plethora of ways. The possibilities are endless and the sky is no longer the limit. What one can do with technology these days is no joke, and to use it to build your brand is genius. Gone are the days of museum like brand space where consumers are invited into a stagnant atmosphere and don’t actually engage with the brand at all, apart from a few free product samples. No More Spams Experiential marketing used to have a tough time convincing consumers in sharing their e-mail addresses and other details as consumers were afraid of being spammed every day by the brands – case in point – constant spam emails for Viagra. But things have changed. Brands have become smarter in how they reach out to their consumers and have started to respect their privacy. There are no more spams, and consumers have come around, engaging with brands with a sense of security and confidence – giving the experiences the license to become richer and more dynamic. One to One, One to Many or even Both It’s no surprise here that brands that create experiences allowing consumers to interact digitally and socially with both themselves and others will succeed in the long term. According to a study, an average person spends at least 6 hours a day on Facebook. And thus the change in the marketing game. BMW’s initiative on Facebook is a perfect example of how brands are using social networking sites to leverage their brand. If one word describes BMW owners, it would be “enthusiasts.” The people at BMW must know that owners love a chance to show off their beemers, so the company’s Facebook encourages fans to post photos and share where they’ve recently taken their beloved car. By suggesting that fans post pictures of the adventures they’ve gone on in their BMWs, the company connects to the fact that it’s a luxury brand, and those who own luxury cars are likely able to go on frequent trips. Fans happily oblige, but their engagement doesn’t stop there. BMW also puts concept videos and pictures on their Facebook page to show fans what the company is developing and what the next generation of cars will look like. It’s like a personal car show right on Facebook, and every car enthusiast is crazy about car shows. BMW’s heavy use of visuals illustrates their understanding that visuals are important for engagement and allows the company to play to its strengths as an aesthetically brilliant brand. Overall, when brands try to build relationships with consumers, a simple plan is still the best plan. Experiential marketers must first put themselves in the shoes of the consumer in order to understand the interaction process and the emotions they are trying to evoke from the consumer. Fortunately, technology can’t do the job on its own, nor will our innovative spirit alone propel experiential activations to succeed. Creative ideas and emotional context remain critical for creating powerful and memorable brand experiences. But after the dust has settled, experiential marketing has a lot to thank digital for.
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Mr. Vijay Karunakaran, CEO, InGage Technologies was sipping coffee with his wife Mrs. Vanitha Venugopal, a former Mobile Technologist at Motorola, when she seeded the idea of an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile application for the upcoming Rajnikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan. Immediately possessed by the idea, it took them no longer than a week to pitch it to Rajni’s team and get a go-ahead. What resulted is India’s first 4D Augmented Reality application that has been lauded for its design and detailing. ‘Superstar Rajnikanth boasts of a very strong brand value in India and abroad. In the US especially, you will find very staunch supporters. This app was our contribution to our beloved star,’ says Vijay proudly. ‘When u go watch a movie, the shot is fixed by the cameraman, whatever he has shot is what you see. But what if you wanted to see a particular angle? You can’t do so in the theatre. So what we did was capture Rajni’s photorealistic image and used it to render the superstar real-time to make him come alive in a fan’s home environment through their smartphones.’ The result was a 4D application that InGage rolled out exclusively for Karbonn phones. Fans can download the Augmented Reality app and use their camera to shoot any physical object. The camera sees and processes, and a virtual model of Rajni’s Kochaadaiiyaan avatar comes alive in that physical setting. One can make Rajni fight or even recite a dialogue just as in the film, and as bonus can also view the same scene from any and every angle thanks to the high quality render. The app wins because it’s not made to only run on high-end phones, but also smartphones that cost between INR 4000 – 8000, which approximately 80% of our population possesses, a first for its kind. It is another feather in the cap for Mr. Karunakaran, who has worked on brands such as Tropicana, Nike and Adidas in the past. We move past the app and ask him to opine on the state of AR in our country. ‘I think AR is very widely and loosely used in our country. Most of the Indian AR apps are rather gimmicky. When you think of AR, you imagine a cool object that can interact with you. Currently, only a few companies can do that.’ He asserts. On a brighter note, Mr. Karunakaran believes the technology’s potential is unbelievable. ‘So far, we have only skimmed the surface. AR can be used anywhere there a simulation required. Industries that could do with cool visualizations can benefit immensely from AR. A few industries I can think of are real estate, construction and education. Before a building is built, we can simulate models of how it will look like, to aide learning, we can make a simple drawing book experience come to life with a mobile device. Imagine if a child draws an elephant and it comes alive on your device screen, walking around and making sounds. It will help the child learn better,’ he explains. And what about marketers? Do they know what they want from AR? ‘Well, some of the guys who have approached me think that Modi’s hologram projections are AR (laughs). I think we still need to spend time showing people what AR actually is, and what it can do. In fact, I’ve done a couple of projects free of cost just to show the potential of AR. I believe it will help in educating people and convince them about the immersive nature of the technology.’ What next for InGage? ‘All the things I mentioned in the applications section. AR based medical simulations, educational tools and architecture visualisations are on the cards. And like I said, we go beyond tricks and gimmicks. We just create a beautiful, memorable experience.’ It does sound like exciting times lie ahead for technology junkies. Augmented Reality is here.
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‘From now on, we will be seasoning our dishes with excitement,’ says Paco Roncero, a double Michelin Star winning chef. Here he is talking about the most pleasurable gastronomical experience money can afford. And by ‘afford’ we mean the most expensive meal in the world – $2000 per person. What in the world warrants such a hefty sum? Well to begin with, Mr. Roncero is regarded as one of the world’s best chefs. He has two Michelin Stars, three Repsol Suns and the National Gastronomy Award (which he won in 2006) to his name. Next, Sublimotion, his creation, has to be hailed as avant-garde, even revolutionary. What is Sublimotion? Sublimotion stems from the simple concept that what you cook doesn’t end on the plate. It transcends mere taste and extends to the other senses. A mix of culinary brilliance and technological innovation helps Roncero achieve that. Guests are invited into his ‘workshop’ to participate in this experience. The workshop is an aesthetically built room featuring a projection mapped dining table. It also features light installations and fog machines. The entire area is controlled through computers configured to do the chef’s bidding. He controls the guest’s experience. What experience? Each time a guest tries one of the courses (and there are twenty of them in all) Roncero recreates an experience complimentary to its taste. Through technology, he carefully transforms the environment to create a multisensory experience. So if you feel a sensation in the mouth, it is mirrored perfectly by the ambience around you. You are a wayfaring man discovering the world through food. So is the most expensive meal in the world also the greatest? Seems like it. If you wish to know more, Paco is chef at Sublimotion, which is all set to open this May in the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza, Spain. The workshop serves only 12 people a day and frankly at $2000 a sitting, we almost think it’s a steal. The innovation is truly personalized and one of its kind. So go ahead and book a table for two.
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It is a well documented fact that there is a strong correlation between crime and darkness. The incidences of crimes like rape, muggings, carjackings etc are higher post sunset. Given this, Halonix – a leading lighting brand – hit upon an ingenious idea of converting advertising billboards (Hoardings) and bus shelters into street lights post sunset. The hoarding would carry an advertising message by day. By night, the lights of the hoarding would be turned outwards, pointed towards the street rather than just on the advertising message. So a dark, potentially dangerous street could be turned into a bright, well-lit one. To kickstart the effort, Halonix invited the citizens of Delhi to name streets or area in their neighbourhood that needed better lighting. The facebook page of Halonix registered many such suggestions. The top suggestion was identified by a poll. As a test run, a Halonix hoarding was put up in VasantKunj. Encouraged by the response, the company installed hoardings at more locations in Delhi. Given the encouraging feedback from Delhi, Halonix has co-opted outdoor companies to take this idea across cities. Currently Halonix has made some streets in Delhi, Mohali, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Mathura, Allahbad, Lucknow, Trivandrum and Chennai feel safer through this initiative. More cities are in the offing. Speaking about the initiative, Mr Rakesh Zutshi – Managing Director, Halonix Technologies Ltd said “We at Halonix believe that brands need to have a conscience and should continuously attempt to make the world a better place. Our brand idea – The Right Light – is not limited to the fact that we pursue excellence in our products and their quality. It represents a broader view of impacting life and society positively through the use of light.” Nima Namchu – Chief Creative Officer of Cheil, Halonix’s advertising agency, who came up with the idea added “This is a great example of the medium becoming the message. The power of the idea lies in the fact that, without spending a penny extra, every brand that takes a front lit or back lit hoarding, can implement this idea and make our cities feel safer. We hope more brands and outdoor agencies take this idea forward.”
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Are you overwhelmed by the sheer complications of finalising options of venue, catering, lodging, decoration and transportation when you are planning a family wedding, functions like sangeet, cocktails, etc, or a themed birthday celebration for your kid or family member? And you are stressed out with where to begin? Party Cruisers Pvt Ltd., India’s leading hospitality and events agency, has announced its foray into the ever expanding e-Commerce sphere with the launch of their website www.ideasdesignandproduction.com. Ideas Design Production is a unique offering which helps planning & executing events related to corporates, weddings, parties and other occasions easily and completely in just a few clicks! Launched by the vastly experienced husband wife duo – Mr. Zuzer Lucknowala and Ms. Rachna Lucknowala, the website allows consumers to get a virtual ‘touch and feel’ experience. It showcases the various themes that a consumer can pick & choose to plan an event at their own convenience. Apart from planning weddings and parties, the website also enables its users to plan corporate events and exhibition stalls in a few mouse clicks. “While there are no accurate estimates of the size of the event industry, it has been variously estimated at between Rs. 2000 crores to Rs. 5000 crores with an immense scope to grow. When we started Party Cruisers Pvt Ltd. about 20 years ago we had never heard about e-Commerce. But with the change in consumer buying pattern, it became imperative for us to take cognizance of the same. Our aim while launching a never-seen-before concept of www.ideasdesignandproduction.com was to bring the products/services closer to the customer and give the power right back to them. Through our numerous vendor tie-ups, we ensure successful completion of multiple events at the same time. From customizing minutest details like choosing a theme to selecting a floral centerpiece, catering, booking a make-up person and stylist, to finalizing the backdrop design www.ideasdesignproduction.com facilitates at various stages of event planning. The website will be especially useful for salaried consumers who have the resources but are always short at time”,explains Ms. Rachna Lucknowala, Director, Party Cruisers Pvt Ltd. Mr. Zuzer Lucknowala, Managing Director, Party Cruisers Pvt Ltd adds, “We are currently operational in Mumbai as we have roots here and can help order fulfillment within 24 working hours. We will be venturing into the markets of Pune, Goa and Surat by this year’s end. We are targeting a more evolved set of internet savvy shoppers who are heavy users of e-Commerce portals and largely access them to save on time along with enjoying the ease of product delivery. At the moment, our focus is on utilizing our impeccable supply chain for on-time service fulfillment which will ensure positive customer response and an obviously good word of mouth.” The website which is currently in the first phase of its launch, aims to create a more user-friendly, reliable experience for its consumers. As we go along, we will adapt to millions of customers’ needs and wishes. The company aims to further develop a loyal base of regular consumers and then amplify growth through both word of mouth and extensive reach of social media elements. The website, in its next phase, will offer consumers personalization, recommended products for a particular occasion and social networking integration.
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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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Ankurit Foundation and Dell India are co-organizing Escape Velocity- Innovation, Science and Technology Fair in Bangalore from June 13th-15th 2014, for children aged 6-17. The fair brings together several private and public science and technology organizations under one roof for the first time in Bangalore. On 13th June Friday the fair is open exclusive for school students through field trips. On14th and 15th June the fair is open to all parents and kids of Bangalore. 800+ government school kids will visit this fair free of cost. Escape Velocity is going to teach the magic of science and technology to Bangalore kids and youngsters in a manner never experienced before. This inaugural fair is going to amaze everyone with top-notch technologists conversing with children, state-of-the-art technology booths from the best technology companies in the world, science experiments mixed with fun and learning, hands-on workshops for immense learning and live shows that will make kids imagine the impossible. Dell, Microsoft Research, eKavach, Xerox Research Labs, Cisco, HP, IBM, Tata Steel, Strands Life Sciences, Agastya Foundation, Taralaya, Science InBox, Science Adda, Novatech Robo, Litmus & Bubbles, IAMaths, SkyFi Labs, KQA, EduCAT will be participating in various categories that encourage children to innovate. Dell India is the title sponsor for the event, Microsoft Research is Silver sponsor and IBM , eKavach & Tata Structura are Bronze sponsors. Demo Booths from these organizations will include state-of-art technologies in the fields of medical advancements, internet of things, technology in retail industry, genome, astronomy, etc. A spokesperson from Dell commented, “Dell is proud to have partnered in this initiative as it helps promote progressive learning. As a brand we have always believed in enabling education through the power of technology and this platform is a step in that direction.” A spokesperson from IBM stated, “IBM has continued to champion innovative approaches to teaching and learning math and science. IBM’s support to Escape Velocity is a step to encourage children and make them excited about pursuing STEM careers.” To facilitate exploratory science learning there will be science pavilions, stalls, hands-on workshops and science games. The idea would be to make science concepts fun and easy to learn. There will be exclusive Live Shows in the areas of Chemistry, Magic of Science, Electrical Appliances, Magnetism, etc. Mini Sumo Robotics competition would be organized for robotics lovers. Karnataka Quiz Association will be holding a science quiz for quizzers. There are several prizes to be won by University of West Florida and Science InBox. Innovators, doctors, authors, scientists will talk to kids about innovation, science fiction, and exploration etc. in a series of Tech Talks that will run throughout the event. A very cool technology called World Wide Telescope by Microsoft Research will be demonstrated in a mobile planetarium dome. There will be lot more attractions for the kids including science quizzes, wherein kids will have loads of fun while experimenting and learning. Venue of the fair is Oakridge International School, Sarjapur, Bengaluru. The fair is a ticketed event and tickets can be purchased online at mycity4kids.com and bookmyshow.com. Tickets are also available at Crossword and Justbooks stores.
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Godrej has collaborated with Subhash Ghai’s institute Whistling Woods International to create a series of innovative videos. The institute will be conceptualizing videos for Godrej, which will redefine the concept “Ideas that make us smile”. The brainchild Abhishek Chandra, a WWI student says, “it is always great coming back to Whistling Woods, and it feels even better when you actually are working in collaboration with the school for a brand like Godrej.” Godrej, which have previously featured bollywood star Aamir Khan in their campaigns are quite optimistic with this unique academia-industry tie-up. Shireen Joshi, Chief Operating Officer, Strategic Marketing Group of Godrej says, “The success of this activity can be seen in terms of the quality, diversity of interpretations, popularity as well as the beautiful way that the brand and its products have been showcased by the students of Whistling Woods.” Meghna Ghai Puri, President, WWI is elated and said, “we believe are the next generation of filmmakers and media professionals, with the ability to create in-depth, aesthetic videos. This campaign showcased Godrej’s spirit.” The videos created by WWI will be the heart of digital marketing campaigns for Godrej and display a variety of innovative campaigns by consumers of the brand.
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