After the talks and speculations having been on for around six months, Dentsu Aegis Network today has officially announced the acquisition of Fountainhead Entertainment, the events and experiential marketing agency. Having been established by event industry patrons Brian Tellis, Neale Murray and Otis D’Souza in 1994, Fountainhead Entertainment is headquartered in Mumbai and has over 200 employees. The agency boasts of having over 100 illustrious brands in its portfolio and specializes in all types of events, digital initiatives, product launches, brand activation and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. Industry sources reveal, that the size of the deal is between Rs 300-400 crore. Speaking about the acquisition Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia, said, “The BTL part of the business has been growing twice as much as ATL. We already have PsLIVE and now we look forward to combine the two and become largest in the experiential field.” The current management of Fountainhead team is expected to stay as it is. Post-acquisition too, Fountainhead will continue to be led by CEO, Brian Tellis, who will now report to Ashish Bhasin. This acquisition adds up to the dream of Dentsu Aegis Network to become the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India.
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PujyaBrahmavihari Swami is a senior spokesperson for BAPS, a worldwide religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism. The Sanstha has built 1100 temples around the world, among which Akshardham in Delhi,Gandhinagar, Swami Narayan temple in Robbinsville and London have received global recognition. At a recent gathering of event managers at EMF ACE 2015 in Ahmedabad, Swami Brahmavihari delivered an eloquent and inspirational message tailored specially for the event community. Following are some excerpts from his address. If you look at it, events- big or small- are organized across the world in an attempt to get away from the daily grind of life, to get some respite from the monotony of routine. From this respect event organizers are the vehicles for bringing happiness to people. But in order to share happiness with others it is important for one to remain happy, calm and content within. But we all know that this is easier said than done; especially for people from your industry who are expected to sacrifice family time, work odd hours and meet gargantuan client expectations. The world is not fair and we all have our fair share of troubles. But the choice is ours- to accept these troubles and move forward or live in denial and remain critical. To cite an example- Charlie Chaplin was acclaimed as one of the most talented men on earth. His unique looks and ability to make people laugh simply through gestures won him popularity far and wide. On one occasion he saw a billboard advertising a ‘Charlie Chaplin look alike’ contest and decided to participate. To his surprise he secured the 7th place. What this incident indicates echoes in Chaplin’s memoirs- We live in a world where showmen succeed and real men fail. The point I’m trying to make is that we too live in a world where talent and celebrities surround us, but in the end our belief in ourselves will ultimately determine how comfortable we are in our own skin, thus how happy we are. Once a man visited a psychiatrist and explained he was depressed. The doctor gave him some pills and sent him home. Few days later the same man returned saying that his mental health has seen no improvement, so the doctor upped the dosage and sent him home. Another week went by and the man returned claiming that he’s still depressed and nothing is helping. So the doctor suggested that he should do fun things that lift sadness and told him that there’s a Russian circus in town that he should visit thrice a week. He said that the clown in the circus is hilarious and the man will surely not feel depressed once he sees him perform. At this the patient retorted “but I’m the clown from the circus that you speak of”. I narrate this story because I want you to understand that it doesn’t mean much to make a million people happy if your own being isn’t happy. At the end of an event when you look at the mirror do you see a happy person? An event manager’s profession is married to mental stress. Just like a mountaineer’s profession is married to physical stress. Once a mountaineer asked me if there’s an easy way up, I suggested he should take a helicopter. You must accept that situations will create stress, but you cannot be passive. You need to develop your own unique way to overcome stressful situations, to shield yourself and emerge unscathed. But this alternative doesn’t come to mind thus we complain. We are so comfortable being part of a system and imitating others that we fail to think out-of-the-box. It is said that a man with two watches is never sure of the time. An assistant at a clock shop would notice that a man would stop in front of the shop everyday and tune his watch to the time in the shop. This happened relentlessly for 30 days and made the assistant very proud of the accuracy of his clocks. So one day as the man stopped in front of the shop as was routine, the assistant confronted him and asked whether he was an important man to always want to be on time therefore tuning his watch everyday to the clock shop. At which the man replied that he works as the chief security officer at the factory nearby and its important for him to know the right time so he can blow the whistle in the morning to commence work and once at five in the evening to suspend the days work. At this the assistant responded, “wait a minute, I tune the time of my clocks based on the 5 o’clock whistle”. The point is that we are all like that- tuning to each other’s time when we should be adjusting our time to our hearts. It is important for us to make conscious decisions. My approach that I will recommend to you all is to Plan, Prepare, Perspire and Pray. Event planners often take a template and make repetitive events based on it. You should plan for unique experiences. You should be clinical in your work and prepare thoroughly. And perspire; do not give your work to others. Lastly, pray. Certain things are out of your control, fretting over those things is pointless. I once asked a student how his exams went. Without flinching or remorse he said, “oh, I’m definitely failing”. When I asked how he is so sure, he replied its because everything was out of syllabus. I then told him that a lot of things life will offer him will be out of syllabus- cancer, deaths of family and friends, losses- he needs to prepare for them and cannot avoid the consequences by saying that it was unexpected. Most important things in life one does not choose, one simply accepts. Your name, your parents, your face, your birthday, death, your nationality, your intelligence- you have influence over none of these things, so you choose to accept them. It is important to understand that life doesn’t run through your choices. Peace will come when you accept. Accept yourself and rise above your problems, especially ones that you haven’t chosen. Everybody can offer sympathies and a shoulder to cry on, but you are your own cure. Don’t victimize yourself. Take responsibility and readjust yourself. Overcome uncertain problems by sheer faith- faith in God, in gurus, in family- whatever it takes. Faith will give you the strength to take a negative situation and turn it over its head to make it positive. Lastly when things go out of control, do not admonish the soundwala, the electricians, your team members. Calm yourself, the situation and your team members. Guests will come and go, your people are here to stay. Keep them happy.
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The big bad world of internet today offers immense opportunities for an event planner to promote their next event. From Facebook event pages to Instagram picture updates and from real time Twitter sharing to creating a video buzz through Youtube, truly there are a variety of options available online that can be leveraged to promote an event. However, with all event planners promoting their events in the same manner it becomes rather monotonous for an attendee to differentiate between events to attend the ones to skip. What clearly can create a difference here is using offline as a more creative medium to promote events. How to do that you ask? Well we at EE, have the answers for you. Mobile Billboards- Remember in childhood, when circus and carnivals used to be promoted through megaphones on decorated rickshaws. Well, event organizers can too promote your next event by elevating the same technique up a notch. One can use cars, heavy commercial vehicles, rickshaws, motor bike rallies and also experiment with concepts of flash mob on wheels to promote an event. Not only will this cost an event planner lesser than what they would have to pay for a static billboard but mobile billboard ideas also offer you greater customization in terms of the messages one is about to send out to their prospective attendees. Hire people as volunteers- Now, this idea goes way beyond the conventional means of using people to advocate for your event. Instead, by hiring people as volunteers one can have them wear creative outfits or merchandise of your event and create live experiences on the road, parks or other public places. The main purpose here is to create an attention span for your event and when that is done people can be reminded or politely asked to come to your event. Organize offline competitions- Normally people do not get connected to an event or an idea unless and until they have some contribution in its existence. An event planner can capitalize on this ideology to organize offline competitions such as caption writing, designing layout of the event, creating decorative pieces for the event, ideas for seating arrangements etc. among the prospective attendees. Through this idea not only will your event create amble buzz but this will also make sure that the participants of these offline competitions attend your event with great curiosity. Create Pop ups and installations in empty spaces- Another interesting idea to promote your event offline is to create pop ups and installations at empty spaces such as outside colleges, public pavements, public libraries to generate interest among people. Through this strategy people would want to know more about the product you are offering and what your event is all about. You can also serve demos of your product if your event is about a product launch. Creative Flyers and Pamphlets- Most event organizers have stopped using flyers and pamphlets to promote events now simply because no one takes notice of them anymore. But without a doubt these are a handy way to dish some critical information out there to prospective attendees. Event planners can add an interesting twist to the processes of handing out flyers by simply not using paper at all. One can distribute chocolates and use wrapping paper as a flyer, one can also print out information about the event on umbrellas and hand them out, create branded shopping bags and distribute outside grocery stores as well.
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An integral factor that drives the marketing strategies for any brand today is the sole purpose of churning out the maximum profits as soon as possible. In popular culture today, even if big brands are investing into experiential initiatives, they somehow desperately seek out a measure to sell their products in the market with the initiative. In such money minded times, the Schwarzkopf Shaping Futures initiative is a guiding force to brands on how can they truly establish themselves right there in the hearts of not just their TG but across all age groups and markets. The Shaping Future philanthropy project undertaken by Schwarzkopf Professional mirrors the Indian PM’s agenda for the next 5 years of Skill India movement. As our Honourable PM Narendra Modi rightly says that our youth doesn’t want to live a life of pity, they want to live with self-respect and dignity. And for this we need to create structures and mechanisms to nurture youngsters, enabling them to find employment, to be empowered with skills that will aide them to support themselves and their families. Through this social initiative, Schwarzkopf every year gives unprivileged young adults the opportunity to learn a valuable vocation, for free, instead of a life of unfair working conditions and low wages. This philanthropy project has also been instrumental in creating numerous success stories where the young professionals post their training have gone on to run successful business units and supporting their families in different parts of the country. The way in how this initiative runs is that the candidates for this training program are pre-selected by a non-profit organisation, Plan India. Post the pre-selection, the most deserving and motivated candidates who wish to make a living as a hairdresser are finalized to be trained under the Schwarzkopf Professional team. The training classes usually last six weeks and consists of five modules: consultation, cutting, dressing, colour and form. During the course of training, students regularly meet with local salon owners that enable them to pursue careers in a near-by salon. This year Shaping Futures Initiative India, 2015 is in the 5th consecutive year and 22 young candidates who have the passion for hairdressing are participating in the training program. Interesting is to see how an international brand like Schwarzkopf has through this initiative struck the right cord with enabling development while creating experiences at the same while a majority of Indian and local brands are failing to do so. What marketers need to understand is that customers today are more smart and aware of what is happening around them. By merely launching a flashy ATL campaign with gimmicky messages or fun filled BTL activity alone the brand is not going to benefit today. In the dynamic and rapidly evolving market today brands need to earn the respect from their TG first and form a bond that goes beyond the traditional relationship of hard and sell. Through an initiative like Shaping Futures, Schwarzkopf has weaved stories around its brand ethos. Stories that are going to stay in their customers mind every time they will see the brand, stories that they will share with their friends and foes feeling proud of their association with it and isn't this an identity all brands across the world are trying to establish for themselves. Initiatives like these are the only way brands can hope to have a loyal customer base over the years.
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EMF ACE 2015, in its second year this year, concluded on 11 October in Ahmedabad. The event was hosted by the Event Management Federation, an association of event planners in Gujarat, in the form of a conference, awards and exhibition. It saw in attendance several notable names from the industry including Director Ramesh Sippy, Mohammed Morani from Cineyug, Sabbas Joseph of Wizcraft, Prince Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, Jaideep Singh of Live Viacom18, Actress Amisha Patel, Singer Neha kakkar, among others. Heres a look at the two day extravaganza in pictures: [gallery link="file" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="24497,24496,24495,24493,24488,24494,24489,24490,24491,24492,24487,24486,24485,24484,24483"]
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One of the most prominent reasons of why events fail even after investing in a lot of money is that it sees no participation from its attendees. Most events that are being organized today are no different than the election rallies where a host comes on stage, explains the occasion of the event and the curtains are rolled out again. What event planners do not understand is that most event attendees are hesitant in nature and will not become a part of your event or even thoroughly engage themselves into it, if their participation is not weaved into the overall design of the event. But what are the ways one can convert event attendees into participants? Well, we at EE reached out to event agencies and curators to ask them the same. Pradyumn Tandon, Founder and Director, The Brand Brewery says, “It is indeed very important to actually engage the audience at your events today rather than restricting their presence to that of passive listeners but how can one do that completely depends on the nature of the event one is executing.” Adding further he says, “You need to understand your TG better and give them what they want if you want them to be more involved at your event and customization is the key here. To cite an example for a high end property launch which saw attendees of different age groups ranging from kids to the elderly we had created family photobooths for families, hobby class for kids, golf sessions for men and spas for women. So it is boils down to designing the correct experience for your attendees which is dependent upon better understanding them.” Speaking on the same subject Jatin Dua, Director, Event Jockey said, “For us the process to facilitate more involvement from event attendees goes back to the initial phase of planning for the event. The buzzword here is to surprise your attendees by serving them something unseen and unheard. As an example for a ticketed event recently we had used social media to create buzz before the event by asking people to show their excitement about the event by posting selfies. Later we used the same photographs as an integral part of the event décor with some lighting effects. The audience was positively surprised with the idea and loved it.” Rishabh Panchhi, Director, Panchhi Events responds to the same question by saying, “You have to weave the element of participation by attendees within the concept of an event. As an example as a biker I was a part of this initiative of the Saheli Trust where participants had to come in pay some money and then they get a chance to enjoy a bike ride and also understand the nuances of it. Additionally there were choirs singing customized songs and the overall approach of the event was very focused on the attendees which resulted in its success.”
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KidZania India is set to launch its second facility in Delhi NCR, come early 2016. India’s first centre, KidZania Mumbai recently completed 24 months of operations, hosting 850,000+ visitors and 36 brand partnerships to date. KidZania Delhi NCR will be located at the Entertainment City in Noida which is a 147 acre development housing the largest retail and entertainment destination in the region. KidZania Delhi NCR will be a standalone structure across 3 levels and 97,000sq.ft. The KidZania India franchise rights are owned by ImagiNation Edutainment Pvt. Ltd. Actor, Shah Rukh Khan owns a 26% stake in the company in his personal capacity. The remaining 74% of ImagiNation Edutainment India Pvt. Ltd. is owned by Singapore-based KidZ Inc. whose shareholders are Comcraft Group, Xander Group and Maxfield Management Ltd. Built like a city for children, KidZania, the world-over is an indoor edutainment theme park that makes learning fun. Across its 20 facilities globally, KidZania emulates the workings of a real city but built to scale for children with paved roads, battery-operated vehicles, buildings, a functioning economy and its own currency. Based on the philosophy of providing real–life experiences, KidZania empowers, inspires, motivates and educates children through the 90+ role-playing activities based on replicas of real-world industries and services including, entertainment, airline, automobile, retail, restaurants, factories and other private and public services. Here, children can take on various roles, including that of a pilot, surgeon, detective, chef, candy-maker, fireman, television producer, radio jockey, mechanic and other diverse professions. Sanjeev Kumar, CEO, KidZania India says, “Coming to the capital city has always been on the cards for us, and working with a diverse group of industry professionals and partners will bring a truly genuine experience to the children. We believe that KidZania Delhi NCR will be home to myriad avenues for the coming generations, opening doors for talent to grow through the path of education and entertainment in an environment that fosters leadership and development.” KidZania provides brands with a sustainable consumer engagement platform. It is a game-changer with the perfect mix of education, entertainment, CSR, and marketing. Brands build realism and add authenticity to the experience that children have in KidZania. With a few months to launch-date, the Delhi NCR facility has already signed up 18 brands. Key brands from Mumbai that have extended their partnerships for the Delhi NCR facility are Parle (Biscuit Factory), Yes! Bank (ATM and Bank), Toonz Animation (Animation Studio), DHL (Express delivery service), Bajaj Electricals Ltd. (Culinary school and Energy Conservation Hub), Pepperfry (Furniture studio and Lounge), Zespri Kiwifruit (quality control and inspection hub), Shiamak (Dance studio), Big Bazaar (Supermarket), E-Zone (Electronics store), Amity University (University), Kellogg’s Chocos (Cereal factory) and Furtados School of Music (Music School). Brands that have forged new ties with KidZania Delhi NCR include Frooti (Mango drink factory), Kinder Joy (Chocolate factory) and Amiown (Pre-school). Viraj Jit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, KidZania India says, “We’ve built great experiences for children and families through KidZania Mumbai and we want to extend the same to people in the capital region. With KidZania Delhi NCR, we hope to reach out to as many children with powerful experiences that help them develop educationally, psychologically and motivationally. Our brand partnerships will aid in providing authentic experiences which will pave the way for responsible future leaders.” KidZania promotes real-life, hands-on experiences that simulates the routine of various occupations in their myriad establishments. Kids are allowed to partake in activities as professionals, as well as customers in establishments like the bank, departmental store and supermarket, allowing them to learn, earn or spend their own currency, KidZos. The KidZania concept has been a proven success in 20 cities internationally including London, Dubai, Jeddah, Lisbon, Cairo, Manila, Tokyo and its start-point, Santa Fe. Currently functional in Mumbai, India's first facility, KidZania has seen a footfall of over 8.5 lakh visitors with over 500 schools having visited in the last 24 months.
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With a supposed funding of $10 Million into his newly formed agency, The Social Street, Ex-DDB Mudra COO Pratap Bose has over two decades of experience in advertising up his sleeve. The new agency has already bagged some serious clients, one of which is Britannia Good Day that is rolling out a rather ‘exciting’ campaign later this month, assured Bose as he addressed the convention of event managers in Ahmedabad on 10 October at EMF ACE 2015. Speaking about what he knows best, Bose delivered a presentation on how brand activation has evolved over the years,moving into a series of examples that he thought were simply brilliant, and those that, well, sucked! Here’s a look at the winning cut first: Launch of TV Channel TNT in Belgium Budweiser Buddy Cup Nike Chalkbot at Tour De France Dominoes Pizza Emoji Carlsberg Cinema experience And the losers are… Brooke Bond Red Label activation Bose explains that the sheer number of Indian’s residing in Dubai took away from the novelty factor of the Brooke Bond Red Label campaign. He calls it a very ‘desperate’ communication to convince the consumer to feel a certain way about the brand. Coke Ind-Pak vendingmachine campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_4vOUDImE To our surprise the Coke Ind-Pak Small World Machine was also on the loser’s board! Bose explains that even though the entry won multiple Golds at Cannes Lions, the sheer fact that no one ever saw this campaign happen, in either India or Pakistan, proves that it was only filmed. And filmed very well. Sure the video went viral since it was high on emotional content but the activation doesn’t qualify as a brand ‘experience’. Therefore as a jury member at Spikes Bose knocked it right out ensuring it doesn’t win a single Gold.
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