Nearly 1,000 marketers, event specialists and most innovative marketing agencies gathered at Las Vegas for Event Tech, a conference and exposition on using social media and technology to optimize live experiences. With over 100 insightful sessions, opportunity to test-drive multiple technologies, discussing & decoding successful case studies and the ultimate chance to network with the most creative marketing minds on the offer, Event Tech ’15 was certainly a place to be at. However, for those of you who could not make it to the event. We bring to you some interesting updates directly from the confrence. Day 1 of Event Tech began with 30 attendees hopping on the morning shuttle to the Mojave Desert for a two-hour hiking excursion. The content of program however started with three workshops which were Drone University, Instagram Power Workshop and Viral Video Workshop. The Drone University session was headed by Expert Drones CEO Brett Velicovich, who discussed about how drones could be creatively integrated into events safely. Author Jason Miles then, led a workshop on brand building through Instagram, and viral video architect Rob Bliss offered his tips, insights and strategies to create viral content for the social media. Day 2 of Event Tech started off with Allen Adamson, author of the book Brand Digital, giving a keynote presentation on the challenges of communicating a brand story. Talking about it he said, “Precision is the key, there is very little that distinguishes your brand from its competitors and how you decode that 2 percent of difference is the secret to break the clutter.” Later, the attendees headed to the EventTech campus from wherein they could choose from 5 learning labs for crisp, 30-minute sessions. The topics of these ranged from Anatomy of the viral video, digital+live strategies: creating ‘liquid’ experiences, neuromarketing-driven tech planning for b-to-b events, real-time video content: supercharge event buzz, the 411 on periscope and meerkat, lessons from mastercard: upping your b-to-b meetings tech game, live streaming events: inside coke’s e-sports playbook, virtual reality: best practices for using VR and choosing the perfect hashtag: the power of # and others. Next, the Event Technology Awards saw the best digital and technology integrated events winning top honors. In the most popular categories, The Gold in the Best Use of a Single Technology (B-to-C) was bagged by Merell for its Trailscape campaign that used oculus rift to make people feel like they were walking around a crumbling ledge and over a treacherous wooden bridge high in the mountains. The sliver in the same category was won by Survive the Strain of FX networks. The campaign was VR Experience to promote season two of the FX Networks horror drama series ‘The Strain’ and followed the story’s character as he lead viewers on a 360º journey through an abandoned warehouse, while under constant threat of attack from vampires. In the category of Best Use of a Single Technology (B-to-B). The Gold was awarded to Microsoft for its initiatives at Worldwide Partner Conference 2015. The computer brand at the conference had used technologies like Hololens, Project GigJam, Cortana Analytics Suite and LiveTiles to create a surreal life like experience. The Best Digital+Live Campaign was won by Verizon #WhosGonnaWin. The campaign WhosGonnaWin gave all NFL fans a chance to let everyone know which team they are rooting for. Fans could visit WhosGonnaWin.com and use Google Street View to decorate houses in team colors and share those decorations socially with friends. On NFL Mobile, fans could also claim territory for their team by rapidly clicking within their designated zip code to take over the #WhosGonnaWin map. The Silver in the same category was won by #DellLounge Powered by Windows 10 by Dell, Microsoft. The campaign featured a lighting lounge created by Lacy Maxwell Productions. The Bronze in this category was won by Untameable Tour of Bacardi created by GMR Marketing. The Bacardi Untameable Tour combined the latest beats with killer cocktails to ignite the most passionate music fans in the bar, at music festivals and at the after-party. In another category of Best Audience Interaction Gold was awarded to Coke Zero Drinkable Billboard. For the campaign Ogilvy & Mather installed a "drinkable billboard" that shot soda through a massive straw into a public drinking fountain. Coke Zero in the campaign activity was flown through 4,500 feet of straw to spell out "Taste It." Then the liquid traveled from the bottom of the billboard to a sampling area with six fountain spouts where people can taste the soda. The Silver Winner in this category was Ignite Launch by Puma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0whqsvHPw5E The campaign saw New Yorkers harnessing running energy in Times Square with an epic group run. Their energy was collected, and upon reaching 100%, Usain Bolt, the World’s Fastest Man, appeared to officially reveal Ignite. The day 2 of event tech continued with more sessions and ended with EventTech group networking dinner at Carmine’s. The final day of the conference concluded with 35 final sessions on topics ranging from geofencing technologies, particle photons, internet and others.
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Acclaimed as the ‘Paulo Coelho of the East’ by Businessworld, the best selling Indian author by NDTV and amongst the 100 most influential Indians three times in a row by Forbes, Amish Tripathi’s upswing as a writer was neither planned nor speculated. The author of The Shiva Trilogy launched his writing career with The Immorals of Meluha, a book that broke into the top seller charts within its first week owing largely to its creative marketing strategies. At the exchange4media CMO League Conclave held at hotel Leela Gurgaon on 4 November, the IIM Kolkata graduate delivered an address on ‘The art of marketing and the science of story telling’. Here are 10thoughts that every event marketer can pick up on to tell his story even more persuasively. 1-The most irritating thing to hear is “how can we try this, this has never been done before”. Ignore this. Never succumb to this. 2-Best ideas will come from people outside the industry. These people don’t have blinders on and are free from set notions. 3-Based on the trial pack strategy often used by FMCG brands for products such as shampoos, I compressed the first chapter of my debut book into a small free booklet that I placed at bookstore cash counters. It was a cost effective idea that worked wonders. It worked simply because it was unique. 4-Bollywood portrays the essence of ‘real’ India therefore readily evokes emotions. Marketers should capitalize on this; it’s a sure shot winner. 5-The universe is not made of atoms, it is made up of stories. Do not try to understand these stories. Surrender to the universe and let the stories flow through you. 6-Great marketing means striking a balance between rationale, science and pure emotions. 7-After the launch of my first book I knew I had to steer people towards my book in order for them to experience it. So we played its trailers in movie cinemas to drive the traffic into bookstores. You may have a good story, but you need an audience to hear it. 8-Remain detached from failure and also success. Let neither affect you. This is the only way to produce the best output. 9-When I write a story I do not create the characters, according to me the characters already exist in a parallel universe and I’m simply reporting their lives. Consumers should also be approached in the same manner. 10-People will often not remember what you said or did but they will always remember how you made them feel, said Maya Angelou. This is exactly what every brand communication should be based on. Remember- every purchase decision is based on emotion.
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With the year about to end, brands are going all out to charm their target audiences in more ways than one. The month of October saw some of the biggest brands names creating the most immersive experiences for their TG. Below mentioned is a roundabout of some of the most engaging campaigns to have been executed by brands in October last month. 1- Carlsberg's shave-off event with Ted Baker Carlsberg recently collaborated with the men and women fashion brand Ted Baker to host a shave-off event across London. As part of the event audiences were offered a shave as well as complimentary Carlsberg beer for just 99p and not is original price of 22.50p. The main idea behind the activity was raise awareness of the annual Movember campaign which features men not shaving for November and donating the money saved to The Movember Foundation, a men’s health charity that focuses its efforts on the four key areas of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and physical inactivity. Now with this one campaign, the brand managed to give its audiences an experience with the brand, support a good cause and establish a unanimous style statement at the same time. All we can say is good job Calsberg and Ted Baker. 2- Aero creates prize bubble experience for Mousse launch The last week of October saw Nestle launching one of its premier products Aero Mousse chocolate bar through an engaging game show experience. As part of the activity consumers were being invited to step inside the Aero Mousse Bubble for a chance to win a spa treatment for two people. With 30 seconds on the clock the challenge was to get hold of as many discs as possible. If the participants were lucky enough one of those discs would have a ticket for the spa treatment. Also people were asked to create social media buzz through watching the participants perform and tweeting with the #AeroMousse hastag. Now this is one gaming experience everyone would love to participate in. 3- Bacardi LolaWolf gig in Miami For an alcohol brand that does mostly club music events, this experience driven initiative by Bacardi was certainly refreshing. For this campaign Bacardi teamed up with R&B/Electro pop trio LolaWolf to host a special gig in Miami. The event saw the band unveil its new creative platform known as Lolaloopz. Referred to as 'live special media effective lab', Lolaloopz offered fans the chance to use real-life analogue effects across their social media accounts. The show was the final event in Bacardi’s Untameable Artists Series, which also featured AlunaGeorge, Run The Jewels and Future. The main idea behind the campaign was to showcase the personality behind each artist, and saw the brand additionally hosting a number of 'house parties' across the United States. With most social media impressions made by a brand campaign in the state this month, this campaign was a well deserved entry to the list. 4- Haribo 'trick or treat door' activation at Victoria station Wow, finally an engaging campaign that got the best out of the Halloween celebration. The German confectionary brand as a part of this activity installed a branded trick or treat door within London's Victoria station. The 3.5-metre high structure resembled an old stone castle, and consisted a large door at its centre with the words ‘trick or treat’. Also bats and pumpkins were located to make the structure appear more real. In the activity commuters were being encouraged to knock on the oversized door, at which point it creaked open and they were handed a sweet treat from Haribo’s Halloween range. This certainly fits the bill for the perfect experiential campaign for the Halloween month. 5- Coca-Cola London Eye initiative and smile vending machine Last but certainly not the least, this initiative from the global beverage giant shows how important are experiential engagements for a brand. Coca-Cola in London had previously rolled multiple customer experiences to celebrate the Rugby World Cup and this engagement by the brand was the coolest addition to its initiative for the same. The brand lighted The London Eye to reflect the colours of the two remaining teams in the tournament . Also it has installed a 'smile vending machine' within King’s Cross station wherein passers-by can receive a free can of coke. So simple yet so impactful. Subtle experience at its best. .
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The month of November has a lot to offer to event lovers. With the season festivities just around the corner, people are already in party mood and brands alongside curators are set to capitalize on the same by serving a range of diverse and enthralling experiences. With multiple EDM, Rock, Art and Music festivals lined up to wow target audiences, we at EE are listing down our pick for Events to look out in the month of November. #1 Bacardi NH7 Weekender It is without a doubt one of the biggest EDM properties in the country and serves as the biggest platform for Indian independent music artists. With a magnificent lineup performers already advertised to appear, this celebration of music and dance is definitely on the must attend list of all music junkies. Date- Shillong 23-24 Oct | Kolkata 31 Oct-1 Nov | New Delhi 28-29 Nov | Pune 4-6 Dec | Bengaluru 5-6 Dec #2 Rider Mania A direct competition to Harley Rock Riders which is scheduled to take place on 30th and 31st October. Rider Mania is an initiative Royal Enfield and is one of its kind motorcycling festival in India that celebrates music, art, photography and lifestyle. Date-November 20 to 22 #3 Officers Choice Blue Mirchi Top 20 Live with Sunidhi Chauhan India's music countdown show, Mirchi Top 20 is set to make its presence felt in Gurgaon with a concert, featuring Sunidhi Chauhan! The concert promises to be a stellar experience for all fans of the Bollywood Diva. Date- November 21 #4 Sunburn City Festival A precursor to Sunburn Goa, the Sunburn city festival will showcase some of the most promising names in dance music. With the lineup including reputed performers like DJ Snake, R3hab, Chuckie and Matisse &Sadko, Sartek, Joshi, DJ SA, Mojojojoand Sunburn's resident DJ Shaan on the cards, this one has massive expectations riding on it. Date- November 12-15 #5 BuddyDaddy Family Bash BuddyDaddy Family has positioned itself as an entertainment family festival. With over 80 live performers and a line-up of kids and family activitieson the offer, Buddy Daddy promises to have something for everyone. Date- November 13-15 #6 Pushkar Mela The annual festivities of the 100 year old PushkarMelaattract more than 50,000 camels, horses and cattle, 8,00,000 tourists and 60,000 expats from across the world, to the tiny desert town of Pushkar, on the edge of the Thar Desert. The highlights of the mela this year are VIP Hospitality arena, Sky Waltz Café, an especially curated opening and flag off ceremony, fusion music performances, Hot air ballooning, 360* podium, adventure activities and Night glow music concert among other elements. Date- November 18-25 #7 MTVI Xtreme Festival MTVi Xtreme is a high on adrenalin rock music and adventure sports festival. With its its 2nd Season, being headlined by Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, along with some high profile Indian Rock Bands; this one has high expectations riding on it. Date- November 7 at JIO Gardens, Mumbai November 14 at SUPERNOVA, Bangalore #8 Above and Beyond LIVE Viacom18 ups the excitement for dance music rock lovers as they bring Above and Beyond back to India for the highly anticipated Vh1 Supersonic Arcade. One of India’s favourite dance music trio is all set to perform in India across three cities Pune (27th November), Mumbai (28th November) and Bangalore (29th November). Date- Pune (27th November), Mumbai (28th November) and Bangalore (29th November)
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A report by Huffington Post earlier this year, revealed that if Facebook was a country then would be the most populated country in the world having 1.39 billion people logging in every month to find out the latest piece of information in their news feed. Such is the power owned by the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and others today. Not only have these platforms provided an opportunity for the masses to be constantly connected with their surroundings but also these are known to serve the purpose of reflecting democratized opinions and finding out what topic around the world most concerns the people living in it. Interestingly, the advantages of social media do not come without some disadvantages of their own. With no-filter to weed out the inappropriate and spammed content on social media domains, any particular incident or news can be easily manipulated to create havoc in the lives of ordinary citizens. So can we find a balanced use of the social media in the media and entertainment industry was the subject of an insightful panel discussion at the 4th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit 2015. The panel was chaired by Satya Raghvan, Head, Youtube India, Viran Jani, Head-TV Partnership, Twitter, Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor, India Today Group and moderated by Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India and Founder, Equus. Rajdeep Sardesai started the session by delivering an address on the predicament of social media today. He established that instead of going out and finding the real news items to debate and highlight, a large number of media organizations look for the topics trending on social media platforms and then cover them in form of news as they are a reflection of what the society is speaking about. He said, “What’s interesting is how one perceives social media? As it has over all the years established itself both as a challenge as well as an opportunity.” With no filer in place, anyone with a few social media followers can create a negative propaganda about any issue or brand and can also influence others buyers in the process. Case in point, in late 2014 a war between Amul and an angry consumer Neha Tomar broke out on the social media where the latter posted updates questioning the quality of Amul Milk. The campaign went viral on the web with multiple shares and significantly impacted the sales of the product. Consequently, Amul took to social media too to prove how it had always maintained quality standards consistently. Speaking about how such negative and baseless hateful content can be removed from social media Viran Jani said, “Communicating fearlessly is the crux of the overall ethos of Twitter and this is how we have always wanted to position it. However, we do realize that with power in the hands of only consumers there are times when manipulation by a few will come into play and thus we are working towards addressing the issues of abuse.” Highlighting the same point, Satya Raghvan said, “Because the content created on social media platforms like YouTube is in such large quantity that it is impossible to police it. Yes, there are negative implications too however one simply cannot overlook the positive stories that are created through it. One has to work towards creating a fine balance between the two and that will only happen when stakeholders sit together and take steps in partnership.” Interestingly, the nucleus of Raghvan’s address can be directly related with brands like Nestle which has innovatively engaged its consumers in a damage control act after having its premier product Maggi banned from the Indian market due to excess of hazardous lead chemical was found in it. The brand has created a positive nostalgia campaign on social media which has often trended on twitter and facebook due to the massive positive response received by audiences. Suhel Seth highlighted that for most brands social media has become an indispensable part of their marketing strategy but they are not truly optimizing its potential and merely tick boxing it on their marketing plans. Viran Jani added to the same by saying, “Brands and everyone else who wants to use the social media to their advantage need to adopt a 360* approach to it which goes beyond a facebook page and twitter handle.” He added brands today need to leverage all platforms on social media by creating an innovative marketing mix through using different platforms available on social media to position its brands into the minds of its target consumers.
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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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