India is rapidly evolving as a market today where experiential is being effectively used by brand owners and marketers. From automobiles to FMCG goods and from apparels to even fast food restaurants, the landscape of experiential is swiftly changing and more brands overtime are realizing its importance. However, the country is yet to witness a truly engaging and immersive experiential initiative from an airliner. If one would agree to look at countries like USA or UK, they will be flooded with examples of how airliners created diverse experiences for their customers during holiday seasons or even otherwise. But such examples are rarely present in the Indian context is something one is aware about. The thought is contradicted by Sangeeta Sharma, who heads the marketing for Lufthansa (International group of European airline headquartered in Germany). Sangeeta believes that experiential initiatives have always been an integral part of the marketing strategy of Lufthansa and it is in fact through these initiatives that the global airliner had managed to secure a strong foothold in the minds and hearts of its travelers. Speaking about the marketing philosophy of Lufthansa, Sangeeta says, “We at Lufthansa have always followed a 360* approach in terms of marketing. We want to constantly engage and surprise our target audiences with communication messages that keep them connected with our brand ethos. As a result, we have used ATL campaigns, Digital campaigns and also BTL initiatives to keep our audiences engaged.” The airliner has recently launched a Diwali campaign on a global scale to charm its flyers in the upcoming festive season. Conceived and seeded by Lufthansa India, the #Diwalisurprise campaign has been rolled-out simultaneously across 80 countries and expects a participation of 1 million Indians worldwide. The #Diwalisurprise campaign will give participants a chance to unite with their loved ones by registering their “wish” and getting a chance to win tickets for Lufthansa flights. The campaign offers three interesting avenues for users to participate in – Light up a heart where participants can register their wish to win a ticket for themselves and their loved ones; Illuminate a plane where a user’s wish will add light to help create a digital marvel of a Lufthansa 747-8 illuminated in Diwali lights. Once registered, users will be able to see their wishes progressively illuminating the Lufthansa 747-8 on the microsite home page. In addition to illuminating the plane, with the use of technology, users will also be able to view the ‘Wish Network,’ a live map where their wishes will light up the countries of the sender and recipient. Finally, the campaign includes a Light up a life dimension in the spirit of Diwali where the users wishes help brighten a child’s life. Every registered wish will help children in need through help alliance projects across India. Focusing on the concept behind such experiential initiatives for the brand, Sangeeta says, “Every year we roll out different kind of BTL initiatives that are in synch with the ideology of Lufthansa and one of the main ideas when we are formulating such experience driven campaigns is to offer something innovative every year for our target market.” Lufthansa last year also launched a successful advertising campaign for its brand in the country which won laurels and great admiration from its travelers. When asked about what works better for Lufthansa ATL or BTL initiatives? Sangeeta says, “Nor ATL or BTL, can survive in isolation. BTL is just a more engaging and immersive medium to reiterate what you are trying to communicate through ATL. For us our key messages t are the same but what makes them unique is the manner of storytelling. It is for the same reason that we have only one agency MRM worldwide for both our ATL and BTL campaign needs.”
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Geometry has without a doubt nailed the rural marketing model in India. As pioneers paving the path into our not-so-kind burbs, the agency network in partnership with Unilever and other dominant players has truly cracked the code for experiential in rural India. Need we remind you of the Lifebuoy ‘roti’ campaign or the Vodafone’s ‘ear muff’ at KumbhMela! Two compelling campaigns that really left an impression with many a marketer; and executed by yours truly. Following the collaboration of Geometry and Encompass to form the Geometry Global Encompass Network last week, we catch up with John Goodman, CEO- Asia Pacific, Geometry, for an exclusive. Why did you feel the need to align Encompass with Geometry Global? What wasn’t working? If you look at the two businesses they are amazingly complimentary. Geometry has this whole history of shopper marketing and rural marketing in India, on the other side Encompass has the fantastic ability in urban markets in India driving massive experiential events. So if you put them both together there is virtually no overlap. Although we’ve announced the merger of Encompass and Geometry only yesterday we’ve been working together as a team for almost two years allowing us to best deliver to our client’s needs. This collaboration brings forth perfectly rounded service and scale. Also Encompass was relatively stronger in Delhi, conversely Geometry had a very small setup in Delhi, but now that the forces have joined we’ll be able to service our client needs better. This collaboration makes perfect sense for us; the frustrating thing is we didn’t do this two years ago. Geometry has executed some award winning campaigns in the rural markets but why has its focus been restricted to rural? Well, I wouldn’t say its focus has just been on rural. Just that we’ve been exceptionally successful in Rural markets when nobody else was. There was a lot of clutter in urban markets but nobody was doing rural marketing properly. In 1997 Unilever came to us with the need to increase its penetration in rural India. It really is the company that began driving rural marketing in India. They put the money behind our ideas and we developed a strong rural network. Together we worked on the puzzle piece by piece. Now rural marketing is not child’s play. There are a lot of forces working against you- lack of infrastructure, communication, and distribution creates a difficult environment. We overcame them by developing software, management and standardization of processes and it became a flourishing business for us. The urban markets that Encompass works in is a more competitive arena, in rural India we established dominance with Geometry and continue to strengthen our capabilities. Where do you think experiential marketing currently stands in India? Experiential marketing holds a very strong position in India because the growth potential is much higher for it. I think the television market is growing but slowly, whereas there is a huge opportunity with experiential marketing. To give you statistics the business that we have in China is roughly five times bigger than what we have in India and that doesn’t make any sense if you look at it. The business in India should be half or two-third of what it is in China. This is because in China people have realized they cannot rely on television to communicate and that brands need to get down to low tier cities and smaller towns to grow. Especially the international companies spend a lot of money in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, similar to the scene in India with Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore being the key focus areas. But that’s not where everybody lives and so in order to grow brands need to go to places where everybody lives. Demonstrations and experiences are the best modes of communication for such environments. So how different is the rural environment in China to that in India? Rural China is certainly different from rural India basically because of the nature of society and nature of economic change. In China the migration from villages to cities has happened a lot faster so now 50% of Chinese people live in big cities as opposed to 25% in India. Also, the nature of the political system in China ensures that the government is able to exert total control through representatives and widespread communication channels in all villages. What is the future of experiential in India? Here in India PM Modi has been able to mobilize a large part of rural India with the recent elections. 15 to 20 years ago there was no way to communicate with the people. We actually started with painting walls in villages for our clients like Lifebuoy. What’s changed now is that everyone is equipped with a mobile phone. The price of smart phones is dropping dramatically and that allows access to information, research and so on. Villagers are increasingly using Viber and Whatsapp which was unimaginable some years ago. Drawing a line between digital and physical is just ridiculous now because everyone is connected all the time. The landscape is changing dramatically today and our focus is on simultaneously diversifying and servicing the needs as they arise.
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The Enchanted Valley Carnival (EVC) has always been looked upon as a unique music festival property that combined the fun of a musical campsite alongside professional adventure sports and other distinctive experiences. Recently, the Universal Music Group announced its decision to associate with the musical festival which the entry of this musical giant into the experiential domain. In an exclusive conversation with Devraj Sanyal, MD, Universal Music Group South Asia, EE explores the reasons for this association and what can be expected out of it. Q-How did the idea of associating Universal with Enchanted Valley Carnival come across to you? A-Given my history with the festival business, it was time for us at Universal Music Group India to get into this as we have been increasing out footprints in the nontraditional forms of business as well. Enchanted Valley Carnival was a natural choice as it was the 2nd largest festival in the subcontinent by size & vibe. Interestingly, they were also looking to partner with someone who had a long term vision for the business and thus the match was instantaneous and the rest as they is history. Q-Universal Music Group so far has had a rather restricted footprint in the world of experiential. With this association now, what can be expected from this edition of the carnival? A-Actually we have been in the experiential business for a few years now. We have so far had a midsized live artist management business where we execute somewhere between 400-500 artist engagements annually in India & overseas. So experiential has always been a part and parcel of what of what we have done. With this association we will not only strive to make EVC the most loved stand alone festival in the sub continent but also use the considerable network that Universal commands to use content of the artists both audio & video to increase engagement levels with our core consumer, something that sets us apart from a regular promoter. Q-You have also been instrumental in laying the foundation of Sunburn. Then what prompted you to associating your brand with a different festival like the Enchanted Valley Carnival which is a strong competition to Sunburn? A-My years at sunburn are something that I will cherish forever cause we were part of making history. I have a diametrically opposite view on what you view as competition. I think our market is yet in a very nascent stage & no one needs to compete with anyone. Everyone must grow individually & collaboratively for the entire festival business to grow as a whole. Enchanted Valley Carnival was an easy choice as it was the one poised for a partnership. The promoters had built an envious property on the verge of massive growth & together we intend to deliver that dream. Q-How is the addition of Universal going to benefit the EVC property? What new has been added to the festival this year? A-Prima Facie the addition of Universal as a MNC brand with enormous experience in the branded content & sponsorship space has already shown huge dividends in the finalizing of 2 long term partners by way of Bacardi & Saavn. Now, the festival is being positioned as a heady mix of experiences which make it a must attend for anyone who is into music. Today it has a differentiated positioning of a multi genre music festival, In fact South Asia's only camping and adventure festival. Universal music along with the core team who have had years of experience will work to enhance the experience of Enchanted Valley Carnival this year on every front.
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ONE Rewardz is a mobile based customer engagement platform that serves as an engaging, analytics driven, customizable customer loyalty program for brands. Co-founded by– Ashwin Meshram and Sunpreet Singh Bindra, the platform is a feedback based solution that helps brands incentivize offline as well online interactions with their customers. With considerable brands like BIG Cinemas, Pizza Express, K Sera Sera, Esbeda, Killer Jeans, Eagle Boys Pizza, and Lemon Salons in their portfolio, ONE Rewardz promises that the 24x7 connectivity combined with real-time analytics offered by it enables brands to understand consumer spending patterns which in long term can help them in designing targeted marketing techniques and communication. EE reached out to Sunpreet Singh Bindra, Co-founder, ONE Rewardz to understand how the platform can truly help a marketer in understanding its targeted consumer base. Q- Currently there is a plethora of loyalty program platforms in the marketing industry what seperates One Rewardz from it? A-Well, what we have created with ONE Rewardz is a mobile-based customer engagement solution that serves as an interactive, analytics-driven, customizable customer loyalty program for retailers and brands. Most of the loyalty management solutions run at the brand’s backend. However, we not only provide the technology to brands to manage their loyalty programs but also handle the customer facing functions. Ours is a platform that serves as a bridge between brands and consumers, bringing various engagement functions under one platform. It provides a cohesive mobile platform to end consumers to interact with the various loyalty programs, eradicating the need of carrying physical loyalty cards. Consumers can view loyalty points, available offers anytime, anywhere under ONE umbrella, helping them make an informed buying decision. Q- What are the kinds of analytics that One Rewardz can provide to a brand? A-Analytics are usually a back-end function that analyzes consumer data over a period of time. The insights drawn from the analysis is useful for making key business decisions. Unlike traditional analysis, ONE Rewardz provides real-time analytics dashboard that provides insights as and when they occur, significantly increasing its effectiveness on business decisions. Today, brands have loyalty programs which are just transactional in nature. The idea of loyalty programs has shifted from being customer gratification to just another sales generation tool. Our idea is to maximize the potential of this customer touch point, by turning loyalty programs into customer engagement tools that are critical to the core business of brands. Features like 24x7 connectivity with customers via a mobile based platform, feedback driven association, targeted promotions via image and video notifications to existing customers, geo-fencing tool for increasing store walk-ins and many more make ONE Rewardz a differentiated loyalty program in today’s digital world. Q-How does the platform build in more business for a brand aside from showcasing loyalty program offers? A- So, interestingly, ONE Rewardz also helps determine metrics for brands. The 24x7 connectivity combined with real-time analytics enables brands to understand consumer spending patterns and helps them in boosting in-store and online interactions. Consumers are prompted for their feedback on their mobiles after every interaction with the brand, which is accessible to the decision makers of the brand real-time at an aggregate level as well as individual customer level. This helps brands to take any decisions about the interactions and feedback immediately. Brands are able to understand what their customers prefer, most valuable and frequent customers, customer buying behaviour, what products are in high demand, which outlets have better conversions, impact of marketing campaigns, past regular customers who have not visited the brand stores in last few months and many such insights. We provide a SaaS platform for brands to interact with consumers. For analytics, we have developed a unique algorithm and insights are available to brands in a simple dashboard format. Our platform can seamlessly integrate with a brand’s POS systems and other digital platforms. Q-A real time consumer interaction by brands is also manageable via social media websites. What gives ONE Rewardz an edge here? A- Social media websites like Facebook, Twitter let brands interact with customers but what is needed by brands is to study insights about consumer behaviour. To track changing preferences of customers and alter business decisions accordingly, brands need to adopt analytics. ONE Rewardz provides real-time analytics to brands to be updated with customers’ data and trends. The real-time dashboard provides details on top as well as dormant customers for better planning. It leverages social media for targeted marketing. ONE Rewardz allows consumers to share their shopping experience on social networks, turning brand loyalists to brand ambassadors. It incentivizes the customers with every transaction without them having to interact on social media. The location-based audience targeted via Geo-fencing is only possible with ONE Rewardz.
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From establishing intellectual property like the Camel Art Foundation to organizing a Project Ganga to reiterate the prime ministers ideology about clean India and from digitally celebrating the changed symbol of Google to allowing its customers to send e-rakhi on Raksha Bandhan, Kokuyo Camlin as a brand has experiential deep rooted in its ethos from its inception in the year 1931 itself. But why is experiential so crucial for the brand and why is it not using the ATL mediums to market itself much like its competitors like Pidilite and Faber Castle? Well, we at Experiential Experiential got the answers to these questions directly from the Chief Marketing Officer of Kokuyo Camlin, Saumitra Prasad himself. “Experiential is important to our brand as we understand that the customer today needs to develop an engagement quotient with the products rather than just knowing about its attributes. With that being said, we do use Television as a medium to reach out to the customers for a product which has a mass appeal however as long we are we are talking about products which are subjected to different age groups and sets, we fervently believe experiential campaigns and social media engagement is the way to go for us”-says Saumitra Prasad on the importance of experiential for the brand. So how does the brand divides its marketing spends on different products? To this Saumitra Prasad replies by saying, “For a mass product 70% of the total marketing spends is allocated to TV and social media and 30% is religiously invested into on ground promotional campaigns which at times includes research work as well.” Interestingly Saumitra Prasad also shares that the marketing strategy for Kokuyo Camlin is driven by the idea of offering something for every age group. He says, “We want to create more immersive experiences for every age group with our brand in picture, be it kids, their parents or young artists, we have something for everyone.” On being asked who executes the on ground campaigns for the brand Saumitra says, “While RK Swamy BBDO is the current creative agency for the brand, our on ground promotional campaigns so far have been executed by different agencies on the demands of the campaign.”
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In line with its commitment to deliver intelligent and innovative security offerings, Godrej Security Solutions recently launched Goldilocks, a portable home safe product which breaks away from the general perception that lockers are bulky. The success of Goldilocks is rather crucial for Godrej Security Solutions, as the brand relies on this newly launched product to touch the Rs 860 crore turnover mark this year as against Rs 750 crore which was achieved in the previous financial year. So how is Godrej Security Solutions going to market Goldilocks? Will it adopt more customer engagement activities to sell a product which is highly experiential in its ethos? Well we at Everything Experiential, got the answers to these questions in a exclusive conversation with, Mehernosh Pithawala, AVP & Head Marketing Godrej Security Solutions. “We at Godrej Security Solutions found out that a majority of people had no means of protecting their daily valuables. There was no one specific location where these could be stored together and also be handily retrieved at the same time. The conventional bank lockers and home safes are redundant for this purpose, since they are not easily accessible and are used to store more expensive items. Therefore there emerged a need for a locker which was both portable and provided ease of access and convenience and this consumer driven insight led GSS to develop Goldilocks”-says Mehernosh Pithawala as he explains the ideology behind the development of Goldilocks. When asked on how will the brand market these personal lockers which are priced at 6,499 INR? Mehernosh responds by saying, “The brand has initially launched 'Goldilocks' product in 15 cities and it plans to start selling across India in the next few months. For now the product will be sold through modern trade electronic retail stores such as Vijay Sales, Croma and other online retail platforms.” “Since the product is experience driven by nature we will also be executing some customer engaging activities to give our target group hands on experience of how can the product add value to them. These activities will range from mall activations to experience zones at Godrej Security Solution stores across the country.”-adds Mehernosh Pithawala. Mehernosh also establishes that experiential sits high on the marketing strategy of his brand, which is also gearing up to expand into tier two and tier three cities. He says, “Overall experiential activities are allocated 30% of our overall marketing budget which is a testament to how important it is for Godrej Security Solutions. We soon plan to reach out into the rural market as well to provide them with the same safety and convenience with this product and experiential is the only marketing tool which can help us in achieving our goals there.” Interestingly, home safe products accounted for Rs 120 crore in Godrej Security Solutions' turnover in the previous year. Commenting on the future plans of Godrej Security Solutions Mehernosh Pithawala said, “We plan to sell around 1 lakh Goldilocks products in the next six months .Selling the product overseas will happen but not this year as right now we want to focus on the domestic market.”
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Max is a considerable brand name in the world of retail fashion across the world. Often known to have brought the concept of affordable fashion into the lives of middle class and upper middle class, the brand boasts of mainly using on ground campaigns and the experiential route to market itself. Very recently the brand has associated with Elite, a renowned modeling agency and launched Max Elite Model Look in India. MEML is a competition that aspires to create a strong foothold for the modeling industry in the country, one that stands beyond the conventional bollywood dream. In an exclusive interview with Everything Experiential Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director Max fashion talks about the marketing strategy of the brand and the plans down the road. Q-What drove you to associate with Elite and start Max Elite Model Look India? A-As a brand, Max represents fashion which is very closely associated with Modeling and Bollywood. Now, bollywood has its own fashion style and trends existing however, there is not a strong platform existing for anyone who wants to become a model. It is preconceived notion that if someone is a model today then they will become a actor which is not true. We wanted to create a strong foothold for modeling in India. Elite is a modeling agency that is always scouting for the best talent in this field and they used to do that in India too every year. But, 10 years back as they were not getting strong support from anyone in India they went back. This is how we came into the picture and this is our second association with Elite Model Look. Q- What is the marketing strategy for Max retail? A- We follow a different marketing strategy all together as we have never used ATL mediums to promote ourselves. We have used outdoor but that is it. For us experiential and on ground campaigns are embedded in philosophy as shopping is an experiential concept in its own self. Hence, a major focus of our is to engage consumers through contests and competitions in cinemas, colleges, movie screens etc. Q- What has been your spent in Max Elite Model Look 2015 and what is the overall marketing budget for Max? A- On this particular competition we have invested 6 cr which is apart from the barter deals made. 1500 cr is the overall valuation of our brand today and 4% of that is allocated for our marketing initiatives. Out of the same, we make sure that at least 50% is spent on experiential initiatives. Q-Most international fashion brands have also went on to create their intellectual properties in the genre of fashion and modeling. Is that somewhere down the line for Max too? A-Well no, simply because that is something we are not good at. However, we would certainly like to associate if something interesting comes up. Q-What is the current market share of Max retail in the market today and how do you plan to increase it? A-The retail market in the country is valued somewhere around 50000 cr and 1/3 of that which amounts to 20000 is organized retail. Since we fall in the organized retail category our market share is somewhere around 7% and to increase we will continue to associate with such events and come out with more engaging initiatives for our customers.
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With an illustrious career spanning over 20 years in the events domain, Gitikka Ganju Dhar needs no introduction. Everything Experiential’s Shantanu Jain caught up with the multiple times ‘Emcee of the Year’ awardee in a candid rapid fire. Q- Your first assignment as an anchor? A- 20 years ago for the premier of Subhash Ghai’s movie ‘Pardes’ which starred Shahrukh Khan and Mahima Chaudhary. Q- How much were you paid? A- 10,000 INR. Q- Your most memorable experience as an anchor? A- I’ve done a few shows where Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam was the guest of honor and during my second show in his presence he called me by my name, patted me on the back and appreciated me. That is perhaps one of my fondest memory. Q-In terms of clothing, what are you most comfortable in? A-I probably don’t even comb my hair when I am at home. I am just a very busy mother taking care of my house and work. But usually I am dressed up in a SalvarKameez or Jeans and T-shirts. Q-Have you ever had an emotional moment on stage? A-Yes, when I was awarded Emcee of the year award in 2012 it was a very emotional moment for me. Q-When not on the stage what do you like to do? A- I rarely get anytime to do anything else. My day begins with sending my daughter to school and my husband to office. Then I manage the staff, my finances, investments, our families and my own work but if there is still a little time left I like to read. Q-If you are in a bad mood. What is that one thing that will make you happy instantly? A-A good film lifts up my spirits and also retail therapy is one thing that can instantly get me in a good mood, though I know it is a very bad habit. Q-Your most embarrassing moment on stage would be? A- There isn’t one. Whenever I say a wrong name or make a genuine mistake I feel that is embarrassing at times but fortunately nothing big has happened till now. Q-Your favorite event agency to work with? A- I like working with Encompass when Roshan Abbas’s core team is executing the event or the core team from Wizcraft is executing an event. The basic idea behind this is working with the team that made the event business what it is today. (The article has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)
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