Jeff Thomson, the noted Aussie pacer is in Mumbai to coach the young bowlers at MCA - IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation. To bring him closer to his fans from the cricket and corporate world, IDBI Federal Life Insurance organised a warm evening at Taj Lands End Bandra, recently. It was an evening of back-slapping and bonhomie as Aussie legend took centre-stage while Gautam Bhimani anchored the event. Thomson kept the audience gripped with his stories, anecdotes and views both as a player and as a coach before moving on to the question and answer session. The event also saw an act from stand-up comedian and the cricket world’s, Vikram Sathaye who engaged the audience with his entertaining performance. The evening saw participation from MCA members; cricketers like Ajinkya Rahane, Abey Kuruvila, Nilesh Kulkarni, Amol Majumdar, Sameer Dighe, Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar, Shreyas Iyer, Milind Rege – Chairman, Selection Committee, MCA, Lalchand Rajput, Former Indian Cricketer, Sanjay Banger- Batting Coach, Indian Cricket team, Raju Kulkarni – Former Indian cricketer among others were also seen at the event. The corporate attendance included Sadeep Bakshi, CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group; Arijit Basu, CEO, SBI Life Insurance; Sudhin Roy Chowdhary, Member, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Alpesh Shah, Senior Partner & Director, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to name a few. Other corporate attendees included Abhay Laxman Bongirwar, Managing Director, IDBI Capital Market Services Limited; RK Bansal, Executive Director, IDBI Bank; S.K.V. Srinivasan, Executive Director, IDBI Bank. Senior management members from Federal Bank like Varinder Gulati, Viney Kumar and Sampath D were also present at the event.
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AXN, spent a day at GroupM offices in Mumbai and Delhi promoting their weekend slot ‘Fresh From The U.S. with an offering of unlimited doughnuts, freshly baked exclusively for Group M employees. AXN Fresh from the U.S .slot provides the latest seasons of the best U.S. shows during the weekends from 10-12pm. The list of shows feature Sherlock, Hannibal, Supernatural, Penny Dreadful, Extant, Zoo, Orphan Black, Scorpion, Madam Secretary and others. Be it a decked-up cafeteria to an unlimited fresh doughnuts to ‘Fresh from the U.S. branded workstations, AXN did it all. AXN engaged the GroupM employees to participate in various contests which included a simple Q&A and lucky winners were rewarded with exclusive AXN hampers full of American goodies. There was also a ‘spin the wheel’ contest, the Emcee got people to spin the wheel, answer some simple questions on AXN shows and characters and winners were given away American chocolates. The concept was simple – Everything from the U.S. and Everything Fresh thus establishing the slot message of AXN’s ‘Fresh from the U.S’.
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The event industry of the country today is basking in the glory of intellectual properties. With multiple successful examples such as NH7 weekender, India Bike Week, T1 Truck Racing Championship, IIFA and others leading the way, every event company today aspires to successfully give birth to an IP that will stand the test of time. However, creating an intellectual property event is not an easy feat. From the early challenges of deciphering the magnitude to powering through negative feedbacks is all part of it. But what really are the advantages and perils of Intellectual properties today? Well, this was the subject of an insightful panel discussion at EEMAX Global 2015. On the panel were successful IP creators Viraf Sarkari (IIFA), Vivek Singh (Mumbai Marathon), Vijay Nair (NH7 Weekender) Rajesh Kejriwal (Kyoorius Design Yatra) and Devraj Sanyal (Enchanted Valley Carnival). The session was moderated by Suresh Venkat, Consulting Editor Forbes India. The session began with Suresh Venkat asking the panelists on why did they decide to create IP’s and what drove them? Vijay Nair responded to the question by saying, “IP’s are basically the best part of events. It is different from all the other events you organize and is something that you build for yourself. Reacting to the same question Devraj Sanyal stated, “The crux of an IP is basically an idea that matters to you. Through curating it you add life to something and create something for the fans. It is only an idea that lasts in our industry and this is what drives me.” Adding to him, “Viraf Sarkari said, “We created an IP because we wanted to break the clutter and take the Indian cinema to a different space altogether. We were passionate about Indian cinema and popularizing it was something that drove us.” An interesting fact about intellectual properties in India is that majority of them end up as disasters that are not sustained over the years. Hence, when asked to share their IP debacles Vivek Singh said, “20 years ago, we brought WWF to 4 cities in India and thought that it will be great success however we were completely wiped out from the commercial perspectives and this particular incident became a learning experience for us.” Sharing his side of the story Rajesh Kejriwal said, In 2006 the Kyoorius Design Yatra was successful and hence we were inspired by others to make it bigger and better. But we ended up messing the entire property through launching design awards along with it in the next year. It was a big setback for us and we came back with the Design Yatra only after we sorted ourselves completely.” Highlighting the subject of creating sustainable relationship with sponsors of the events Rajesh added that, “It is a sole destroying job to run after sponsors year after year. It is always better to make them long term partners by giving the value of engagement with customers to them. We have rejected sponsorships from FMCG brands as they demanded speaker slots at our event. Thus, it is always important to stay true to your core idea and money will follow.” When asked if any of the IP’s of the panelists of the stage would have existed had they not created it? Vivek Singh responded to the question by saying, “Without me it would not have happened the way it did but it would have happened anyways as there was always a demand for a property like Mumbai Marathon. Adding to him Vijay Nair said, “Succession is the way to go for IPs today as the process is consuming. After handing over one IP one can start working on another one.”
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Tag Heuer ‘Don’t Crack under Pressure Brief- Watch brand Tag Heuer wanted to highlight their brand motto, Don’t Crack under Pressure, as the claim reflects the mental strength of their ‘dream team’ of athletes and partners, and the values of the TAG Heuer shield. Through an event the brand aimed at demonstrating its attitudeand establish that it is ready to take on bold challenges. Agency- Vibgyor Brand Services The theme and setup created by Vibgyor Brand Services for the event paid a fitting tribute to the moccasion. In the true TagHeuer spirit, Vibgyor organized an action-packed evening which saw a host of gravity-defying stunts. The highlight of the evening was when TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan took on the challenge of being amidst the daredevilry and part of the awe-inspiring stunts performed by professional stuntmen, truly living the ‘Don’t Crack under Pressure’ mindset. Client Quote- "Vibgyor Brand Services works as an extension of the client's team, and that is what I like about them. It is this quality that makes them deliver their best every single time. Vibgyor did a stupendous job where not only they brought the brand personality alive but also made the event a huge success through various activities”- Puneet Sewra, Marketing Director, Tag Heuer. Launch of ASUS Zenfone 2 Brief- ASUS as a mobile branded wanted to outdo their previous Zenfone launch with a bigger and better event. The theme of the newly launched phone was ‘See what others can’t see’ and hence the launch event had to designed and executed accordingly. Agency- EO2 Events EO2 managed to light up the entire city with fireworks, celebrities and delivered a power packed execution. The event took off with a performance of singer Aditi Singh Sharma and projection mapping was used to create extraordinary visuals on her 40ft long white gown. The event also had ace photographer DabbooRatnani showcasing his portfolio that he created using the Zenfone 2 and the noted Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan who unveiled the phone at this grand event. Another major highlight of the event was 4 stunning light and sounds installations by the agency that brought the theme of the phone See what others can’t see’ to life. Client Quote- "We have been working with EO2 events for years now and every time they do an event for us they exceed expectations. We are so happy to be associated with this company and look forward to do lots of more great work together."- KomalTomke, Manager - Corporate Communications & PR, ASUS India. Launch event for Eicher Polaris’ Multix Brief- Multix is the first vehicle to be launched by the Eicher Motors-Polaris JV & India’s first Personal Utility Vehicle. It is specially designed for independent businessmen, a group with an estimated population of 5.8 crore in India. Cheil India was given the task of launching the Multix to media, internal stakeholders and employees. Agency- Cheil India Cheil India made the concept of Multix World the centerpiece element of the launch. This was an interesting landscape showing various elements of the world to the audience. Elements like an Indian Ferris wheel, Bioscope, DJ set, Chaff cutter, milk containers, bicycle, fruit and vegetable crates were scattered around with a pop art type backdrop showing a stylized version of elements from life in an Indian small town. The launch created quite the stir. The media and other stakeholders were left mesmerized throughout the event and the unveiling created a huge buzz with the media keen to capture the vehicle in the unique and vibrant setting of the Multix World. Client Quote- “The Multix launch was more about launching & seeding a concept rather than the traditional route of launching a vehicle. Cheil did a commendable job of understanding the challenging brief and executing it in a manner the audience was able to understand & appreciate what Multix and its world stands for”- RadheshVerma, CEO, EPPL. Mountain Dew Jaanbaaz Consumer Activation Brief-Mountain Dew as a brand is known to celebrate the bold and adventurous spirit of the youth. The brief given to Brandwidth by the client was to create a unique property that would make Mountain Dew synonymous with alternate sports and strengthen the brand’s connect with its target audience by encouraging them to overcome their inner fears and emerge victorious. Mountain Dew also wanted the property to be the driving force behind the sales driven consumer program that it planned on executing in 9 states of India, wherein Mountain Dew would be sold at a discounted price of Rs. 5/- Agency-Brandwidth Events Brandwidth decided to use the ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’ approach for the on-ground activity for Mountain Dew. A touring stunt biking show was conceptualized as the campaign and 9 teams, making up a total man force of over 190 people including stunt biking professionals travelled through 9 states engaging audiences.The activity saw a mix of stunts performed by the professional stunt bikers& a few daring audience members who decided to challenge their fears. One interesting aspect of the show was the bikers back stories that formed a direct connect with the brand – Mountain Dew and its relevance in them pursuing their passion for stunt biking. The campaign covered 9 states, 320 locations across 200 towns. 1,050,000 bottles were sampled at promotional price of Rs 5. In total, collectively over 190 people travelled over 15,000 kilometers to make this activation possible. Client Quote-“Jaanbaaz was Mountain Dew’s biggest activation till date. The objective was to reach 2 million consumers through a choreographed stunt show, thus highlighting the brand‘s essence of overcoming fears. The response was amazing. More than 1 million bottles were sampled. Taking the action tour to the next level would always be our objective thus creating experiences like never before for our audience”- Nitin Bhandari, Associate Director- Marketing, Mountain Dew. (The article has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) announced the winners of the 9th edition of Flame Awards, which were presented on Sept 12 at New Delhi. Nearly 200 students, corporate and rural marketing agency representatives attended the presentation ceremony. Kottiana Raja Achutha Naidu bagged the Gold Prize followed by Tarak Nath Das from IRMA bagged the Silver Prize and Goshalram Govindarajan from IIM Kozhikode and Brijesh Arora from XIM, Bhubaneshwar bagged the Bronze Award together. Among the 200 entrants amongst 50 B Schools, Gayatri Rao from Welingkar Institute, Nikita Singhania, Abhishek Lohiya and Animesh Sahoo from S P Jain Institute, Debashree Debashrita from XIM Bhubaneshwar, Shishir Sachdev from IIT Kharagpur, Nitesh Raj Kumar Sajwani from IRMA, Anand; Sruti Nair from IMT Ghaziabad and Barkha Jain from BULMIM were the top seven winners. Winners presented their summer project case study during the event. During the welcome address, Sanjay Kaul, President RMAI said " There is already an increased interest of corporate in Rural India. Over past decade,rising incomes, mobile services and media penetration have impacted both consumer and markets alike.” He urged students to take up Rural Marketing as a career option as corporates would need young new age marketers to address the changing needs of these markets and consumers. Mr. Mohan Saxena who was the Chief guest of the event shared during his opening remarks that the aspiring managers should see ABC as Attitude, Behaviour and Commitment. He also shared that India actually lives in villages, and in future Marketing is going to be all about Rural. Mr. Puneet Vidyarthi – General Manager & Head (Rural) – JCB India Ltd; Mr. Rajesh Tara – Vice President (HR) – Usha International Ltd; Mr. Vijay Sharma – General Manager – GSK Consumer Healthcare Ltd; Dr. Anup Kalra – Executive Director – Ayurvet Ltd shared their slice of their professional journey with the would be managers during an interactive session “ Are you future ready manager?”, moderated by Raj kr Jha, VP RMAI. The event was sponsored by Ayurvet Ltd and powered by Usha International and Crompton Greaves Ltd and associate sponsor was Insight Outreach. The event concluded with a networking lunch
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“Music makes the people come together. Music mix the bourgeoisie and the rebel…” Madonna’s year 2000 hit single beautifully indicatesthe power of music to overcome divisions of race, gender and sexuality. She spoke of nothing new really. If at all it only brought to the fore what several thinkers and dreamers have echoed for centuries – Music is the universal language. It possesses the ability to connect people. The last 15 years or so have been transformational for India. With better connectivity came greater global awareness, the steady arrival of MNC’s created more employment opportunities and larger disposable incomes among middle income groups led to deeper interests in varied forms of entertainment and recreation. There was a clear demand to be entertained as live performances began driving the non-film scenario and the live events sector noticeably flourished. It may well be the youngest facet of the Indian entertainment industry. And yet, almost overnight, no one could do without it. This is exactly what was needed in our country, a reason for people to get together and collectively celebrate, defying the long-drawn complexities of caste and inequalities. Smaller events led to enticement and greater demand heartened enterprising Indians to look beyond borders for inspiration. And just like that, two years after the launch of leading EDM festival Tomorrowland in Belgium, Percept India created its very own music IP in 2007 by the name of Sunburn. Little did one know at that time that ‘Sunburn’ would go on to be recognized as a common household name among Indian youth. Its immediate acceptance gave way to a multitude of similar format events in urban India. Music had become the reinforcer. Fast forward to 2015, and the three large format music IP’s that unmistakably dominatethe Indian music scene are Percept’s Sunburn, OML’s NH7 Weekender and Live Viacom18’s Supersonic. Each, with its campus brand-extensions and multi-city tours, has continued to grow significantly in scale and attendance allowing sponsors the opportunity for two-way engagement with an audience considered gold. In conversation with Harindra Singh, Co-Founder, Percept;Vijay Nair, Founder, OML and Jaideep Singh, Business Head, Live Viacom18, Yamini Singh traces their journey to the top. Harindra Singh, Co-Founder, Sunburn, Percept Tell us how you got into the business of events? I got into the advertising business by default not by design. The first 10 years were challenging because I started off with nothing. Its not like I had amassed a huge capital or had family wealth backing me- nothing! But we emerged unscathed from the initial years of struggle, I think it lasted a gruesome decade, and we soon began receiving a lot of appreciation for our work. Around 1994 we suddenly realized that lot of our clients were beginning to look for ‘special’ solutions. And if we don’t get into the so called specialist zones we were going to lose our clients. We realized around the same time that as a result of entering these specialist zones, we might actually have new products giving us greater market access. So we made a decision- whatever were these so-called specialist areas, we were going to do those. We didn’t have money at the time to actually acquire any knowledge or expertise. So our first step was very simple- we had an office where we had these little rooms, so we labeled one of those cabins- Event Division. Things got off to a rocky start. But I’m a firm believer that a brand- agency relationship is like a marriage. Even if things don’t work out properly you just don’t switch off. I guess 2-3 years is the minimum time to spend with an agency to really understand it. We sailed through and soon established some stable client relationships that entrusted us with major events. From an advertising solutions provider to the owner of an IP, how did that transpire? By the late 90’s we had emerged as one of the top integrated marketing solutions provider. Soon a realization dawned upon us that we have been surveying all our clients, we’ve given them some excellent ideas, we’ve also implement them, only to receive a 5-10 percent fee! Many of these clients took these ideas and continued to use them. For example brand slogans Hero Motors Deshh Ki Dhadkan and Coming Home to Siyaram are still being monetized and we are not getting a penny from it. See what happens in our business is when you do something for a client, he pays you a bill and becomes the owner of everything that you’ve done. But that’s not fair. If you go to Tata Consultancy Services and ask them for a software solution, they will sell you the right to use that software solution, you don’t own it, you cant sell it. It is subject to limited use, and for upgrades and maintenance you need to go back to them. In our business you give a solution to a client and you are out the scene. So we thought lets try and tell the client to not pay us now but pay us a certain amount every time they use the solution. Rather than selling the solution we decided to lease the solution to them. But the clients were rigid, they would rather pay us a larger one-time fee but never settle on such an arrangement. Therefore it didn’t work. So we thought why not try and make our ideas work for us. We decided that when we develop an idea we either lease it or monetize it ourselves. When this thought came to us it remolded our business model. So we raised a lot of capital and made our first movie- Hanuman, and also christened Sunburn shortly after in 2007. How would you describe the soul of Percept? I believe the DNA of our group is consumer insight. Ever since we started off we’ve basically been trying to understand the consumer better. Everyone knows what the view is when they sit in the driver’s seat of the car, but you can’t see the same view from the outside. You can just have one view in real life. When you are in the marcom business you need to think like a buyer and also as a seller, and this is what you call consumer insight. So our soul is fundamentally consumer insight and creativity. I think both these attributes are very important in a country with the largest youth population. As a kid, other than studying or socializing with family, all my time was spent on the street, in the park playing cricket, kho-kho and hide seek. I noticed that the kids today were investing a major chunk of their time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or watching television. Back in the day there was only one television channel running Mahabharat and Hum Log. Opportunities for physical social engagement platform were becoming more and more limited. The first thought behind creating Sunburn came from wanting to create a space where the youth could come hang out and engage. Music was our denominator. So we analyzed the music preferences of the urban youth with western influence and narrowed it down to EDM, rock and Bollywood. Soon we launched Metal Fest, Sunburn,Bollyboom and WindSong with a target to bring the youth together. Did sunburn accelerate faster than the other properties? We launched Sunburn and Metal Fest around the same time. I don’t know if it was by design or default, but in year one Metal Fest did better than Sunburn. If you go back to 2007 Indian youth knew rock and metal music more. Metal Fest markets were largely Bangalore and east India; rock music was popular in those areas. But these markets did not have as much capability to buy the tickets. Luckily we got necessary sponsorships. However, we lost money in both Metal Fest and and Sunburn. Between these two we lost more on Sunburn. We continued with sunburn in year two, the clear mandate was that if we lose money we would kill it. My team clearly had more faith in Sunburn than I did at that time, so they lied to me and showed me false projections. Closer to the event, I realized none of the numbers made sense but it was already too late then and we had a show to pull. We somehow managed that year. But a voice in my head always kept telling me to push it and that this thing had great potential, so we continued backing it. We ended up making decent amount of money from Sunburn in its 3rd edition in 2009. What according to you worked in favor of Sunburn? Any other music genre has lyrics and if you see the diversity of our country the language changes every 100 Km. Lyrical music could create limitations of geography and population. Whereas, music without lyrics i.e EDM, could go anywhere. Therefore Sunburn was a universal hit. In the first 2 years people didn’t come for sunburn they came for the artists. In 2009, we made a conscious decision that we don’t want this anymore and we want people to come for Sunburn. In 2010 we sold tickets for sunburn Goa without announcing who is playing. That is how we got more confidence and pushed the brand. What were the roadblocks you faced while trying to establish Sunburn? - I love my country; I live here out of choice. Although we’ve tried to establish Sunburn and all our properties in the most legal ways, still everyday is a challenge. Even if you’re trying to do something according to the norms so many permissions are required and its generally hassling. We face new challenges everyday. But I am okay. You know why? Because if its tough for me then it must be impossible for others. So currently the title sponsor continues to remain hero? Yes Do you have any other investors in the property? We do have some international investors who own a 25-27 percent stake. What is the turnover at Sunburn each other? We did about 130 Cr last year in revenue. Plan to hit 250-260 Cr in 2016. Speaking specifically about Goa – we do about 30-40 Cr. What would be the profit margin? You’d be shocked to hear this but we don’t make money in Goa. Our profits come from the satellite properties of Sunburn. We made money from Sunburn Goa in 2009-10 but not since then. So it’s a conscious decision- we run our flagship product which is Sunburn Goa as an investment towards building Sunburn as a brand. How do you promise value to a brand when its contemplating whether it should associate with Sunburn? Brands come to us to associate with Sunburn’s edgy, young, dynamic energy and to get a rub off. I have an audience, and if you want to come and reach out to those guys, you associate with me. Sunburn offers a great setting to activate a brand in fun and creative ways. Vijay Nair, Founder, NH7 Weekender, OML At a young age of 32 you seem to have accomplished quite a lot. Tell us about your early life? I dropped out of college when I was 18 and was legally allowed to make my own decisions. Before I started OML I used to work with a website which was like the Reddit of those days. It hosted discussion forums allowing people to discuss music related subjects ranging from what gigs are happening where to which bands are hot and suchlike. It was a huge cult thing and had a massive following. I was helping them with PR and marketing related stuff. My college was one of those where no one would show up- students and professors alike- and there were rarely any classes happening. And when they were happening, I never went. There was never a roll call too, so I think I ended up attending not more than 3 lectures in my entire courseterm. I would directly go to work because I enjoyed that much better. Were you always a music junkie? I was never into music as a teenager in school. Its only when I stared working I picked up that interest from meeting new bands and learning about the space. Zero is the first band I ever heard in my life and fell in love with them. I became a hardcore fan and this brought me closer to music. Then a band based in Pune, AFS, asked me to manage them. They knew me since my Gigpack days. I started managing AFS and within 3 months realized that I love doing this band management stuff. Soon I was managing Pentagram, Zero and PDV- few of the top rock bands those days. So you became an ‘artist manager’ as we know them now? Well, I was surely managing these bands but artist mangement did not exist back then. There was no such concept. The closest to this was Suvir Malik of Parikrama, who managed his own band. There was always one person in every band who was good at doing all this, so he managed the band and its bookings. For Pentagram Vishal used to do that. And when I approached him he was very happy that some kid was taking that job off his shoulders. So that’s how things transpired for me- from managing bands to producing smalltime concerts with my own artists. Then I started a record label named Counter Culture, then came the production house. When did OML take birth? OML came a year or so later. I had to come up with a name, saw a cool identity in the name Only Much Louder and decided to go with it. It was a proprietorship for the longest time, then it changed to a private company. So, how did I became we? I had couple of kids who worked with me. They were 16 or 17 even younger than what I was but we used to do these things together. I became ‘we’ when Nissa, Sameera and Bobby joined in 2006. And then we started doing events. We drifted a bit along the way and began doing corporate events. We did that for a year or two then stopped because it was the most boring, soul sucking, mind numbing thing ever. We refoccued on music, Nissa running the Record label and Samira began managing Bable Fish Production. Another major development was when my brother Ajay joined me in 2010. So, till this point you were making enough money to sustain your company? Yeah it was profitable by itself. The only time it became unprofitable was when we started NH7. I think everyone goes through this passage and loses money because that is how festivals are. After its third year NH7 has continually been profitable. Is that when your career took a different turn? NH7 was the turning point which happened because of multiple reasons. After doing smallish concerts catering to 2000- 3000 people, NH7 felt like major league. Second, I began travelling abroad and was floored by the kind of stages, artists, music. That’s when I fixed my eye on the prize and the real journey of NH7 began. So every IP owner faces his share of struggles and challenges in the initial years. What were yours? In the first year NH7 was not received as well as we had thought. We thought 4,000 people would come but only 2000 came. I had to mortgage my dad’s house to pay off all expenses incurred. Next we got some loan to pay off the mortgage then we got some investment to pay for the loan that’s how somehow we got out of that. In the second year of NH7 8000 people turned up, much beyond what we were expecting, and we were back in the game. 8000 people is a lot for the second edition. What were you doing right? Fortunately in its first year NH7 was actually really good. There were only 2000 people but I feel those who came in just couldn’t stop talking about it. We didn’t have any budgets for marketing but word of mouth did the trick for us. NH7 in its third year saw 13400 people. I think we consistently delivered a really good experience throughout that kept pulling in the crowd. Also we’ve made it a point that our artists should always be looked after well. Unlike other large format music IP’s in India who delay their artist payments by months and years, we insist on paying our artists a 100% advance before they go onstage. How many Nh7’s across a year? This year we are doing five festivals- Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Shillong and Calcutta, summing up to 11 days. Are 11 days sufficient to sustain this amazing office and all these employees? NH7 is only around 20% to 25% of our turnover. We do a whole lot of other work like event management, comedy shows, AIB is managed by us, so there are a lot of other businesses to support the outfit. The company is currently valued at 225 crores. Are you planning any other music property or intellectual property? Yes, we have plans to launch five new properties. We will announce it at the end of the year. Otherwise stage 42 is one property that is focused at music and comedy theatre. Then there is The Coalition that we do which promises to be parallel to the scale of Nh7 this year. What is the footfall at NH7 Pune compared to Sunburn Goa? First of all you have to realize how footfall is calculated. Let’s say you sell 20,000 tickets and you sell it for two days, as in it allows the visitor entry for two days. So should I count him as one person or two persons? 1 person is the correct count but what festivals in India do is 20000 tickets are sold into 3 days so that becomes 60000. So for NH7, the biggest show that happens in Pune gets 14000 people rest get 9000 and 10000. So I could either claim the correct count to be 14000 or smartly play it up and say the count is 42000 (14000*3). With that logic, the biggest one in my opinion is Sunburn which gets around 22000 to 23000 odd people but if you compare that to the total of events that we do we are 2 and a half times their size. Jaideep Singh, Senior VP and Business Head, Supersonic, Viacom18 After establishing Live Viacom18 under Integrated Network Solutions, you launched 12 new IP’s ranging from music to entertainment. What are your plans to scale further? The strategy from the beginning has been to be high on content. Each property under the Live Viacom18 umbrella is backed by extensions that run throughout the year. Twelve events turned out to be a two hundred events in 2014 and this year it will be three hundred plus. These extensions help build the participating brands and create a better recall value. Going forward the aim is to make all our properties larger, perhaps take them to other countries. We have teams across the globe, there are teams in Middle East, South East Asia and several newer locations that are under exploration. In one and a half years we have covered all genres of entertainment. And as we move into the year ahead we will look at new genres of entertainments to introduce to the market so I think that’s the key piece to look at. What are these new genres of entertainment you speak of? All I can reveal at this stage is, while you have the big music genres and other entertainments options, the space is opening further. A demographic that currently seems to be left out is the thirty plus age bracket. We have very clued in to the international scene and are surveying the new genres of entertainment that are working for them. We will have some very exciting news to share shortly. But how do you differentiate yourself from a Sunburn or any other EDM festival? Having a strong foundation and having a setup are two different things. We have a strong foundation and a broadcast unlike any other player in this space. They can never have it and they can never be a part of mine. Secondly, Sunburn has a million fans on Facebook, we also have close to a million fans on Facebook. But what matters is what all I have besides these million fans. I have forty five million people connected to me via social media and Viacom’s own websites. We have twenty-five websites that have millions of followers across the MTV and VH1 network. So for starters my reach cannot be matched by anybody in the industry simply because of the fact that they don’t have those assets. We have created in one year that which has taken 8 years for others to build. What about the differentiation in the format? The Supersonic talent mix is one of the biggest thing people talked about in our first year and in the second year we went across multiple genres of music where our lineup was at par with global standards. The audience and media has vouched for that. Second thing is the vibe of the festival. We hear and observe our audience very closely and one thing that has emerged from this is that they associate Supersonic with friendship, happiness and, of course, real music. We maintain a balance in the vibe we throw out. We follow the same ideology with Bollyland where everything we do is based around the central theme of ‘desi cool’. So we ensure the balance between ‘desi’ and ‘cool’ is upheld at all times. How do you compare the footfall at Supersonic with that at Sunburn? I guess we are pretty much neck to neck. Supersonic had an audience close to 30 to 35 thousand in 4 days and Sunburn also had around 40 thousand. Supersonic is a large format ambitious property that’s only 2 editions old. Is it profitable yet? This year we should break even from Supersonic and its extensions. Up till now we have been facing losses but that’s only because we have pumped massive investment into this, what Sunburn may have invested in 5-6 years we have done in 2. Our cumulative investment towards the live music and entertainment space in India is without a doubt more than any other player in the market. What has Nikhil channapa brought to the table for Supersonic? Nikhil is a dear friend since a long time and for me he is the hygiene factor at Supersonic. He works very closely with the Supersonic team. Many people speculate that Supersonic is part owned by Viacom 18 and partly by Nikhil Chinnapa but that is not the case, Nikhil does own a stake in the property but it is negligible. Besides Supersonic, what has been the response from your other music IP’s? This year was fantastic for all of our other properties, most of them are in their second year now. Through Emerge in Bangalore I connected with ten thousand people. And Bollyland is a dominant player in the Bollywood genre. No one else has a property of that scale. Percept wanted to do Bollyboom, but they did one show in Noida and they announced it on the same day Bollyland launched. We have done twelve to fifteen shows and ten campus shows already. What has worked in your favor? While retail, finance and infrastructure have been able to make sense out of the vast Indian populace, the music industry has not been able to optimize its strength. At the end it is only about the live twenty thousand people for most concerts. With our network, we are empowered to multiply that reach and stand out from the rest. Secondly, as a group we are fairly cash rich. Our eye is on the prize and we do not have any qualms about investing in something now that promises dividends in the future. Not many players have that sense of security. We believe in our ideas and will back them till we dominate. (The story has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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Vodafone India, has undertaken a unique initiative to build a closer connect with and reward top performing Retailers in Mumbai. This is an initiative to acknowledge their role in helping Vodafone connect and serve its customers better. Over this week, leading Television artiste Rashami Desai visited the outlets of top performing Vodafone Retailers in Mumbai and engaged with them and their families. Vodafone had earlier introduced a Data Premier League contest in Mumbai. The key objective behind this initiative was to increase awareness and adoption of Vodafone 121 customised data offers by customers. The 15 top winners of this contest were also being given an opportunity to meet and interact with Rashami Desai as a part of the grand prize, amongst other prizes for daily & weekly winners. Additionally, Vodafone has also gifted innovative personalized display cut outs with individual photographs to these Retailers, as a unique in shop collateral. Speaking about the initiative, Ishmeet Singh, Business Head, Mumbai, Vodafone India said, “Everything that we do in Vodafone is centered around our customers and on delivering the finest value to them in terms of products and services. Vodafone acknowledges the key role played by our Trade Partners as brand icons of Vodafone that help us connect and serve our customers better. They are the face of Vodafone for millions of customers, building the last mile connect and serving their needs on a daily basis. This particular initiative is part of multiple ongoing Retailer engagement programmes that Vodafone conducts to convey the message that they are a quintessential part of Vodafone and form a key element in re-inforcing Vodafone’s commitment to serving customers to the best.” Commenting on the initiative Rashami Desai said, “As a happy Vodafone customer, I am happy to be a part of this initiative and engage with the winners of Vodafone Data Premier League contest. What makes this initiative by Vodafone even more special is that many of the Vodafone Retailers and families I am meeting are my fans and it is giving me an opportunity to connect with them more closely. My congratulations to these top performing Retailers. Keep up your good work and continue providing the finest services to Vodafone customers.”
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Australian cricket legend, Jeff Thomson, is in Mumbai to mentor and coach young bowlers at the MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation launched in July 2015. The MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation has been established to hone meritorious talent and develop them into first-rate bowlers to boost the domestic and international cricketing landscape in India. The selected lot from 30 fast bowlers, who were chosen by the MCA selectors for the Bowling Foundation a couple of months ago, in the 19 and above age group, will go through a month-long training with Jeff Thomson. Thommo, as he is fondly called, will spend a month in September and October in Mumbai to guide young fast bowlers. He will return in May 2016 for another month-long session with the players. With the help of video analysis and extensive technology, Thomson already has complete knowledge about the bowlers. He will be also watching their matches. The MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation has been sharing videos and regular updates about the bowlers’ performance in addition to their mental and physical analysis. The MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation training plan was developed in consultation with the Head Coach of the MCA Academy, Chandrakant Pandit. The bowlers have been going through an exhaustive training process for the last 2 months at the Sharad Pawar Indoor Cricket Stadium, Mumbai. The young fast bowlers have undergone physio, strength and conditioning training, and fast & spin bowling techniques as an initial part of their training. Jeff Thomson, Australian Pace Bowler & Coach, MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation, said, “I would like to thank MCA, IDBI Federal Life Insurance and Excellence In Cricket for inviting me to coach the young talent at the MCA – IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation. I am very excited to be here to interact with the future of Mumbai cricket as I am always willing to pass on the knowledge I have obtained over the years. I hope to develop bowling talent in the domestic and international cricketing circuits for India. Looking forward to the exciting times ahead.” On this occasion, Vighnesh Shahane, CEO of IDBI Federal Life Insurance said, “IDBI Federal’s vision is to inspire positive change that helps people shape a better future and live their best lives. Sports has always inspired people to develop into responsible, mature winners who make a real difference around them. This is the reason why we were delighted to partner the extremely well designed Bowling Foundation. What gives me immense comfort is the regular and scientific performance monitoring process at the Bowling Foundation. This will enable Jeff to focus on all the players based on his knowledge of their core strengths and weaknesses. Under Jeff Thomson, we are confident that the coaching experience will be truly enriching and will leave an indelible mark on youngsters.”
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