[caption id="attachment_1982" align="alignnone" width="300"] Challenges Road Sign with dramatic clouds and sky.[/caption] Experiential marketing may have caught up with the big brands in India but a big chunk of them might refrain from taking the leap. Contrary to popular belief that the brands in India simply do not want to shift from the traditional marketing means, there are many other challenges that Indian marketers might face in executing experiential marketing campaigns as it is widely done in the west. Let’s look at some of these factors that may hamper an Indian marketer’s plan to create and execute engagement activities: Lack of qualified and skilled talent This not only applies to the IT industry, which is actually a big challenge for pretty much most industries in India, but finding the right talent is a war to be won in the country. India is a country where hundreds of thousands of students graduate each year in various streams but most of them are not employable and lack skills, as it is widely reported. Similarly, out of most MBA graduates, few are trained to exploit experiential domain in marketing and many are not even aware of this new marketing space. Creative is another attribute that is very vital to experiential marketing, which again is not easy to find. Short term visibility Many agencies in the experiential marketing domain are seen often complaining about the short term visibility of marketers. They are more inclined on hiring an agency for PR purposes but resist investing in engagement activations that are long term in terms of return and are not immediately measurable. This short sightedness makes brands refrain from giving experiential marketing a chance and benefit in the long run. Vandalism Experiential activities in the west are often done through kiosks and various installations that are outdoor. India is a country where even the dustbins and copper wirings get stolen and vandalised. Factors like these may not completely hamper an experiential activity but may limit the scope of what can be done and what not can be done. On the positive side, it encourages the marketers and agencies involved in engagement activities to be more creative. Pressure on agencies to measure The humans have a tendency to take control of every aspect of their lives including the outcome of every effort they put. This applies on ROI too. Before making any investment, we want to know the immediate benefits, which drives many marketers from taking a step forward towards initiatives that may bring huge returns in the long term. It may be hard to measure ROI with engagement activities but many brands have been successful in leveraging engagement to attract loyal following. Professional courses Today, any field requires a professional degree that could be true for experiential marketing. Although many big names in the space may have started early with a simple management degree or management experience over time, but a degree certainly helps. However in a country like India, there aren’t many professional courses offered that specialize one in experiential domain and trains students with hands-on experience. So, finding a fresh talent in the domain might be a bit of challenge at the moment, especially for agencies.
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City-to-city ridesharing app, ‘BlaBlaCar’ has entered into a partnership with travel search marketplace ixigo. The strategic partnership allows BlaBlaCar to advertise its ridesharing services to ixigoers through its website and apps (trains app, PNR status app and bus app). As a part of this partnership, when ixigoers search for travel options between any two cities in India, they will be shown information about available car ridesharing options on BlaBlaCar as well. BlaBlaCar connects people looking for a city-to-city travel solution with car-owners going in the same direction, so that they can travel together and share the cost of their journey. The service allows users to choose co-travellers in a member community with declared identities and peer-to-peer ratings. ixigo offers travel search and planning across flights, hotels, buses, trains and packages, and has recently entered the taxis and cabs segment. Over 20 million people around the world connect using BlaBlaCar’s people-powered network which is present in 18 countries. BlaBlaCar members include students travelling to see their friends and family, as well as urban professionals returning to their family on weekends. Raghav Gupta, India Country Manager, BlaBlaCar said, “India’s response to BlaBlaCar has been great. In our first 100 days, over 100,000 seats have been offered on BlaBlaCar across 700 unique cities and towns. ixigo’s market leadership on travel search & planning apps made it a natural partner for us. This partnership gives us a potential reach of over 60 million travellers across India. BlaBlaCar provides a strong alternative to people for their city-to-city travel needs especially as public transport infrastructure is insufficient.” Aloke Bajpai, co-founder & CEO, ixigo said, “We are delighted to be bringing Europe’s largest ride-sharing platform closer to Indian travellers. With this partnership we are able to offer ixigoers more choice and convenience over overcrowded buses and hard to get train seats.” BlaBlaCar is a friendly sharing community, not an on-demand or a professional driving service. Price per co-traveller is limited to a partial contribution towards the cost of the journey and does not allow the car-owner to make a profit. The platform makes a distance-based cost recommendation for every journey that is fair and transparent for both parties.
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[caption id="attachment_1968" align="alignnone" width="300"] Best practice pinned on noticeboard[/caption] There is no one size fits all solution to everything in life, similarly, there is no thumb rule when it comes to marketing. Every person is unique, every situation is unique, but is it possible to tailor a product or solution for every individual? Definitely not, this is why we need guidelines, not a set of fixed rules that can be applied universally. In the experiential marketing domain, there are many success stories like the Coca Cola ‘Open Happiness’ campaign that has set a benchmark for emotional connect with consumers through its various initiatives across the globe. Every brand cannot replicate that and should not. However, there can be best practices or in other terms strategies that every brand can leverage to create its own successful experiential campaign for its target consumers. Connect Emotionally This goes without saying, the need for experiential marketing arose for the sole purpose of emotionally building a relationship with a consumer. It is probably the most important reason why brands even explore experiential domain. It is the only factor that separates it from other marketing tactics. Even most cleverly written copy or visually striking ads cannot compare with the emotional power of human-to-human interaction, which is why business meetings are still done in person even today in a world of Skype, FaceTime and WhatsApp. Brands should be investing time in understanding their potential target audience, their overall persona and what kind of messaging can resonate amongst them. To summarize, every activity needs to address how it will impact consumers emotionally. Event Marketing Event marketing is a powerful strategy that many brands have mastered like Red Bull. Creation and fostering of long-term relationship between brands and people happens where there is interaction. An event provides an ideal platform for this to happen. Brands today are increasingly making use of events to build relationships and create positive experience of their brand with customers. Red Bull has created events like Red Bull Flugtag in India, where audiences become participants. Once consumers get involved in an activity physically, they automatically build a relationship. So, event marketing can be used by brands to achieve higher level of consumer engagement that can be turned into long-term consumer loyalty. Sponsorship Sponsorship may not be always about attracting brands to your event but it is also about co-branding for an event that can amplify a brand’s messaging. For example, Red Bull is a co-sponsor of many extreme games and sporting events that makes its flagship drink resonate with consumers as a drink meant to revitalize one when they are doing a tough task such as sports or any activity that has ‘toughness’ quotient to it. Being co-sponsor at major events not allows a brand to convey a subliminal message but gain more visibility at the same time. Social Media This medium provides a parallel platform to engage with customers as well as amplify a regional or event-centric activity to the wide pool of people on social media, who may otherwise not even come to know about an activity of a brand. Not only that, using social media a brand can connect and engage with customers before an activity, during an activity and post an activity. We live in a digital age where news breaks on social media before traditional mediums of news, so it offers a huge potential if leveraged right. Today, brands have started becoming inclusive of social media links and hashtags even in their outdoor advertisements. In 2014’s Super Bowl, most brands were seen carrying social media links and tags on their advertisements, which reflects the increasing importance of this medium for brands today. Follow-Ups Once the engagement happens, the duty of a brand doesn’t end there. The engagement isn’t an eternal proposition and agreement that just happens once. The brands needs to follow up with consumers on a regular basis, so through experiential marketing, brands ambassadors are created where they go to their friends and family and genuinely promote the product. Follow ups also make consumers feel valued by the brand and a sense of relationship is established. However, a brand must ensure that they do not over communicate with consumers that they feel spammed.
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The entertainment industry has witnessed remarkable changes in recent years, and this change has blurred the traditional distinction between agents and managers. It has become typical for managers to behave like agents and vice versa. The relationship between the artist sand their managers is usually the most important one they have. The manager ultimately becomes responsible for looking out for the artists’ best interest when dealing with agents, promoters and press. Thus both artists and their talent managers are accountable for the efficient working of each other in this industry. Here at EE, we delve deep into the issues faced by talent artist managers in the present time. Speaking to a few renowned names in this domain we make an effort to identify and analyze their issues. Listing issues from his industry experience, Mr. Tarasame Mittal, Founder TM Talent Management mentions the following: Problem: Lack of Understanding about the term Talent Management/ Artiste Management/ Celebrity Management – a lot of talent do not understand the process and need of talent management. They either see us as someone who will handle their calls or someone who will get them more business. The truth is these are all short term situations. In long term an association with artist and management can only sustain if both understands the subject matter clearly. Solution: We make sure that before signing any artist/ talent – we make them understand the entire process of Talent management we follow. This includes a presentation, detailed discussions and meeting with the entire team. We try to make them understand the importance of everything- Building Image, Strategic Promotions and Tie Ups, Liaisoning with the Industry, Sales and Service Process etc. Problem: lack of trust – with their past experiences and what they had been hearing about management generally, they don’t really believe in the honesty and transparency of the management. Solution: Honesty and Transparency is the biggest and the most important tool in any association and it’s the same in talent management. We at TMTM have a unique CRM software (1st of its kind in talent management) which gives details and updates of each query / business we discuss and conclude for a talent. The Talent is completely aware of everything what we do for him/ her. Another issue that arises at times is insecurity. This is one of the biggest problem which artists have. When we have good business for them – this problem doesn’t arise, it only happens when the business is low. Although we have not been able to find an apt solution of this as yet as it is more psychological. We try our best to have regular business for them. Mr. Jayesh Shah, Managing Director, Glow Show Entertainment looks at a broader perspective considering both Indian and International artists and relates to the following: Problem: Bollywood artists need to upscale the standard of their performances and need to improve their presentation. With the advent of technology and innumerous bright ideas being incorporated by artists worldwide, people’s expectations have increased to a much greater level. On a general note, International artists are much more punctual, their deliverables are unique and indulging with them is a value for money. Solution: Mr. Shah believes that there is a need for unique concepts to be created. Artists need to work on their packaging and incorporate variations in their performances. They need involve backdrops and be technically advanced and be aware of unique concepts being practiced in the world. Delving deeper into the scenario, Mr. Raj Bhanushali, Director Black Hat Talent Solution & Consulting lists the two problems as follows: Lack of adherence to appearance/call time of a show: There are times when we face this issue especially with some well established artists wherein they don’t adhere to the call time given to them for the show. Their attitude is rather casual & in spite of having ample time to get dressed, do their make-up etc. & be ready for the show, they are late to reach the venue. This happens even when the venue is at the same hotel where they have been put up by the client. It appears that they think it’s acceptable or shall we say their ‘birthright’ to be late. This attitude is highly unprofessional even though they are paid 100% in advance & the standard terms and conditions of the agreement followed by the event industry are totally in favour of the artists. The artist needs to understand that we cannot call them just 5 minutes before their entry as that would pose a serious risk to the timely flow and execution of the event as some of the other activities which are also a part of the event flow (for e.g. speeches by company officials) cannot be timed exactly. Hence it’s paramount that the artist in question be ready back stage at least 25- 30 minutes before their scheduled performance to ensure a smooth and stress-free execution of the event. The uncertainty and stress caused by their late appearance increases the tension faced by the event crew which is often worried that they could miss the timing of their entry which in turn would upset the rest of the event flow. Even if the artist just about makes it on time before the entry I think it’s not acceptable as it adds to the stress for the event crew due to the uncertainty on whether the artist will turn up on time for the entry. It’s anyways a high pressure, stressful job for the event crew. Unreasonable requirements on travel/stay for their entourage There are times when we realise that there are too many people traveling with the main artist(s) whereas the job could have been done smoothly even with a smaller entourage. Just because the cost for such travel/stay is to be borne by the client, the artist shouldn’t expect the client to pay for accompanying family member, additional crew members who have a minimal or no role in their performance. In some cases it would seem that the artist is travelling not for an event but on a holiday with friends which is funded by the client. The solutions to the above issues as he suggests are: I think our industry association EEMA should set some guidelines for the artists & these need to be circulated amongst the artist fraternity. It should encourage agencies to report such incidents or issues faced by them with artists & their managers. I am sure there will also be some cases whereby the artists would be facing issues with the agencies in terms of the deliverables as per the agreement not being met by the event agency. The artists should also be encouraged to report such issues. Although at times it may be difficult for EEMA to ascertain the faulty party as both sides will have their stories to tell. However the artists/agencies that exceed a certain number of complaints against them can be penalised by EEMA. The artist may be warned initially & given a chance. However if they still don’t change their ways & cause trouble for the event manager EEMA should term them as ‘Blacklisted’ & thereby discourage its members to book them. This will ensure that the artists & their managers don’t take event managers for granted. Mr. Sonu Tyagi, Director, Approach Entertainment feels logistics are a great issue while dealing with artists. He says “If an artist asks for a luxury car and a five star accommodation and somehow the client doesn’t provide it, it is when the ego issues arise.” Artists like to be treated as celebrities, and we all know it. So in circumstances like such, there arise trust and ego issues. Another problem as he quotes is at times artists are not in the favour of performing for longer duration at events which they are being asked for either by the client or the crowd. This also results in an issue at times. He says “The problem only arises during the time of the event. We do not generally face any problem while hiring artists.” Solution: I think clients should mention even the minutest of details in the contract to avoid any sort of confusion and disagreement with the artists. This would bring transparency and will be better for both the artists and the clients. These were some of the most important issues faced by talent artist managers these days. There are several other similar issues that talent managers face in this industry. To conclude, talent managers feel that their clients should generate enough trust in them and consider them fair while they quote their prices.
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As India emerges from an extended holiday this weekend, after Navratri festival, many would have had the opportunity to perform the Garba dance at thousands of dandiya events held across the country. Dandiya Raas is a traditional form of dance from the city of Gujarat that is famously performed during the 9 days of Navratri festival. With its recent prominence especially among youth in the country, many event companies have taken the opportunity to host dandiya festivals across the country to celebrate the age old tradition. This year, Delhi city and its surrounding NCR region witnessed its own dandiya festival ‘Dandiya Beats’ at Appu Ghar OYSTERS, Gurgaon. Lasting 10 days, the daily evening event included a specially made statue of goddess durga and a ‘maha aarti’ being performed before the main event. Following the event, dandiya performances would begin with much pomp and circumstance with each night featuring a celebrity gracing the event. The event was organized with four agencies – CRI, E-Factor, Touchwood and Showcraft coming together to make the event memorable. Speaking on the impact that 4 agencies together could make making ‘Dandiya Beats’ a success, the official spokesman for the event, Chief Creative Officer of Showcraft Productions, Lalitt Gattani said, “this association has made Dandiya Beats much bigger, as the strengths of all partner agencies have come together.” Adding further to the conversation, he believes Dandiya Beats is quite different when compared with other such similar events. He said, “there isn’t any other event similar to Dandiya Beats as it is a complete Navratri event for 10 days and no other event is this long. The ambience and music at Dandiya Beats is also very unique and different compared to others.” The NCR region finally witnessed an event this big dedicated to Navratri after 4 years that had mesmerising ambience, maha aarti everyday, a festival-themed ‘Khaas’ bazaar selling chaniya choli, accessories, dandiya sticks etc. Once, a festival presumed to resonate only with middle-aged people is making a comeback with more and more youngsters taking interest in culture based events like these, to which they may not hold ethnic affiliations. “Youths of today are finding Navratri festivals extremely popular as they have been thronging Dandiya Beats in large numbers”, observed Lalitt Gattani based on the turnout. When asked how brands can benefit associating with events like Dandiya Beats, Mr Gattani said, “Dandiya Beats can offer the brands a unique customer activation opportunities for a sustained period as it is a 10 day event.” Showcraft has been a key player in planning and executing the whole event along with its partners. Festivals like these may not be held across the national capital and its surrounding while these could be held in multiple locations within a city like Ahmedabad that celebrates Navratri grandly. When asked about different agencies coming together in a city and holding a mega event for any festival, Mr Gattani replied, “I don’t think that all organisers should come together as everyone has their own niche areas where they excel, which gives people different choices to experience.” However, he believes Dandiya Beats is already a mega event and the crowd will multiply with each passing years.
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Weddingplz.com, online portal dedicated to find the best wedding vendors in town,recently won the People’s Choice Award at Echelon Asia Summit’s Top100 Start-ups organized in Bangalore. “The quality of the start-ups presented here is very good. We had a very tough time going through the judging process,” shared Sanjay Swamy (Co-founder of early-stage VC fund AngelPrime) one of the members at the judging panel. “What is noteworthy is that many of the start-ups presented here are global-, mobile- and customer-centric. The traction of some of the startups is awesome,” said Ravi Gururaj (angel investor and member of Nasscom Product and Executive Council), a prominent member of the Indian start-up community and a judge at the Qualifiers. Raghunandan G, Co-founder of TaxiForSure (an online taxi booking startup recently acquired by Ola), and AshishBedekar, Head of MediaTek Labs (India), were also on the judging panel. Start-ups were selected from a pool of 500 applicants to pitch at the Country Qualifier Round at the Echelon Asia Summit 2015 (results of which will be declared shortly).They are still in the running to be part of the start-ups who will be exhibiting at the Echelon Asia Summit 2015 in Singapore in June.
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If you like attending events every now and then, you probably like creating one right in your own home. Perhaps, you must be already doing that in the form of birthday celebration or just a get together party. For people who like to go big on events, the thought of creating one’s own Intellectual Property must have crossed the mind. As no challenge may be too big to conquer, creating an IP may require some holistic thought process and direction. Let’s look at some of the factors that drive IPs. Behind every execution there is a plan, behind every plan a thought process is involved, a goal is involved. Similarly, behind every IP there may be some key focus areas that a person must think through. As the world we live in shrinks increasingly with time as a result of technology, a property needs to provide some form of experience, which people can connect with and value. Speaking on this subject, Supriya Sobti – Co-founder of Ragasthan says, “Whether it is time or distance, technology has shortened it to the point that people expect instant connect to any property, expect to see value instantly as well as instant recall value of the product. So, an IP is about creating that tangible property with the target audience in mind.” Once a person takes the first leap and organizes an event after putting every sweat and blood into it, it is important to patent it. Every property is unique that is worthy of patenting. Supriya believes that a property is an investment that requires massive resources, there are no shortcuts to it, and one puts in everything that he/she believes in it. Therefore, it is important to protect it. USP: Every person is unique so is his/her creation. A property needs to have an USP in order to not just stand out from the crowd but to provide a unique experience to people who are the real patrols for any property to become successful. Supriya says, “Ragasthan music festival is different from other festivals, which hasn’t been done before, we have to ride on the demographics and provide what they have not experienced before. It might take little bit of time to set up, but the uniqueness always help.” There is no magic formula to create an IP and there is no special personality trait that makes one owner of a successful IP. Supriya believes that it is more about self-belief in a product and in believing that the concept and idea will work. Anil Singh of Procam International said, “an IP is like your baby, you have to believe in it, feed it, raise it and grow it with time.” Another important aspect is ticketing model and pricing for any IP once the basics are in place. However, it can be a complex affair as initial period of any property may not attract sponsors in both value and size. A certain value can also be attributed around ticketing model. For example, Ragasthan carries the a standard pricing for the festival, there is no VIP pass or anything of that sort. She says, “we keep the pricing to minimal to cover the basic costs and pricing is kept same since we believe that music does not discriminate anyone.”
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As humans, we all look for categorizations. They make our lives easier and more manageable.Therefore, it’s only natural that we at EE, after careful scrutiny, bring to you the list of Top 10 Experiential agencies in India today. For marketers and newbies in the experiential world, this list provides the top 10 agencies in India that have made their mark and given an excellent show as far as experiential is concerned. Keeping in mind the scalability factor, the brilliance in innovation, and the management of the audience, we have compiled a list of top 10 agencies. And the winners are – 1. Wizcraft Established in 1988, this agency is responsible for all the magic behind the IIFA Weekend and Awards, Green Globe Foundation Awards, Global Indian Music Academy Awards and the Film & TV Producers. Some of the prestigious projects led by Wizcraft most recently include the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the ICC World Cup’s Opening ceremony in Dhaka, the Oman Tattoo and the celebration of 150 years of India-South Africa friendship. 2. Percept Founded in 1984, Percept Limited, they are responsible for some of the biggest shows such as Sunburn (with over 1,00,000 attendees), Bollyboom, Filmfare, Ad Films, Feature films, Fight Night, GOD, Champions of the world, Windsong, and the list goes on. Celebrating 30 years of excellence, they provide creative services,media services, digital and mobile services and and also have a vertical that handles sports and entertainment for their clients. 3. LIVE Viacom 18 LIVE Viacom18 is a subdivision under Integrated Network Solutions (INS) whose mandate is to create LIVE IP’s in the Music & Entertainment space. They are the ones responsible for creating MTV Xtreme, the Comedy Central Chuckle festival, Supersonic, MTV Bollyland, Nickelodeon KCA India, etc. 4. Only Much Louder The guys behind the multi-city, multi-day Bacardi NH7, A Summer’s Day, The Scene, NH7 Smash Up, and NH7 Shake Down, MTV Bring On The Night, and producing the Cannes Lion-winning show – The Dewarists, OML has made their mark in the events industry. 5. Fountainhead Having commenced operations in 1995, Fountainhead has worked with top global brands like MTV, Philips, Hutchison Max Telecom, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and solid domestic brands like Tata, Blue Star, Aditya Birla Group and Bennett Coleman.They have also handled international acts such as Akon, 50 Cent, INXS, Spyrogyra, Buddy Guy and have created very successful music festivals like The One Tree Music Festival and The Mahindra Blues Festival. 6. DNA Networks A name synonymous with Entertainment in Sports, DNA Networks are the big guys behind events such as IPL, ICC Cricket World Cup Tour, ICC World Twenty20, Champions League, Athens Olympic Torch Relay. Besides sports they have also a number of music festivals such as Sound Awake, Rock’N India (an international annual music festival) and it prides itself on being the only events company in India to have produced live concerts with Music Greats such as Sting, Roger Waters, Lionel Richie, Iron Maiden, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams, Shakira, Aerosmith, etc. 7. 70 EMG Established over a decade ago, 70EMG, they are the curators behind festivals like the India Bike Week – a first of its kind biking festival in India, and the The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai since 2002 with over 6,50,000 visitors each year, the AAAI Goa Festival, South Asia’s answer to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – since 2007, the Nokia IndiaFest with over 12,000 visitors and the GJEPC India International Jewelry Week (over 800 exhibitors & 50,000 business visitors) amongst many others. 8. Encompass Events Having been in the industry for over 15 years and having more than 10000 projects in their pockets, Encompass events are the brains behind the award winning campaigns such as the P&G Thank You Mom mall activation, Gillette Shave For The Soldier campaign and the world launch of Toyota, Etios, People’s Gateway Movement, Mercedes Benz-Star Drive, etc. 9. DDB Mudra Max Founded in 1980, DDB Mudra Max has dabbled in experiential in a way that it successfully executed the 46 day long Grand Kerala Shopping Festival with the Government of Kerala, grabbed the South African Tourism OOH duties, IAA Olive Crown, and many more such properties along with handling experiential campaigns for a number of corporates such as Volkswagen. 10. Showtime Group Having been in the industry for over 30 years now, the Showtime Group has successfully executed events such as the BMW 3 Series launch, BMW Xperience, BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe Launch, DLF Mall of India launch, Swiss Unlimited launch, the Finacle Conclave, Hero Insolito, Jodhpur One World Retreat, MINI Countryman launch, Starbucks launch, etc.
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