Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd (SPN), earlier known as Multi Screen Media or Sony Entertainment Television, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted to celebrate their glorious journey of 20 years. Fountainhead Entertainment was given the mandate to conceptualize and organize an event which would bring out exuberance. The invitees for this grand celebration included the biggest names of Bollywood and Television along with Sony’s internal employees, in honour of their completing 20 wonderful years. To mark an outstanding 20 year journey of Sony, the theme for this year's party was #SonyTerrific20 and the celebrations were organized at Grand Hyatt, Santacruz, Mumbai. In order to create a pre-event buzz for the party, Fountainhead organized a Flash mob at the Sony office on 29th Oct, where the crew performed on a song track & the shout out was to welcome them for the grand party. A few Sony employees were trained for a week who were a part of the mob along with the flash mob crew on the 29th. Along with a setup which aptly portrayed this theme, the grand party also witnessed some enthralling performances by Israeli Mentalist Roy Zaltsman, Electric String Angels band, DJ Aqeel, DJ Suketu and Sunidhi Chauhan along with her Band. According to the Sony's vision, the entire venue was transformed into an exuberant and glamorous club giving it a feel of the grand party. Fountainhead Entertainment ensured a buzzing celebration for the country’s leading entertainment network.They booked the entire event space at Grand Hyatt for the multiple setups. The grand ballroom had a massive stage and chandelier along with the other ballroom areas setup for all the celebrities. The setup also included numerous installations for guest engagement in the pre-function area. A dedicated manpower of 90 people working rigorously for 32 hours and achieved the client’s vision of a gigantic setup. Fountainhead Entertainment also installed a 25 feet moving chandelier in the center of the ballroom, a technology used for the first time in India at an event. It provided a unique experience as the chandelier’s patterns and lighting were perfectly programmed to sync with the music playing. The DJ platform was setup at the center of stage above the LED Wall at a height, in order to create a better connect with the audience, enhancing the club feel. To add an international flavor to the party, 4 separate platforms were created across the ballroom where the Russian dancers performed.The visuals, lights and the music throughout the evening were synced as the guests entered the celebrations.There were various engagement activities in the pre-function area such as Karaoke Room, Post-it wall where people could post a wish for Sony, Sling shot wall where a message could be digitally splashed on a wall, a Twitter mirror and a Flip Book area along with various fun props to add to the party element. The highlights of the event were the mentalist Roy Zaltsman’s introductory act , the moving chandelier in the main ballroom, Sunidhi Chauhan’s performance and music by DJ Aqeel and DJ Suketu. Commenting on challenges faced by Fountainhead while executing the event, Rohan Salvi, VP - Business Development and Client Servicing, Fountainhead Entertainment, said, “It was an extremely prestigious event as it marked the 20 year journey of Sony Entertainment Television (Multi Screen Media) in India. Hence, it was important for us to translate the client’s vision into reality, right from the selection of invitees to registration and guest management leading to the content and execution. Given the lineage and prestige attached to such an event, perfection is the only norm for Fountainhead Entertainment. Ensuring an extraordinary experience for the esteemed employees, Bollywood and TV celebrities was our main challenge which was lived up to. With an exceptional concept and impeccable production, Fountainhead Entertainment crafted an immersive experience for all the guests to cherish forever.”
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Ajay Vadhvani Solutions conceptualized and executed Season I of Jabong Turfwar 2015 driven by Hero, held on Nov 21st – 22nd 2015, at G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management. While over 5000 people witnessed the fun, fashion, fitness and football combination live we at EE bring to you the highlights from the event. An IP by AVS, with online fashion retailer Jabong had twelve colleges from Delhi NCR participating, all competing for the grand trophy. The final match was played between Gautam Buddha University & G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management. After what proved to be a highly combative game, Gautam Buddha University emerged as the Champions receiving the Jabong Turf War trophy and a cash prize of INR 25,000. Brishektu Pal from G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management won the Hero of the Tournament Award and received a limited edition Karizma motorcycle signed by Dutch musician Martin Garix of the Animals fame. Speaking at the award ceremony, Nils Chrestin, Interim CEO at Jabong and Group CFO of Global Fashion Group, said, “The level of football played in this tournament was truly impressive. Football has been gaining ground in India and this was quite evident by the excitement among the players and the crowd alike.” The tournament, which was held over two days, captivated the audience with some exceptional performances by the participants. Adding to these were great live performances by Archis Patil, India’s record-breaking freestyle footballer; emcee Clince Varghese, MTV selfie challenger winner; and award-winning DJ Varun Dayal. Hero, India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, drove the Jabong Turf War, co-sponsored by German sportswear major Puma. Other partners were Gatorade (sports drink), Jawed Habib (hair care), 94.3 Radio One (radio), Magic Bus (NGO), Sony Six (associate), GLBIT (venue), Eco Wise (waste management), Crowne Plaza (hospitality), and Jabra (performance). The tournament was held at the G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida. “G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida is happy to associate with Jabong for this great initiative. This event will fill the youth with revived energy and new knowledge as the sports not only give physical fitness but also teach important management lessons. I believe that Jabong will continue to create more such avenues for youngsters,” said Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Vice Chairman, G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management. The tournament was attended by prominent sport figures with the likes of Abhishek Mishra, Triathlete, Marathoner, Ultra-Runner and the winner of the recent Ironman Mallorca; Sandesh Jhingan and Nirmal Chhetri, professional footballers in the Indian Super League, rallying the participants through the tournament. Fascinating performances by a rock band, dance troupe, and cheerleaders provided a good spectacle for the audience throughout the tournament. Speaking about the IP, Turfwar, Ajay Vadhvani, Founder at AVS, said “This tournament took over 20 days for pre-planning, associations and partnerships, 10 days of promotions, 2 days of setup at the venue and 2 days at event. The idea was to deliver flawless execution with branding & various activations during the tournament days. And to which the team did a wonderful job. I also thank my partners and sponsors for having faith in us with this IP, and which made it large”. Speaking of future for Turfwar, we already have a go ahead for 4 cities in Season II (2016), starting from Jalandhar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi & Goa* with its Beach Edition.
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Global marketing communications consultancy Maxus announced today key appointments across its two specialist units. Vidur Patney joins in as the National Director Experiential Marketing and Pooja Verma as Head of Maxus ESP respectively. Vidur joins Maxus from Globox Media Private Limited. As a founder in a start-up of an Experiential Marketing company, he was responsible for the day to day running of the firm along with everything that went into building the business and developing new clients as well as executing projects. Some of his key achievements at Globox include, managing all TVS Racing initiatives for the last 2 years at the BIC, MMSC and the KMS racing tracks and conducting over 70 Apache Pro Performance Stunt Shows across India etc. In a career spanning eighteen years, Vidur has worked with leading agencies these being Dentsu Communications Private Limited, Encompass Events Private Limited, and 212 Traders etc. He has handled important and significant clients in all his earlier stints and brings to the table a proven ability to manage key account relationships and large-scale projects. For nearly a decade and a half, Pooja has been involved in building engagement as a part of content strategy through communication, branding, marketing and citizenship initiatives. She has worked for leading multi-nationals including Disney, BASF and Make-A-Wish Foundation. In her last role Pooja was Director of Marketing and Communication for Make-A-Wish based in Singapore. She also consulted independently for brands in India and overseas for their content marketing and multi-platform content needs. In her free time, Pooja also offers her content and marketing communication expertise pro-bono to non-profits. Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, Maxus South Asia said "The appointments of Vidur Patney and Pooja Verma reflect Maxus’ commitment to attracting the best and brightest talent to our agency. They both are reliable leaders with robust backgrounds in experiential marketing and content marketing respectively. Both of them will fit very well within our strongly established client-driven culture and marketing culture and we are sure they will achieve even higher success with Maxus. Elaborating on his new role Vidur Patney- National Director Experiential Marketing, Maxus said, “The media landscape is possibly at its most dynamic state today. It’s a time of rapid and big changes. With the vision that Maxus has, and the kind of work that they do, my decision making became that much easier. Maxus is going from strength to strength; I’m excited to be a part of this growth oriented organization and being present while we achieve greater heights of success." Talking about her new appointment Pooja Verma, Head, Maxus ESP said, “Maxus ESP is in a unique position to tell our client’s stories through differentiated content and associations with leading entertainment, sports and live properties. As MAXUS ESP gears up to the next level, I am privileged to lead this award winning team in its mission. I look forward to utilising all that I have learnt working with multinational brands in enabling the team to build an imaginative and successful body work for our clients”. These appointments come in the wake of Maxus solidifying its position as an employer of choice and are a step towards becoming the leading marketing communication consultancy in the country.
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After having submitted a representation to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for single window license clearance for event permissions, good news has followed for Events and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) members as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has yesterday announced approval of single window licensing procedure for events. The announcement comes after the C. M. of the state Sri. Devendra Fadnavis assuring full government support to the event fraternity at the EEMAX Global Awards held in September this year. Post EEMAX, EEMA has been rigorously working along with the state machinery and MCGM on the ‘Single Window’ mandate. Event organizers will now be able to get all the permissions required from the Municipal Corporation in Mumbai through one window only. The MCGM single window, currently a physical window has gone live today and an on-line window is expected to follow in the next few months. It is expected that all other licensing permissions across different departments in the state are expected to be amalgamated soon. Talking about it, Sushma Gaikwad, VP, EEMA West says, “We have been relentlessly working alongside MCGM and have provided input as well as clarifications with a view to make the system simple and robust. This announcement brings in good news for the entire industry and its stakeholders who faced numerous hassles while organizing events in Mumbai. This is the first step and an important one. ” Speaking on the subject, Sabbas Joseph, President EEMA said, “We are pleased to announce that the MCGM has approved the single window for Mumbai. This is the first step toward a feasible solution and is expected to evolve as learnings are incorporated over a period of time. This window is highly effective as it brings together all the permissions required from the Municipal Corporation in Mumbai. Over a period of time all other permissions across departments in the state are expected to be amalgamated.” He added: "Our special thanks to a few persons to the Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis and Yuva Sena leader, Aaditya Thackeray who shared our vision. And to their team comprising the state’s Tourism and Culture Secretary, Mrs Valsa Nair Singh and from the MCGM, the Municipal Commissioner, Ajoy Mehta and Ms Shashi Bala, Chief BDD. Their consistent and steadfast commitment ensured that this pathbreaking step has been taken in the shortest possible time. The new event permission circular is now available on www.mcgm.gov.in
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Social media is one of the most important tools marketers and curators use to amplify their event content today. Not only does social media enables your event content to go global without much investment but it also serves as a platform to receive prompt feedback on the event and what can be improved in it. But a recent observation made by marketing gurus in reference to usage of social media by brands and agencies is that how none of their marketing strategies on the social media differ from each other. Just like a decade back ATL was cluttered with all brands sending out same type of messages to their TG, social media too these days is filled with social media accounts of these brands who though use different platforms but have no uniqueness in the way their communication messages are rolled out. What brands do these days is write a message and then copy+paste the same into all social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Snapchat and others. What they do not understand that is that even though social media is dynamic in its ethos, the same communication message through all platforms with zero innovation will reap no results for the brand. Marketers and agencies need to understand today, that all social media platforms are popular because all of them have their independent unique features. A twitter is more prompt than facebook & allows only 140 characters to be communicated at a time and thus using the same fb status here would go unnoticed. LinkedIn is a professional communication tool and hence the communication messages here have to more crafted, for them to get the attention a brand wants and a platform like SnapChat has to be used to create pre-event buzz in form of small glimpses and definitely not lengthy articles. If one looks at some of the most successful social media campaigns this year, they would see and realize that the success of creating memorable experience on social media for your TG roots back to using a particular social media platform to its benefit and not just ticking it off the list with a unified message across all platforms. As an example, in 2006 Ecommerce vendor TOMS Shoes had launched a philanthropic campaign asking people to donate one pair of shoes to needy children. In May 2015, the brand took the campaign to Instagram with the hashtag #withoutshoes. As part of the campaign activity whenever someone posted an Instagram photo of their bare feet using the hashtag #withoutshoes, TOMS donated a pair of shoes. The brand used a singular social media platform to create awareness about the campaign but used the platform in a way to best optimize the features of Instagram to ensure success. As a result, the campaign resulted in the donation of 296,243 pairs of shoes with people posting their legs without shoes photo on instagram for support. Similarly, the last selfie campaign by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) managed to wow animal lovers through its innovative use of Snapchat. WWF used the idea that selfies disappear off Snapchat after 10 seconds to illustrate the disappearance of endangered species around the world. The result was worldwide branding and sharing that led to increased donations for the month in only a matter of days. The reasons behind the success of this campaign too was its ability to engage its audiences through an innovative use of platform rather than just pleading people and advocating about animal rights. Brands and curators need to understand today that social media has been around for quite a while now and its time to put the pedal on the metal and create newer experiences with them rather than their monotonous use. Using same marketing strategy for different platforms will not work anymore, what is going to help brands achieve a loyal TG is surprising them using a different marketing strategy for different social media platforms.
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KidZania the kid's fun, learning and entertainment global indoor theme park has recently announced the RJ Hunt auditions to be held in KidZania Mumbai. KidZania promotes role playing activities, amongst which one of the activities is going live this Children’s Day. Everyday a kid will be shortlisted and the RJ from the radio station will select the final winner who will get a chance to go live on Radio City with RJ Sucharita on Children’s Day Role play a RJ on a radio channel live this Children’s Day only at KidZania Mumbai!!! To participate one can call call 022 3955 3700 or email at info@KidZania.in The audition starts: Nov 6th, 2015 to Nov 11th, 2015 Where: R City Mall, Ghatkopar Workshop Period: 6 days (Friday to Wednesday) Timings: Between 10am to 3pm or 4pm to 9pm
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As the year 2015 is drawing to a close, it is safe to say that we have pretty much seen all the experiential marketing campaigns that brands rolled out for their TG throughout the year. Yes, we have seen a significant increase in the investments being shifted towards the domain of experiential but has any brand rolled out a campaign which can be termed as an inspiration to follow over the years by others? Well, sadly the answer to all such questions is no. And the ‘No’ shouts out an important question, “Are marketers playing it safe when it comes to experiential?” Experience driven campaigns are not a new marketing practice for brands anymore. Local hatts, exhibitions, sampling and mall activations have always been a part of their selling practices. I still remember stalls of Lux soaps and Medicare hair care oil at local exhibitions, complimentary Milo shakes by the brand on annual days, Maggi and Colgate activations in school during festival times, being a popular practice by brands in the year 2000. Cut to 15 years later today, the brands have pretty much continued with the same practices to give an experience with their products. Clearly marketers are playing it safe when it comes to experimenting with experiential. Brands like Cadbury which recently created a giant Christmas calendar in UK, Red Bull which has made its presence felt even in the space, Starbucks which created a multi-sensory red cup installation, Heineken which has its own star constellation now are some of the most popular brand names in India. India is definitely an important market for them as it contributes majorly to their global sales figures but do these brands invest the same amount of money for experiential in the country as they do outside it? No they don’t. Marketing gurus believe that experiential is still at a very nascent stage in the country but have no concrete idea on the reasons behind it. Is it technology? Well, it can’t be. Is it the lack of resources? No, it isn’t. The main reason behind the reluctance of marketers to invest and experiment with experiential is deep rooted in experiential’s inability to calculate ROI and thus it not being seen as a direct contributor to the sales registered for the product. Hence, most marketers tick off experiential from their long list of “to be used marketing tools” by opting for mall activations rather than doing something thoroughly engaging with the same budget. What brand custodians do not understand today is that much the clutter in ATL, BTL too is filled with malls having brands lining up next to each other with fancy kiosks and shiny lights. As a result, even most mall activations are going unnoticed by audiences today as it is very difficult for them to distinguish between which mall activation to pay interest to as they all have the same style, same location and same strategy. For an experience to truly engage a consumer it has to be innovative at first and innovation can only come when a brand allows agencies the authority to go all out on creativity with a firm belief and a generous budget on the offer. Event agencies too, have a big role to play here as they need to make marketers understand how experiential is the only practice which will help a brand to create a difference in the minds of consumers. No matter how much does a brand pumps money into experiential but without innovative experiments with it they cannot expect it to churn out ATL benefits for them. A consumer is very smart today and in order to wow them a brand marketer has to be smarter
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Let’s face it; the life of an event planner is not a cakewalk. From keeping a tap on multiple expenses to dealing with an array of vendors & curators and from managing a 100 people at one go to having a keen eye on arrangements, event planners have to do it all and still not collapse (even if they wished to). But thanks to technological advancements and the invention of smartphone’s, existing in the market today are several mobile applications that are absolutely god’s gift to event planners. We at EE, are sharing a few must have mobile apps to make the lives of event planners a little easier. 1-Evernote – It is a no-brainer that the most crucial need of an event planner is to always be more organized. Just imagine, you have some ideas in your mind but you are not in a state to pen it down or give it a proper shape, or you suddenly remembered of a task that has to be done or you have to coordinate travel document or make research notes about the venue; what do you do? Well, you have Evernote to the rescue. The app serves as a general filing system where you can file documents, share them with people, set reminders, sync them with other devices and update them all with one change. Isn’t it great? 2-ScannerPro – Are you too frustrated about the phenomenon of keeping receipts in your pockets as they come in and never find them after the event? Well then scannerpro is the answer to your problems. Breakout from the worry of keeping a track of all paperwork when you are just bustling with things to manage as the app allows you to scan documents with a click, convert them into PDF and mail them right away to wherever you want them too. Well, why worry even if you lost the receipts then? You have them saved already. 3-Heytell – We know of all a lot of event planners in India, who use whatsapp to communicate with your team during events. And as convenient as whatsapp is it still has its limitations. Heytell is an alternative to whatsapp that most people do not know about. The app turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie. When you need something even snappier than texting or email, get the app, choose a contact and start talking over all free of cost and forget the worry of signal drop outs! 4-Hootsuite – During executing a live event every event manager wants to capitalize on the social media to amplify the event content however managing all different platforms is a big challenge. You have to be on your toes with multiple apps and websites opened which can be chaotic at times. But luckily there is Hootsuite as an app today which helps you manage all your social media that lets you create streams for each platform and keep you up to date with the latest buzz. Best part about the app is you can schedule tweets and updates prior to the event at strategic times to stay ahead. 5-Meetup Time- Do you have to deal with international clients, performers and speakers at your next event but always lose out on when to communicate because of the time gap? Well, no worries now as you can always keep a track of contact time zones with Meetup Time’s intuitive interface. The app helps you to call people at the best time without having to check the internet or ask somebody about the time in a different continent, the app does that for you free of cost.
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