The new realm of Experience Creation
Transcription
The new realm of Experience Creation
Events Entertainment Promotions MICE BTL Sponsorship Sports 4 jul 2012 www.eventfaqs.com MAIN ISSUE 56 PAGES INCLUDING COVERS | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 3 `100/- The new realm of Experience Creation Market Pulse: “Open your world to music with Heineken Green Room” p 36 Samar Singh Sheikhawat, United Breweries In the trenches with the masters of trash p 39 Warren D’Souza, SOUND.COM In Focus: Experiential Incentives 2012 p 22 IIFA 2012 in Singapore p 24 Porsche design BlackBerry Smartphone launch p 31 The third edition of the Red Bull Street Style p 32 KidZania launches in India p 34 RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month MARKET PULSE 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 03 EDITORIAL TEAM: KARISHMA HUNDALANI karishma@eventfaqs.com +91 98212 80003 KARAN IYER karan@eventfaqs.com +91 80977 68788 RACHEL GEORGE rachel@eventfaqs.com +91 98197 77983 RACHAEL RAJAN rrajan@eventfaqs.com +91 97660 71741 CONTRIBUTORS Roshan Abbas, MD, Encompass DESIGN TEAM: VINAYAK ALLE PRASAD KARAMBAT MARKETING SERVICES: VISHAL NAGDEV vishal@eventfaqs.com +91 98212 24987 ARNOB BANERJEE arnob@eventfaqs.com +91 98195 40004 TANVI ASHER tanvi@eventfaqs.com +91 92245 72293 SHABNAM CHARANIYA shabnam@eventfaqs.com +91 80077 96990 POONAM KHINCHI poonam@eventfaqs.com +91 90046 87566 CIRCULATION: RAMESH PATIL ramesh@eventfaqs.com They say that change is the only constant. How true a statement this is! And if we are going to change, constantly, why not ensure it is for betterment, for progress, for evolution? As an industry we’re now equipped with equal opportunity and access to knowledge. The only thing that differentiates one from the other is an individuals approach to challenges. The biggest challenge of course being, to do the right thing! We’ve had the good fortune of exchanging many good and some not so good remarks on our Anniversary issue. While compliments and appreciation are the most effective motivators, genuine feedback is what allows us to take on change in the right direction. Here’s sharing one ‘Letter to the Editor’ in particular: Dear Editor, Congratulations on your brilliant 5th Anniversary issue! All your contributors gave great insights into the business. Great to learn more about them too! However, I was disappointed to note that nobody highlighted the importance of Presenters. ACCOUNTS & ADMIN: PURVESH BHATT accounts@eventfaqs.com Kanishka Singha of Thot Media wished for “An emcee who actually practices the name of my clients’ German/Japanese boss.” And Ajay Kakkar, Aditya Birla Group, did say “When you have an expert who can fly the plane, why even attempt to get into the cockpit yourself?” Alas, he was talking of Event Planners, not Presenters. But I’ll take his analogy even further: “When you’ve built a Dreamliner, why choose a rookie pilot?” ExM is a monthly magazine by EVENTFAQS, publishers of India’s only platform for events and experiential marketing www.eventfaqs.com. Good presenters -- and there are many of us -- make a significant difference to the tone and tenor, style and substance, performance and pleasure of an event. Our job is to convey the unique significance of the occasion. Presentation is not an easy skill. I have seen good shows ruined by bad compering, and shows made great by great comperes. Presenters/ Hosts/Comperes play a central role in shaping major Events. I felt it was important that their contribution be acknowledged too. Subscriptions are ` 1,000/- (India) and US$ 120/- (ROW) per year (12 issues), including postage. Mail at exm@eventfaqs.com for more details. Printed by: Vishal Vashulal Nagdev 202, Brooke Ville, Near Magnet Super Market, Mogul Lane, Matunga (West), Mumbai – 400 016, Maharashtra, India. Published by: Vishal Vashulal Nagdev on behalf of (or owned by) EMDI Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd. And printed at VSSU Graphics, Unit # 36, Ideal Industrial Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai – 400 013 Maharashtra, India and published at EMDI Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 4th Floor, IES College Campus, Opp. Lilavati Hospital, Bandra Reclamation., Bandra – West Mumbai – 400 050, Maharashtra, India. Editor: Karishma Jamnu Hundalani. This issue contains 56 pages including covers. Congrats once again on your 5th anniversary! Kabir Bedi karishma@eventfaqs.com 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 04 CONTENTS Event Briefs 06 - 11 Cover Story 14 - 19 Promo Power | MICE | Live | Sports Rush | Media Active The new realm of Experience Creation Industry Watch 12 - 13 Destination | Events | Developments | Venues In Focus 22 - 35 The second edition of Experiential Incentives travels to Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai IIFA 2012 returns to Singapore to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema The third edition of the Red Bull Street Style Going the Kids’ way, all the way... Porsche design BlackBerry Smartphone launch in India Glimpses 49 - 53 Also Featured 21 RoshanDaan Market Pulse 36 - 39 “Open your world to music with Heineken Green Room” Samar Singh Sheikhawat Senior VP (Marketing), United Breweries In the trenches with the masters of trash Warren D’Souza, Managing Director, SOUND.COM RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month MARKET PULSE 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 06 Promo Power LG Electronics India has rolled out its nationwide MallikaE-Kitchen Cooking Contest 2012. This is the fourth year of the amateur chefs cooking competition that will provide yet another opportunity for women to showcase their culinary skills at a national level. This year, the contest takes place in around 100 cities and will conclude in October. Dr. Y.V. Verma, Director, Home Appliances, LG Electronics India said: “The campaign has received amazing responses in the last three seasons as, till date, over 10,000 women have participated in the same.” McDonald’s spices up the summer and its range with Spice Fest McDonald’s catered to the Indian taste bud by launching a two-month long Spice Fest, which ended on June 1, across the four metros. The launch of this fest was supported by a 360 degree marketing campaign with a mix of TVCs, print, outdoor and in store promotions, which were executed by Milestone Brandcomm. “We seized the opportunity to unveil this range with communication that touched the consumers on multiple fronts like malls, spice markets, and McDonald’s outlets, right up to their residential premises,” said Hanoz Patel, Founder Member & Managing Partner, Milestone Brandcom. Nickelodeon and Sonic bring Power Rangers to Mumbai and Delhi Tupperware launches nationwide ‘She Can, You Can’ campaign Tupperware has announced its latest campaign, ‘She Can, You Can’, which focuses on empowering the women of today and helping the womenfolk lead a self reliant lifestyle. This campaign has been conceptualized and executed by IBD India, a Percept-Hakuhodo company. Jyotsna Chauhan, COO, IBD Brands said: “For over 16 years, Tupperware has been giving women in India a platform to exercise their economic freedom. With ‘She Can, You Can’, the idea is take this philosophy to the next level by setting up role models who can be emulated.” The on-ground aspect includes RWA activities and She Can events across various pockets of the country. Eicher Tractors initiates Vijayi Bhava campaign Eicher Tractors has initiated ‘Vijayi Bhava’, a campaign in support of Olympian Sushil Kumar for the forthcoming Olympics. Organized by Impact Communications, the Eicher Vijayi Bhava rath will traverse Haryana so people can register their support for Kumar and the Indian team on a graffiti wall of 5,150 sq. ft. Eicher Tractors also aims to enter the Limca Book of Records for the largest graffiti wall in India. Rajesh Jain, Sr. General Manager Marketing, Eicher Tractors said: “Sushil Kumar and Eicher Tractors symbolize rural India, one is the nation’s pride and other is the farmer’s pride. Sushil is all set to bring gold medals for India and Eicher Tractors to bring golden crops in fields.” Parle conducts aromatic newspaper campaign Nickelodeon and Sonic organized a Power Rangers visit to Mumbai on June 9 at Infinity Mall. The same event also took place in Delhi on June 16 and 17. The event agency responsible for the same was Percept D’Mark. A month long van activation also took place across 15 cities in U.P., managed by KW Promotions. Parle organised a multi-city promotion campaign for its ‘Caffé Mocha’, a new variant of the Hide & Seek brand. The campaign, managed by ideas@bharatkapadia. com, involved distributing morning newspapers with the aroma of coffee. The initiative took place in Hyderabad on June 4 and in Chennai on June 6. Nina Jaipuria, Channel Head, Nickelodeon said: “Power Rangers is a huge success and is ruling kids’ hearts in India and globally. The show has been successful at engaging viewers on screen, and this event takes it off screen. We believe off screen initiatives allow kids to come closer to the characters they love and makes what they see on screen tangible.” Bharat Kapadia, Founder, ideas@bharatkapadia.com, said: “We created the aromatic essence and provided a complete consultation on the execution to newspapers. The beauty of this newspaper-exclusive aroma innovation is that every new fragrance is a unique experience and hence the innovation doesn’t get stale. We can create any aroma for newspapers.” For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com LG rolls out fourth edition of Mallika-E-Kitchen Cooking Contest Encompass executes UltraTech Anmol Rishtey Awards CRI Events executes Vodafone’s East Star event in Kaziranga Encompass managed the UltraTech Anmol Rishtey Awards on June 5 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon, Mumbai. Through this event, UltraTech Cement wanted to felicitate retailers with the highest sales in the Mumbai region. Approximately 2,500 people attended the event. Every quarter, Vodafone organises a ‘Star’ event which is the biggest internal event in each zone. These events are organised to celebrate the success of the zonal manager of the winning zone. The East Star event took place on June 8 at the IORA Resort in Kaziranga, Assam, and was executed by CRI Events. Overall, the evening was attended by around 125 people. Nikhita Arora, Manager Client Services, Encompass said: “Our aim was to decode the event in a way that connects with the retailer audience. We rechristened the event ‘UltraTech Anmol Rishtey Awards’, a name that immediately created the emotional connect and ensured that the event proved to be a celebration of the bond UltraTech shared with its retailers and stockists.” Sumit Khanna, Director CS & BD, CRI Events said: “Vodafone is our key client and we always execute this event for them. The beauty of this event is that every quarter, it must take place in the city where the winning zonal manager is based, without fail.” 70 EMG executes SBI Life Insurance’s annual day celebrations SBI Life Insurance organised its seventh Annual Day Celebrations, titled Sangam 2012. This event, which took place on June 22 in Mumbai, was managed by 70 EMG. Attended by 1,200 people consisting of SBI Life employees, their spouses and children, the event featured performances by the employees. Commenting on the event, Ami Bhatia, Asst. Manager Projects, 70 EMG said: “SBI Life Sangam has been an established event for the past six years. As this was an Annual Day Event, creating design and content which reflected the celebratory spirit of the event was very important. Moreover, this being our first project with them, we aimed at not only matching their expectations but also setting the standard high in comparison to the years gone by.” MOMS IES designs Tata Motors stall at Global Investors Meet 2012 The second edition of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) took place at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center on June 7 and 8. Tata Motors was the gold sponsors for the GIM 2012. Tata Motors appointed MOMS IES, a specialist division of Madison World, to create a stall design which would showcase the brand and its commercial and passenger vehicles prominently. Sridhar Katti, Regional Sales Manager Buses, South, Tata Motors said: “Through this stall, we wanted to engage prospective buyers of commercial and passenger vehicles, along with the SMEs who want to be vendors and suppliers for the major investors. We saw around 6,000 to 8,000 footfalls.” CS Direkt manages Canon Emerging Leaders’ Summit in Goa To felicitate the achievements of 2011 and motivate the emerging partners of the OIS division regarding future opportunities, Canon organised the Canon Emerging Leaders’ Summit (CELS) at Park Hyatt, Goa from June 5 to 7. The event was managed by CS Direkt. More than 60 partners came down to Goa from over 40 cities. Sanjeev Pasricha, MD and CEO, CS Direkt Group of Cos. said: “We have handled several of Canon’s events. This time, it was even more important for us to raise the bar for the Tier II and Tier III partners of Canon, ensuring that the Emerging Leaders Summit, which we did for the first time, was executed flawlessly.” Encompass manages the APPC convention in Russia This year’s Asian Paints Privilege Club (APPC) took place in St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, and was executed by Encompass. The APPC convention was a month long activity, taking place from May 16 to June 17. The convention catered to 1,200 dealers, divided into five groups. This was the 12th year in which Encompass executed the Asian Paints Privilege Club. Kunal Rai, Associate Account Director, Encompass said: “It was a proud moment for us, working on such a landmark event. The inputs, support and involvement that we received from the Asian Paints team helped us in successfully executing the event. The event was quite a challenge, as we had to work within crunched timelines, along with the language barrier which we had to face in Russia. The entire planning and the team work paid off and the event was executed flawlessly.” For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 07 MICE 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 08 Live Colonial Cousins performed on June 3 at Shilpa Kala Vedika, Hyderabad to raise funds for Sparsh Hospice, the first palliative care hospice in Andhra Pradesh, where terminally ill patients are given free treatment and care. The event, designed and produced by RazzMatazz Entertainment Networks, was attended by 2,530 people. Giving the spotlight to the next generation of India’s fashion designers, in May 2012, Vogue India, in collaboration with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), launched an annual event to celebrate these designers, ‘Vogue India Fashion Fund 2012’. The event was executed by Fountainhead Events & Promotions on June 8 Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Rahul Ganapati, Managing Partner, RazzMatazz said: “The Rotary Club wanted to raise funds for Sparsh Hospice and had approached RazzMatazz and other event agencies for the same. We provided various proposals including doing a Colonial Cousins concert since they had not been to Hyderabad in a while and it would easy to sell tickets. The event helped raise between Rs. 80,00,000 and 1,10,00,000.” Anlyn Barretto, Project Manager, Fountainhead Events & Promotions said: “Having worked with Conde Nast before, we were approached to execute this event as well. We were responsible for executing all aspects of the event including the logistics, manpower, sets, lighting requirements for the production house, and the overall execution of the event.” Pantaloons organises grand finale of Fresh Face Hunt 7th edition of Bangalore Fashion Week to begin in July The grand finale of the Pantaloons Fresh Face Hunt was held on June 23 at R City Mall in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, wherein 20 contestants walked the ramp as part of the finale, hoping to become the face of Pantaloons. The journey began three months ago, when entries were invited at each of Pantaloons’ 65 stores. The seventh edition of the Bangalore Fashion Week (BFW) is scheduled to be held from July 26 to 29. Organized and executed by Dream Merchants, the property has been conceived with the vision of showcasing the Indian fashion industry globally. The BFW will include over 30 fashion designer shows, and four lifestyle parties. Madhumita Dutta, Chief Marketing, Pantaloons said: “It’s great to see that Pantaloons Fresh Face Hunt has been so well received across the country. We are delighted that we could make the dreams of many come true and expose the youth of our country to a life changing experience in the fashion fraternity.” Feroz Khan, Creative Director, Dream Merchants said: “The 7th edition of Blenders Pride Bangalore Fashion Week will be creating history in the world of fashion in India and will be redefining the way fashion events are planned in India. All shows at BFW will have customized music based on the theme of the show and in tandem with the Designer Look Board. The objective is to give a wholesome experience to the audience, visually and aurally.” Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and ONLY’s Super Saturday returns to Mumbai June 9 saw the return of ‘Super Saturday’ to Mumbai, courtesy of Bestseller Brands Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and ONLY. This all day, all you can shop shopping carnival saw a record setting 32,000 shoppers clocking in from 7 AM. Cream Events was responsible for organising this shopper’s paradise, and taking it to Bangalore and Ahmedabad on June 16, and Delhi on June 23. 9XO and Sony Music’s Zomba bring ‘Crazy Legs’ to India 9XO and Sony Music’s Zomba brought hip hop pioneer and b boying dancer Richard Colón, a.k.a Crazy Legs, to India. During his visit from June 25 to 30, Crazy Legs promoted b boying and conducted workshops in Mumbai and Delhi. He also performed a DJ set on June 28 and 29 at F Bar in Mumbai and Delhi. Wilson D’Souza, Senior Manager, Cream Events said: “Super Saturday last year got us a fantastic response and this year beat all our expectations. We spread the news via SMS, BBM broadcasts, Facebook posts, Twitter and emails, and the response was crazy. Preparing ourselves for a wave of shoppers this year, we were fully prepared to manage everything and it all went off brilliantly!” Luke Kenny, Content Head, 9XO said: “At 9XO, we are committed to introducing the popular youth subcultures and the best of English and international music. We are confident that b boying workshops by ‘Crazy Legs’ will definitely open up many avenues for aspiring artistes in India.” For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com Fountainhead organizes event for Vogue India Fashion Fund Colonial Cousins perform in Hyderabad Saran Corporate Soccer 5s enters Limca Book of Records Saran Sports has entered the Limca Book of Records with its Saran Corporate Soccer 5s being recognized as the world’s longest running and largest corporate soccer 5s event. The Saran Corporate Soccer 5s has witnessed participation from 221 corporate teams over the past 11 years. In 2011, a record 83 corporate teams participated from India’s leading companies across sectors. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 09 Red Bull brings Red Bull X-Fighters Jams to India for the first time Red Bull X Fighters Jams came to India on June 30 at the India Gate Lawns in New Delhi, with some of the world’s best freestyle motorcross riders. Red Bull X Fighters Jams is a series of worldwide exhibitions which travels across the globe giving fans a taste of the World Tour. Sanjiv Saran Mehra, CEO, Saran Sports, said, “We are absolutely thrilled to enter the Limca Book of Records. This event serves as the ideal platform for busy executives to relive their school and college days. The tournament has successfully managed to create a stress free environment for relaxed interaction away from the pressures of the work place and, in the process, has led to team building and camaraderie among the employees.” A Red Bull spokesperson said: “Red Bull X Fighters Jams is the satellite event of Red Bull X Fighter World Tour. The World Tour has grown to become the biggest and most respected freestyle motocross event on the planet. This event has a cult status in the countries that they have visited, with top riders from across the globe putting up an insane show in front of thousands of people.” The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group organises polo tournament in Drass Ninth JK Tyre Rotax Max National Championship completes round one The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group organised The Lalit Suri Polo 2012 at the Viswanathan Stadium in Drass. The polo tournament, which concluded on June 9, was conceptualised by Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and MD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, to promote tourism in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Suri said: “We are glad to know that our ethos of promoting the destination through initiatives such as the Drass Polo match has helped the region to attract tourism in the state.” Grand finale of Pepsi T20 Football in June The grand finale of the Pepsi T20 Football tournament took place on June 17 at Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi. Footballer Didier Drogba who plays for Chelsea was present at the finale. He will coach the national winners of the tournament. The winning team will get an opportunity to play an exhibition football match with some of the players of the Indian cricket team: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Vijay. While the national winning team will be led by actor Ranbir Kapoor, the opposite team with cricketers will be led by MS Dhoni and be coached by Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia. The ninth edition of the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Championship is currently underway. The first round of the same took place on June 9 and 10 in Hyderabad. The second leg of this youth-centric event is slated to take place in July, also in Hyderabad. The event is seeing participation from the biggest motorsports academies in India: Team Meco racing, Team Rayo racing, Team Mohites racing, and Team Maini racing. The participants are divided into three segments: Micro Max, with participants between 7 to 12 years; Junior Max, with participants of 13 to 15 years; and Senior Max, with participants aged 15 to 20 years. Bharti Airtel kicks off Airtel Rising Stars with Man-U Bharti Airtel has announced ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ (ARS) in association with Manchester United. ARS is a rigorous scouting program which will cover 16 cities over three months and choose 12 footballers to attend a week long training camp with Manchester United in England. The on-ground execution will be done by Procam International. “Aimed at recognizing and training talent, we are excited to launch the hunt for the best under 16 soccer players across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” said Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel. For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com Sports Rush RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month MARKET PULSE An Escape from Bustling City Life Where the Creme-de-la-creme of the town meet up to indulge in Flowing Fresh Beer & Foot-Tapping Music For Events & Activations contact Neha +91 81302 00166 | +91 99903 83131 First Floor , Global Foyer, Golf Course Road, Sector 43, Gurgaon 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 11 Media Active To celebrate her winning streak of seven years in a row, RED FM’s RJ Malishka had a treat for her listeners. In a promotion to celebrate her wins, the ‘Malishka Hawa Mein’ radio spot was conducted literally ‘Hawa Mein’. Perched atop the busy traffic junction at Mumbai’s Mahim Beach on June 11 from 4.30 to 8.30 PM, Malishka had her fans tune in with a makeshift studio on a hoarding. Radio City 91.1 FM organised a flash mob as part of the finale of its ‘Radio City Summer Workshop Season 5’, which began on the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5. Started with a special theme of ‘Save Water’, this year’s finale witnessed a flash mob of over 100 kids who performed to a special track choreographed by dance guru Ayaaz Sheikh at Fun Mall, Lucknow. Cream Events was appointed to execute this radio show. Karan Kapoor, Manager Operations, Cream Events said: “The challenge was to make sure we grab maximum eyeballs with Malishka’s outdoor show. The setup grabbed lots of attention with cars stopping and people joining the crowds at the radio The 20 day summer workshop held in Lucknow provided a chance for kids to discover their talent while having fun during their vacation. The 20 days of the workshop saw the kids being trained in Russian Ballet and Street Jazz by Sheikh. 92.7 BIG FM launches BIG Tamil Melody Awards 2012 AXN brings Cyril Takayama to India to promote new show AXN brought down illusionist Cyril Takayama to India to promote his latest show ‘Cyril’s Family Vacation: Hawaii Edition’. The channel roped in Pentagon Events and Activations to execute a press conference, an exclusive trade party and an optical illusion by Takayama as part of the promotion. Takayama was in India for the promotion activities from June 13 to 16. Khushbu Vaid, Director, Pentagon Events and Activations said: “I think behind all great magic, there is a team that ensures that every piece of the act is in perfect coordination. We are happy to have helped Cyril and AXN achieve that perfection and make people experience their once in a lifetime experience.” Radio City Connect and Asian Paints colour Mumbai with ‘Lift Kara De’ Radio City Connect and Asian Paints brough colour to Mumbaikars’ lives with the campaign, ‘Lift Kara De’. This almost month long activity, which concluded on June 14, was spread across restaurants and Cinemax outlets, where people received a complimentary dessert or redeemable food coupons. Dabbawalas were also involved as around 15,000 sweet boxes were kept inside the dabbas as a surprise for people. Ashit Kukian, COO & President, Radio City 91.1 FM said: “This activity was the outcome of innovative ideation and great execution. This 360 degree format leveraged the uniqueness of surprises in every person’s life and ensured a long-lasting impression in their minds.” To celebrate 82 years of Tamil Melody Music, 92.7 BIG FM announced the launch of the BIG Tamil Melody Awards 2012. The awards show, which took place on June 28, is an exclusive platform honoured singers and musicians in various categories who have crafted the year’s popular songs. Music directors Bharathwaj and James Vasanthan, along with singer Unnikrishnan, were the jury members for the awards. The awards line up this year had a total of 16 categories. 15 categories were nominated by the jury and then voted on by listeners, while the remaining award was confered directly by the jury. 9XM celebrates World Music Day with India’s first digital music wall Celebrating World Music Day on June 21, 9XM organised an on ground activation aimed at Bollywood music fans. The channel created India’s first digital music wall, 9XM Wall of Music, where fans could download the latest Bollywood songs for free. The 9XM Wall of Music was installed at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai and DAME Shivaji Stadium in Delhi. Amar Tidke, Sr. VP & Content Head, 9X Media Group said: “June 21 is celebrated as World Music Day across the world. As India’s leading music channel, 9XM has become synonymous with first of its kind innovations. We are confident that this offering made World Music Day memorable for Bollywood music fans.” For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com Radio City ends summer workshop with flash mob ‘Malishka Hawa Mein’ goes ‘Hawa Mein’ with Cream Events 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 12 Industry Watch Destination Events Australia to woo Indian travellers with 2020 India Strategic Plan World Travel Awards in Kenya With around 50 million Indian tourists expected to travel abroad by 2020, Tourism Australia has launched the ‘2020 India Strategic Plan’ to woo these tourists to their shores. This plan targets 300,000 visitors from India by 2020, and spends up to AUD 2.3 billion. As part of this strategy, Tourism Australia will look beyond Mumbai and Delhi to roll out its marketing activities. Tourism Australia’s MD Andrew McEvoy said: “This is a unique and complex market that is becoming increasingly competitive and which needs a clear, strategic approach to build a platform for any substantive future success.” Israel invests to boost Indian tourism As it becomes the single largest source for incoming tourism to the Jewish state from Asia, Israel plans to open a representative office in India and invest about NIS 2.5 million to boost tourist inflow from the country “Over the last two years, the numbers of tourists visiting Israel from India has doubled, with about 40,000 visitors a year,” said Israel’s Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov. “The tourism potential of this market has not yet been realised and the Tourism Ministry is working to expand its contacts with the tourism industry in India.” South African Tourism woos India’s high income segment With more Indian tourists going to South Africa, its national tourism agency is focussing on tapping three high income segments. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism said: “The segments we are looking at are young couples with dependent children; young singles /couples with no children seeking adventure tourism; and middle aged couples who travel frequently and stay in five-star hotels.” A study on Indian tourists indicated that 528,000 Indians who would fall under the three focus categories of the agency. Rupee goes down and Goa tourism goes up? With the depreciation of the rupee, Goa is set to witness an increase in tourists visiting the state since Indians are cancelling their plans to holiday abroad. Travel operators claimed that inquiries for packages to Goa have increased and expected June to witness a huge influx of tourists. Besides the fall of the rupee, Ralph De Souza, Spokesperson, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, was also of the view that Goa would attract more domestic tourists as the state government had cut the luxury tax for the off-season in the budget. J&K Tourism and BDA organise tourism festival in Bhaderwah The town of Bhaderwah, situated in the Doda district of Jammu, hosted a four-day tourism cum cultural festival from June 24 to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the region. Various government departments and private stakeholders set up stalls at the venue to provide first hand information regarding government schemes and the variety of products available to the public. World Travel Awards plans to host its first ceremony in Kenya, reflecting the country’s continuing evolution into a world class tourism destination. The awards’ Africa & Indian Ocean Ceremony 2012 will be in Nairobi on Sept. 26, with top decision makers in the region’s travel and tourism sector scheduled to attend. SITE EMEA Forum 2012 The SITE EMEA Forum 2012 took place in Berlin from June 18 to 20 at the ICC Berlin and the Eco Scandic Berlin. Bearing the theme, ‘Summer feeling in Berlin’, the MICE education and business networking event was attended by representative from 19 countries. India’s first global convention for direct marketing DMAi Convention 2012 will take place at the Renaissance Convention Center Powai in Mumbai from Aug. 1 to 4. This convention will be a single platform for all multichannel marketing and will provide information on the trends, latest news, best practices and industry insights. Cannes Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions winners The festival took place from June 17 to 23 in France and was attended by over 11,000 industry peers. The Promo & Activation Grand Prix and the Direct Grand Prix were awarded to Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s ‘Small Business Gets an Official Day’ for American Express. In the PR category, JWT San Juan took home Puerto Rico’s first ever Grand Prix for ‘The Most Popular Song’ for Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. IT&CM India 2012 to take place in August Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings India is scheduled to take place from Aug. 21 to 23 at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Delhi NCR. This is an international MICE business, education and networking event with the intention of ‘Promoting India to the World and the World to India’, and is organised by TTG Events. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 13 Venues Developments New business and conference facilities at Alila Bangalore Most Technical India sole distributors of the Ai Media Server Alila Bangalore, a newly launched business lifestyle hotel in Bangalore, now offers new business, conference and events facilities. The Lakeview Ballroom caters up to 120 delegates theatre style, and two meeting rooms seating up to 20 delegates. All event space can be arranged to suit any occasion, from boardroom to theatre seating or extending onto the roof podium overlooking the infinity pool and the city skyline. Kuala Lumpur Renaissance introduces new conference venues The Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel is introducing new LifeStyle meeting spaces – the R Studios. With its open air terrace, it is ideal for private events, be they inspirational business gatherings or a grand social soiree. R Studio 1 is the larger of the two facilities with room for 250 in theatre-style seating or 150 persons for a banquet or reception. Both R Studios can also be set for classroom, u shape or board room seating, or may be combined into a grand studio holding up to 300 persons for a reception or 250 for a banquet. Kochi to get airport trade fair centre June 9 saw Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurating the Cochin International Airport Trade Fair Centre near VIP Road, leading to the airport. Spread over five acres, the business centre will have a total area of 43,000 sft. Fully airconditioned, the centre will be equipped with modern facilities and will be able to host international conferences and large-scale exhibitions. Protea Hotel OR Tambo Airport unveils new conference facilities At the end of June, Protea Hotel OR Tambo Airport unveiled new conferencing facilities which can be used for events like car launches and board meetings. The new facilities boast state of the art AV equipment including mounted data projectors, electronically controlled drop down screens, and built in PA systems. From the end of June, the hotel’s conferencing capacity comprises of seven conference rooms and two boardrooms. Port Vila receives new conference centre Warwick International Hotels has completed the construction of a new conference centre in Port Vila, Vanuatu, which is the largest of its kind in Vanuatu. Named ‘Farea Pacifik’, it has more than 1,000 sqm. of conference space, and can seat up to 800 people for banquets and allows flexibility for smaller groups with from more intimate and comfortable layouts. Theatre style seating will allow more than 1,000 attendees. Courtyard By Marriott opens first hotel in Saudi Arabia On June 10, Courtyard by Marriott opened its first hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 286 room Courtyard Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter has state of the art equipped meeting rooms ideal for social gatherings and business meetings. The hotel also features two boardrooms and four meeting rooms with over 700 sqm. of flexible meeting space. Manufactured by Avolites Media Ltd., London, the ‘Ai Media Server’ has been dubbed the world’s most powerful video media server. Ai can be used for live events and playback shows; at museums, amusement parks; theatrical productions; and digital signages. 70 EMG becomes exclusive event partner for IIJW 70 EMG has become the exclusive event partner for the India International Jewellery Week 2012, to be held at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, from Aug. 19 to 23. Innovations in content and show running are expected. MCI India appointed Conference Managers for COP11 The 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity is to be held from Oct. 1 to 19 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre & HITEX Exhibition Centre. This will attract more than 15,000 delegates. TracyLocke India appoints Samir Mehta as head of operations TracyLocke India, a part of the DDB Mudra Group, announced that its operations will be headed by Samir Mehta, Head Business & Operations. Pradeep Ramakrishnan, VP, DDB MudraMax, Media, will also be given additional responsibility as Head Strategy & Insights, TracyLocke India. JWT to acquire majority stake in Hungama Digital Services JWT has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Hungama Digital Services, the digital and promotions marketing division of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment. Hungama’s activations arm, Hungama Promo Marketing, will also become a part of Hungama Digital Services. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 14 COVER STORY The new realm of Experience Creation A peak into the new visual and experience technology available and how to optimally implement such technology in events. By Karan Iyer Technology is changing everyday and with it, so is its applications. From augmented reality to 3D projections, from miniature size audio speakers to the latest in lighting technology, the way events and on-ground marketing campaigns are being conducted is changing drastically and the audience is just loving it. With each such event or on-ground campaign, the benchmark just keeps rising and the need to exceed expectations only increases. This, in turn, results in the production of even better technology and even more innovative applications. “Audio visual technologies most likely to be embraced by the marketers in coming times will have one thing in common. They will be interactive and immersive! And before you say ‘Wait, but that’s two...’ pause to ask yourself are they really? Or are they just two sides of the same coin, the currency being to try and engage audiences into the communication!” Suresh Madan of Dynamix Media told ExM. Raise Your Voices So what are some of the latest technologies currently available for the events and experiential marketing industry? 3D technology is one of the first things that come to the mind when one thinks of the latest technology. This technology has invaded almost every aspect be it 3D movies, 3D TVs, 3D laptops and even 3D mobiles. However, 3D technology is not just limited to just the visual delights. Giving some examples of the latest sound technologies and their applications, Arjun Bahl, Director and Co-founder, 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 15 Most Technical India, highlighted TiMax Soundhub as an example of the latest in 3D sound delay technology. So, sound too is now 3D! Explaining the applications of this technology, Bahl said that the TiMax Soundhub “allows immersive sound-scapes to be created to fit in with the overall theme of the event. For instance at a car launch the car can be driven around using the sound with the car appearing as the sound converges on to it. In a different scenario, say a themed restaurant, the technology would allow things like birds flying overhead, a waterfall in the corner, etc. These would be heard in true localised stereo i.e. if the waterfall is on the left, wherever you are seated you will know through your hearing that it is on the left side. The technology also allows sound to be ‘placed’ within an event, meaning sound is kept where it is wanted, say on a dance floor, but peripheral areas are quieter.” Speaking in the lines of sound technology, Dave Parry, Director and Co-founder, Most Technical India added the use of the latest line array speakers. “These speakers are extremely directional allowing sound to be placed where it is needed. These speakers were originally developed for stadium touring, but smaller derivatives of this technology are now becoming more a common place in events,” Parry told ExM. The mention of line array speakers was also made by Davinder Wadhwa, Director, Modern Stage Services. Speaking to ExM about the latest in sound technology, Wadhwa said that there are vertical line array speakers that are newly available as opposed to the present horizontal line array speakers. The new speakers are much slimmer and smaller, making them quite space efficient. Wadhwa noted that when conducting events, optimum usage of space is quite necessary. The currently available speakers are too large in size and require 2.5 feet of space to be made at the venue of an event and this might not be always possible. “In events, effective utilization of space is highly crucial and the new small size Dave Parry Director and Co-founder, Most technical India “Line array speakers are extremely directional allowing sound to be placed where it is needed.” speakers are just four inches wide and one meter long, making them very easy to place. The speakers are small enough to fit within the furniture or surrounding props and can even be merged with the video screen.” He also pointed out that the size of the speakers does not impact the clarity or sound. I See You So, 3D sound technology and miniature speakers are the latest in sound technology. Moving to visual technology, we are already aware that 3D technology has invaded the visual space, but how is it being used to enhance consumer experience in events and experiential marketing campaigns? Bahl highlighted the use 3D projections that are currently being used to bring a wow factor to many events and marketing campaigns. He said: “In terms of visual effects, the lowering of prices of big projectors has allowed much more use of video servers. The latest in these is the Ai server from Avolites. This allows full 3D mapping techniques at a price point that makes it available much more easily. Projection in events is generally confined to big screens but this technology allows projection over any large building, structure of vehicle giving much more scope for dramatic entertaining event.” Madan also highlighted video mapping as one of the latest technologies making rounds. “Video mapping is a technique where we project specially manipulated content onto 3D surfaces such that the illusion of depth, objects and light appears. It is an illusion using standard projectors but specially prepared content that is played back via powerful media servers,” Mahindra’s Cheetah at Auto Expo 2012 There were a lot of expectations from Delhi Auto Expo 2012, but nobody expected to see a cheetah there. Mahindra and Mahindra partnered with Hungama Digital Media for an augmented reality campaign at the expo. A virtual cheetah was presented perched on top of Mahindra’s XUV 500. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 16 Madan told ExM. “Video mapping requires dark environments to work well. While this is somewhat easier to manage in indoor environments, when planning in context of outdoor buildings, etc. it becomes even more imperative to view the proposed site in actual show conditions i.e. at night. It is the only way to gauge accurately the ambient light from street lights or facade lighting of adjacent buildings, stray light from passing traffic and even the light from the moon.” Such 3D projection and video mapping technology was seen used during the Clean India campaign by Incredible India. A 3D projection and video mapping was done at India Gate, Delhi, to highlight the campaign on Jan. 9 and 10. Another example of the use of such 3D projection technology was at the launch of the Pajero Sport SUV in India on March 12. The launch was conducted using state-of-the-art 3D mapping technology to unveil the car for the press. Virtual Ferrari Ki Sawaari Hungama Digital did it again! But this time it was a Ferrari. Bollywood movie Ferrari Ki Sawaari partnered with Hungama Digital to create an augmented reality campaign at Infinity Mall, Mumbai. The campaign gave consumers an opportunity to experience the technology as they were comfortably seated in a virtual red sports car. A big screen over the car seats showed the consumer cruising around in the car. Incredible India Gate projection Incredible India gave a twist to its Clean India campaign when it partnered with Midas Next and decided to spread the message of keeping monuments clean through 3D images. Volkswagen’s Think Blue campaign sponsored the event. A first of its kind 3D projection and video mapping was done at India Gate, Delhi, to highlight the campaign. Speaking about using video mapping on buildings, Madan cautioned that “not all buildings, particularly those with large glass facades lend themselves to being used for projection and its best to involve a specialist with experience early enough to avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes later. It’s also important to bear in mind that video mapping is a perspective illusion and depending on the type of content may not work for all viewers. Seeking the inputs of a specialist in planning the viewers seating is advisable.” Speaking in line with the use of 3D technology, Wadhwa highlighted the availability of the WATCHOUT technology with 3D capability. WATCHOUT is a multi-display production and playback system that enables orchestrating stills, animation, graphics, video, sound and live feeds in a single show across multiple display areas. “WATCHOUT with 3D technology is capable of enhancing presentations and other visuals during an event. The look and feel of the event becomes very effective. It almost makes the audience feel that the presentation is coming out of the screen,” Wadhwa told ExM. Madan highlighted another 3D technology called 3D Stereoscopy. “3D Stereoscopy is also known as 3D with glasses, even though some technologies are now appearing that do not require viewers to wear special glasses,” He continued, “This is a fairly old technique and has undergone much sophistication in the last few years particularly because large Hollywood studios have had to come up with innovative ways to draw audiences back into theatres. Unfortunately creating content for 3Ds remains a specialised and expensive task with the expertise residing with a few. Creating effective and impressive 3Ds content is as much an art as science.” Davinder Wadhwa Director, Modern Stage Services “Green Hippo has been in existence for the past seven years internationally and has just recently arrived in India.” 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 17 Finally, Madan noted another visual technology called interactive video, which he believes is “a much used and equally abused but most misunderstood term.” He added: “This is ironic as this format of communication is most likely to be the preferred tool of choice for marketers as the focus shifts to individual specific engagement to generate real world sales. In its simplicity it is motion content that reacts or interacts to external stimuli. The stimuli can be human or otherwise.” A R Rahman’s 3D concert Rapport Global Events produced an A R Rahman concert back in May 2011 in Bangalore. The live concert was a 3D show managed by Archers Entertainment. Specialized 3D cameras and screens were used to project the show in 3D. The audience was given 3D glasses along with their tickets. Commenting on the present scenario of this technology, He said: “While on the one hand development is proceeding in developing newer human interfaces to data, such as by voice, gesture, even eye movement, the days of Minority Report style of gesture based control of video are still some time away. Manufacturers are quick to show off this capability at their trade show booths but quiz them a little further and it appears that you need to be John Munro Creative Director, Immersive, UK “The point here is not what the latest technologies are, but who are the agencies and designers that can work equally as fluently in the technical realm as much as the creative realm.” 3D mapped Pajero Sport SUV In an event managed by Fountainhead Events & Promotions, Hindustan Motors and Mitsubishi Motors launched the Pajero Sport SUV in India on March 12 in New Delhi. The launch was conducted using state-of-the-art 3D mapping technology to unveil the car for the press. Fountainhead was selected to handle this event after pitch process, based on their storyboard as well as the incorporation of 3D mapping technology for the event. half a rocket scientist to be able to build the digital pathways and apply the digital glue that holds all the clever looking things together.” Madan also noted that “the digital signage market is driving the demand for more intelligent systems that will be able to react to external stimuli such as stock on the shelves vs. sales, weather reports, news feeds from news agencies and not just display them on screens with clever graphics but also interpret the data and represent it in meaningful way to consumers. I dare say, the day of automated extremely personalised communication and, by extension, marketing are not very far.” Talking about the software behind the hardware, Wadhwa highlighted the availability of a new software in India for video and lighting, called Green Hippo. “Green Hippo has been in existence for the past seven years internationally and has just recently arrived in India. The software enables seamless control of video and lighting equipment at an event. A person can control eight LEDs with one computer through this software.” An International Look Talking about the latest technologies available in the international markets, John Munro, Creative Director, Immersive, UK, said: “Technologies such as foil based holograms, set design with projection mapping, physical audio design, and the latest LED products are all available on the international market for anyone to use, but the key is the application of these disparate technologies.” 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 18 Highlighting one of the events in which these technologies were applied, Munro said: “We recently designed an event for KIA that used a custom designed stage set, with projection mapping being a main feature. A lot of the time when projection mapping is used, it is one set of clichés after another, with no real regard for narrative or reason for the work to look the way it does.” He added: “With KIA, we had many design workshops with the clients and made sure that every piece of animation was designed for a reason and that the visual aspect of the show made sense within their communication objectives. Through controlling audio, lighting, animation and designing the set - all inhouse, we could ensure that the creative thread was maintained throughout the project.” How Do You Use This Thing? Speaking about the application the latest technologies, the question arises of whether they can be used effectively in India. The introduction of such technologies in India is one thing, but what are the challenges in using these Video mapping to showcase features of the Ferrari FF EMG Entertainment (EMG Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.) and Bellset Entertainment executed the launch of the Ferrari FF. The car was lifted to the terrace venue, where the allterrain features and varied colours of the car was showcased through video mapping. Attedees included high profile guests and potential customers of the brand. them? Emphasising that all the three mentioned technologies – Timax Soundhub, line array speakers and the Ai server – can be bought together and in fact combining all of them has been at the heart of his work. “Challenges are more down to creativity as opposed to technology. Advantages are in terms of ‘more bang for your buck’ and overall audience experience. The technology is available how you use it is down to your imagination and of course your budget,” Parry told ExM. Wadhwa also agrees that the new technologies that have come to India can be used effectively. “We have the infrastructure capabilities to utilize these technologies, as well as the technical expertise. However, the one major challenge is the time and planning factors. For e.g. Content for an event to be presented using WATCHOUT with 3D requires that the content is provided well before the time of the event. Proper planning is needed to execute events with such technologies,” said Wadhwa. Munro also expressed similar thoughts about the challenge not being the technology, but how it is effectively used. “The point here is not what the latest technologies are, but who are the agencies and designers that can work equally as fluently in the technical realm as much as the creative realm.” He added: “It takes a company who is fluent in the disciplines of architecture, high end animation, audio design, and technical delivery to really push these technologies into original and creative design experiences.” Arjun Bahl Director and Co-founder, Most Technical India “The future technology for events and experiential marketing will look to enhance experiences by bringing all senses into play.” KIA event with projection mapping designed by Immersive UK 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 19 Behold Your Future Technology is constantly changing and today’s technology will get outdated tomorrow. Looking down five years from now Bahl foresees the future of technology to be giving audiences a full 4D experience that ties sight, sound, smell and touch. The future technology for events and experiential marketing will look to enhance experiences by bringing all senses into play. He also believes that there will be innovative video mapping on a large scale as well as a smaller more “guerrilla” type advertising. Meanwhile, Wadhwa believes that five years from now “video and lighting will be merged together in terms of operation. Plasmas and LEDs will become an integral part of any event. One person will be able to handle both video and lighting from one console.” Talking about the future of audio, he predicts that will be no major changes, but the size of speakers will reduce even further to pocketsize with the same effect. In the future, possibly, two speakers would be enough for a whole event.” Suresh Madan Director, Dynamix Media “Even as the “box” becomes stronger and I dare say smarter, it still remains dependent, maybe more than ever before, on the content, the idea, and the message.” Madan believes that the more things change the more they don’t. “Technology and human imagination are pushing the frontiers everyday. It has become a daily challenge for us technologists to keep on top of the developments. Yet, even as the “box” becomes stronger and I dare say smarter, it still remains dependent, maybe more than ever before, on the content, the idea, and the message.” Technology is changing the way events are done, and experience is only getting further enhanced. However, no matter how much the technology changes, the human factor will always be crucial to execution. Creativity, innovation, planning and execution are some things technology cannot replace. After all, we are the ones who are changing the technology that is changing the way we do things. RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 21 ALSO FEATURED RoshanDaan A window into the world of Experiential Marketing Roshan Abbas is a slasher by profession, having had seven careers related to media. Abbas’ experience ranges from radio, theatre, television, event management, being an MC, a film director and a writer. He spends his time looking for gyaan, and shares some on experiential marketing in this column, each month, exclusively for ExM Magazine... ExM completed 5 years, and I was unable to write for the anniversary issue. Firstly apologies. For 5 years these people have believed in the industry. I thought about that a lot, and then asked myself and a few friends a pertinent question; Do we believe in us? In the midst of this is an organization that is meant to represent us. Yet it has no powers with its members. It suggests, cajoles, calls out to us. Once a year we gather for 3 days to celebrate. But what are we celebrating? Cut commissions, copyright infringement, further fragmentation, delayed payments cycles, or in some cases no payments at all? I have recently seen a set of emails flying around between event managers. The first was a request for information by Brian Tellis the President of EEMA. Brian believes in all things good, he was confident of the event industry coming forward and sharing their data. Yet I hear that many are unwilling to reveal their numbers etc. In an industry that I always consider as a Wild Wild West, there are very few sheriffs in town. And everyone is a law unto them selves. We will look to charge a creative supervision fee apart from the management fee but most clients will barely part with a 8-10% commission on an event. Bring the fee up and you will be threatened with a,“well we will then have to call other agencies for a pitch.” Artist costs vary depending on who is negotiating, who is the middleman and how many are there in between. The same goes for equipment, content etc. This lack of standardization makes us often shoot ourselves in the foot. We will under quote on occasion to get a job, hoping to deduct the cost from our commission. But we fail to realize, we set a precedent with the client by doing this. It is time for EEMA to stand up and be counted. For us to give the organization teeth. Can we not ask EEMA to address the issue of creative copyright? For often we see our ideas executed by clients without so much as a ‘by your leave’. Why can EEMA not share a rate card amongst all member agencies? This can be a pointer or a guide. Can we even try and rationalize cost of artistes and issue a standard rate card negotiated by EEMA for its members. We are willing to drink from the same glass and celebrate at a few events each year, but get us into a room with a client and we will spare no effort in trying to get the job for ourselves at any cost. Our fractures and frictions allow everyone to exploit us. Some of us see an organization as a place to earn some mileage and stature. We grumble at every opportunity. Rather than celebrate our commonalities, they search to look for the differences. Again late last year an attempt was made by the industry to put up a public event celebrating ourselves. Committees were appointed, meetings held. And yet after months nothing came of it. Some lost interest, other felt it didn’t protect their interest! Again the hope generated by the effort ended as a frustration. And this month end there will be another convention, another set of speakers and awards.This is a plea to all of you. For once think not for yourself but the industry you belong to. Agnello Dias is a friend and so I chose to borrow the words he wrote for the Lead India campaign for the Times of India. “There are two Event manager’s in this country. One Event manager is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us. The other Event manager is the leash. One Event manager says give me a chance and I’ll prove myself. The other Event manager says prove yourself first and maybe then you’ll have a chance. One Event manager lives in the optimism of our hearts. The other Event manager lurks in the skepticism of our minds. One Event manager wants. The other Event manager hopes. One Event manager leads. The other Event manager follows. It is time to choose where you stand! 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 22 IN FOCUS The second edition of travels to Delhi, Experiential Incentives Hyderabad and Mumbai The partners for this B2B MICE road show included Vienna Convention Bureau, Minitry of Tourism – Sultanate of Oman and Toscana Promizione. By Karan Iyer Experiential Incentives (ExI) is a unique series of B2B networking platforms that brings together the most experiential destinations and services from across the globe to India, with the purpose of building an interaction with the Indian MICE industry. The second edition of Experiential Incentives was held across three cities – Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The road show began on June 12 in Delhi, moved on to Hyderabad on June 13, and ended its journey on June 14 in Mumbai. The road show was held in the format of luncheons, for corporate and MICE planners to meet with the partnering destinations’ representatives, one-on-one. Luncheons were held at The Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi; at the Taj Deccan in Hyderabad; and at the Four Seasons in Mumbai. The initiative, which began last year, is a road show that witnesses business tourism and convention bureaus present their respective destinations and services to an audience of MICE and event planners from various corporates and agencies. The event brings together those destinations and services that are exquisite and are gaining a strong hold in the Indian market. Partners for the second edition of Experiential Incentives, included Vienna Convention Bureau, Ministry of Tourism Sultanate of Oman, and Toscana Promozione. ExI is an initiative by tmf dialogue marketing India, a communication and marketing services company for the MICE industry in India. EVENTFAQS was the media partner for the events. Each of the luncheons kick-started with a key note address on ‘Green Events’ by Jitten Veer Bhasin, Managing Partner, CSR India. Bhasin highlighted the acute issues faced by the globe and our economy due to our ecological footprint. He highlighted that sustainability challenges are being faced equally by every company in the industry therefore every company must transcend boundaries of competition and come together onto the same platform to jointly address these challenges. Bhasin noted that questions over resource efficiency, emissions reduction and waste 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 23 Cement, Tag Heuer – LVMH, Aditya Birla Management, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Aviva Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Moet Hennessy and UltraTech Cement amongst others. The feedback generated from each of the luncheons revealed that most delegates conducted more than five MICE programmes in a year, with almost half the companies in attendence responsible for planning upto or more than 10 MICE programmes in a year. Majority of the attendees in all three cities noted that the average size of participants in each program would be 100 to 300 people. In all three cities, majority of the companies were planning short haul MICE programs. Another prominent feedback, strongly from Mumbai attendees was the keeness in exploring long haul and lesser traveled destinations for their MICE programmes. This particular response made the ExI show very well received by the delegates in attendence. As part of the road show, there were two social receptions. As a pre-cursor to the road show, an informal reception was held at Striker, Gurgaon, on June 11, where directors and owners of MICE and event agencies interacted with the destinaiton partners of Experiential Incentives. As a culmination of the road show, a final postevent reception was held at Busaba, Mumbai, on June 14. management need to be asked in order to move towards greener events. Bhasin gave out pointers in each of the three areas that would aid in ensuring that events are not a burden on the ecological balance. He also pointed out, “Going green would mean being ready for the future, being cost competitive, providing a competitive edge to brands and, most importantly, being responsible global citizens.” Following the keynote, each partner representative presented a small introduction to their destination, following which the event moved on to one-on-one sessions with the partners. In attendence at ExI were key representatives within corporations that are responsible for MICE programmes, and also MICE planners, including event, travel and incentive agencies. A few of the corporate companies in attendence at the road show included, Greenply Industries, Bangur 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 24 IN FOCUS IIFA 2012 returns to Singapore to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema The Videocon DDB IIFA Weekend took place from June 7 – 9, with the Jaypee IIFA awards marking the culmination of the celebrations. By Rachael Rajan Prabhudeva performing at the IIFA Awards Organized by Wizcraft International Entertainment, the Videocon DDB IIFA Weekend took place over three days to celebrate a 100 glorious years of Indian Cinema and to felicitate the best of 2011. IIFA took place from June 7- 9 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.The 13th edition of the show was hosted for a second time in Singapore, the last time being in 2004. stars from Indian cinema, a congregation of the most influential personalities from India and a unique tribute to a hundred years of Indian cinema”. Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft Entertainment International said, “IIFA created a magical experience for all our fans in Singapore and across the world. The Jaypee IIFA Awards 2012 showcased stunning performances by the biggest The 13th edition of the IIFAs was designed keeping in mind the South Indian diaspora in Singapore. All three days of IIFA witnessed South Indian film celebrities like A.R. Rahman, Radikaa SharathKumar, Shreya Saran, Telugu film producer K S Rama Rao, Suresh Babu, Allu Arvind, and many more partake in the IIFA festivities. For the first time ever south super star –choreographer – director, Prabhudeva, choreographed IIFA Rocks and Awards. IIFA 2012 culminated on June 9 with the 13th Jaypee IIFA Awards for which there were 7000 people in attendance. The awards were interspersed with performances by Priyanka Chopra, ShahidKapoor, PrabhuDeva, SonakshiSinha and BipashaBasu, with the final performance by father-son duo, Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor. Destination: Singapore 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 25 common vision to showcase India across the globe. Videocon is delighted to be associated with Videocon IIFA Weekend for the fourth year in a row.” IIFA 2012 was supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Panasonic with its Eco Ideas initiative partnered with IIFA and will continue to do so for its greening initiatives. Manish Sharma, Director – Marketing, Panasonic India said, “It has been a pleasure to be associated with the IIFA Awards, which has continuously recognized excellence in Indian Cinema. Panasonic with the corporate vision to be the No.1 Green Innovation Company worldwide in the electronics industry by 2018 is excited to support the cause for the 4th consecutive year now. IIFA Awards ‘Go Green’ theme provides the perfect space for endorsement of eco-friendly products and we are delighted to be part of the ‘Go Green’ mission this year”. Incredible India’s partnership focused on exposing tourism opportunities that the country has to offer. Air India is IIFA’s Official Airline Partner. Sabbas Joseph Director, Wizcraft Entertainment International The Jaypee Group IIFA Awards will be broadcast globally on Star Plus for the 7th year running, and on Mediacorp’sVasantham channel in Singapore. NitinVaidya, Business Head, Hindi Channels, STAR India said, “For years, STAR Plus and IIFA have showcased Indian cinema across the global stage. It is with great pride that we announced bringing the Awards to Singapore. There’s a genuine appreciation and huge following for Indian cinema in Singapore and this is complemented by the large Indian-origin population in the city state. “ “The Jaypee IIFA Awards 2012 showcased stunning performances by the biggest stars from Indian cinema and a unique tribute to a hundred years of Indian cinema.” PVR Pictures was the associate sponsor of the IIFA World Premiere and Grey Goose was the presenting sponsor of IIFA Rocks. The Gitanjali Group and Gemfields, HostGator.inwere Associate Sponsors of the Videocon IIFA Weekend. The IIFA Abhay Deol on the Green Carpet Andre Timmins, Director – IIFA remarked, “This year, IIFA had a special treat in store for its Indo-Singaporean fan base. We were pleased that the cream of the South could join us.” Sponsors and Partners The title partner for IIFA Awards 2012 was the Jaypee Group. Commenting on this relationship, Manoj Gaur, Executive Chairman Jaypee Group said, “As a group that has been at the forefront of nation building through infrastructure development for over 5 decades, Jaypee takes immense pleasure in its association with IIFA, which is a world-renowned Indian cinema platform. Both IIFA and Jaypee are engaged in the task of strengthening the Indian nation and society, albeit through different means. Both being driven by a commitment to passion and excellence, IIFA and Jaypee are therefore a perfect fit and we look forward to a long and meaningful association.” Pradeep Dhoot, Director, Videocon Group said “Videocon & IIFA share a Gauhar Khan performing at IIFA Rocks 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 26 IN FOCUS Celebrations were held in Singapore in association with Citibank. Hospitality partners for the event were The Fairmont Singapore and the Swissotel-The Stamford. Nikhil Gandhi Business Head, UTV STARS “‘Walk of the Stars’ is an extension Grey Goose presents IIFA Rocks The second night of IIFA saw “Grey Goose presents IIFA Rocks”, which was conceptualized with the aim of presenting the best of fashion and music at the Esplanade, Singapore. The evening witnessed Indian designers Varun Bahl, Suneet Varma and Masaba showcase their collections as Bollywood actresses including Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao Hydari, Dia Mirza and Bispasha Basu, walked the ramp for them. Several musicians also came together to be part of the event. The Technical Award and Special Award winners of IIFA Awards 2012 were also announced. The ‘Green Carpet’ of Grey Goose IIFA Rocks witnessed a long list of celebrities participate. Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra opened the gala night with the song ‘Uff’ from their upcoming movie ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’. Though fashion was the highlight of the evening, first time hosts to our endeavour of paying tribute to the superstars of Bollywood.” Ayhushman Khurana and Chitrangada Singh also entertained the audience. The evening was packed with dance, song and other uniques acts by the who’s who of bollywood. “Walk of the Stars” “Walk of the Stars” is a property owned by the channel UTV STARS that aims to promote Indian Cinema globally. The property was launched earlier this year, in March in Mumbai, at the Bandra Bandstand promenade and was hosted by Kareena Kapoor. The channel tied up with IIFA 2012 to take the property global and to felicitate the contributions of some of legendary actors of the yesteryears and of the present. As part of the tie-up, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Vidya Balan were honoured with customized tiles bearing their signatures and handprints.The relationship between the property and Wizcraft will extend to the launch of the property in Gurgaon at the ‘Kingdom of Dreams’ and there are plans to subsequently take the property to the UK and the Middle East as well. On the tie-up with IIFA 2012, Nikhil Gandhi, Business Head, UTV STARS said, “Both UTV STARS and IIFA, are iconic Bollywood brands and have created immense value for the Indian Film Industry over the years. This is an extension to our endeavour of paying tribute to the superstars of Bollywood. The UTV STARS IIFA Walk of the Stars is Sonu Sood performing at IIFA Rocks Manish Sharma Director – Marketing, Panasonic India “IIFA Awards ‘Go Green’ theme provides the perfect space for endorsement of eco-friendly products and we are delighted to be part of the ‘Go Green’ mission this year.” 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 27 Ranbir Kapoor performing at the IIFA Awards its global counterparts. The initiative is intended to provide a platform for global films to introduce themselves to the industry and vice versa. Excerpts from the film “Vishwaroop” directed and co-produced by Dr Kamal Haasan was showcased on June 8 at the Raffles City Convention Centre. IIFA in partnership with PVR Cinemas also screened the premiere of DibakarBanerjee’s‘Shanghai’ at the IIFA World Premiere. The movie premiered at the IIFAs on June 7 at Lido Cinemas, Shaw Theatre, Singapore, and a day before its worldwide release. ‘Music: Bringing Indian Cinema Alive’ A music workshop, ‘Music: Bringing Indian Cinema Alive’ was organized on June 9 with the purpose of exploring the elements that go into the creation of a song from the composition and lyrics to the arrangement and singing. The workshop featured film directors including Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Zoya Akhtar; music composers including Vishal & Shekhar and Shantanu Moitra, and; lyricists including Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi. Industry veteran Atul Churamani moderated this session, which witnessed these participants share anecdotes, trivia, and personal experiences from their own films for an interactive session with the audience.The songs that come out of this activity were then sung and performed by renowned singers from the industry including Ash King, Hariharan, Harshdeep Kaur, Kamal Khan, Lesle Lewis, Mika, Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal and Usha Uthup. Twelve Glorious Years The last twelve years have seen the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) movement grow into a packed weekend of film-festivals, workshops, exhibitions, filmshowcases, a global business forum and sporting events, all of which climax into the highlight of the Weekend, the IIFA Awards. Priyanka Chopra and Rekha performing at the IIFA Awards a big step in making this a grand success.” Joseph added “IIFA is a first of its kind effort to take Indian Cinema global and celebrate it in the true sense. UTV STARS Walk of the Stars, on the other hand, is a great effort at paying an iconic tribute to the people who’ve been and are an integral part of the Indian Film industry. Our ideologies put together are an endeavour towards honouring the greats of Indian Cinema!” IIFA World Premier and Films Screened Norwegian actress Liv Ullman attended IIFA 2012 and also showcased her film ‘Liv and Ingmar’. This also marked the first time an international film was be showcased at the IIFA to a select audience. IIFA is also committed to reinforcing the bond between Indian and Reminiscing the twelve years of IIFA and the growth achieved through this time, Joseph said, “It is heartening to the growth IIFA has witnessed in the past 12 years of its existence and the impact it has had on the minds and hearts of people across the globe. We are committed to providing the best in entertainment to our audiences and IIFA Singapore will reiterate our vision of bringing together for the grandest celebration of Indian Cinema.” MIKA performing at IIFA Rocks ALSO FEATURED www.eventfaqs.com For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 31 IN FOCUS Porsche design BlackBerry Smartphone launch in India The launch event was managed and conceptualized by E18. By Rachel George The national launch of the Porsche Design BlackBerry Smartphone took place at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai on June 20. The event was conceptualized and executed by E18. E18 received the mandate for the event on the basis of a multi-agency pitch, resulting in their first association with BlackBerry. Designed by the Porsche design team, the new phone served as the inspiration for the evening, with the set design being inspired by the keypad. Exuding power and style, all elements of the evening, right from the invite to the concept formatting were inspired by the smartphone. Aluminium and leather brought together the signature styles of Porsche and BlackBerry and lent an edge of elegance to the evening. The evening began with the hosts, KabirBedi and KamalSidhu, bringing the various aspects of the smartphone alive. World-renowned mind-readerLiorSuchard also captured the imagination of the audience with his abilities as well as with his BlackBerry anecdotes. The evening also featured two fashion sequences by Rocky S, which was also inspired by the smartphone and hence, incorporated elements of the same in the collection. Commenting on the event, Navneet Mohan, Sr. Vice President, E18 said: “A historic launch indeed! E18 brings brands on-ground in very creative and unique formats. This has been our first venture with BlackBerry, and we sure hope this association continues. Power and Style is a truly dynamic combination after all...and we have them both!” This glamorous sit-down dinner event was attended by members of high society. Drawing on the experience of Chhaya Momaya to identify the right profile, the guest list included a mix of Bollywood and business personalities such as Sonakshi Sinha, Sameera Reddy, Ashish Raheja, Neeta and Sunil Lulla, Suresh and Devika Bhojwani, Dia Mirza, Gauhar Khan, Neha Dhupia, Ayushman Khurana, and Aarti and Kailash Surendranath. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 32 IN FOCUS The third edition of the Red Bull Street Style The multi-city tour, is a global initiative in which more than 40 countries are participating. By Rachael Rajan Red Bull Street Style 2012 was conducted in May and June across 5 cities. The initiative kicked off on May 26 in Pune, then moved on to New Delhi also on May 26, to Mumbai on June 1, Hyderabad on June 2, and Kolkata on June 8. The finals were held on June 9 at Kolkata.This is part of the third edition of the global Red Bull Street Style initiative in which more than 40 countries are participating. Red Bull has its own events team which plans and designs all events internally. The on-ground execution for this initiative was done by Jagran Solutions. was to give participants wings to express themselves and create unique tricks with the football. By exposing the participants to other competitors from across the globe, the idea was to take the evolving sport to the next level”. On the idea behind this initiative a Red Bull spokesperson said, “Making its debut in 2008, Red Bull Street Style was one of the first truly global freestyle football competitions. The idea behind the event A spokesperson remarked, “This year’s edition of Red Bull Street Style received a tremendous response in terms of participants and audiences alike”. The competition saw over 200 freestylers take part. Winners will compete in Italy against winners from other countries. Winners from around the globe are competing to win berths to the World Finals in Italy. RB spokesperson added, “With the national winner going to Italy in Creating Buzz The awareness of Red Bull Street Style was driven by on-ground activations, largely supported through traditional and digital communications. On-ground teams visited various colleges across New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata to raise awareness about the competition and encourage young enthusiasts to participate. Participant registrations were also driven through the Red Bull Street Style website. Red Bull invited persons to register on its website, and participate in the global freestyle soccer tournament which serves as a platform for freestylers to showcase their skills. All freestylers were asked to “BringIt”. While the event was going on in each city, it was amplified through media outreach and digital engagement. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 33 competitor. The top two from each group will progress to the last 16 stage, where they will battle it out on the final day for the title Red Bull Street Style World Champion 2012. The Qualifying Rounds were held across Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The freestyle football finals of Red Bull Street Style India came to a close at Princep Ghat, Kolkata with legendary footballer Jamshed Nassiri and one of Asia’s best goalies Subrata Pal on the judging panel. Despite the rains which delayed the game by an hour, the competition was resumed. After 3 hours of battle, Pradeep Ramesh emerged as the winner. He will now compete with winners from 40 other countries in the global finals of Red Bull Street Style in Italy this September. Also accompanying him will be Michael Keishing, who has been the winner for the last two seasons and goes to Italy as a wild card entry this year. Current Indian goalkeeper, Subrata Pal, was extremely impressed with the young freestylers he was invited to judge. He remarked, “The youngsters showed tremendous technique and skill. Red Bull Street Style is a perfect platform for people who are passionate about soccer and don’t get the opportunity to showcase their skills. It’s critical that this competition continues to thrive so that we can find more players like Michael Keishing and Pradeep Ramesh who can represent India at the global platform,” said Subrata Pal at the award ceremony. Jamshed Nasiri who was also judging at the National Finals of Red Bull Street Style said, “It is great to see how football has evolved over the years and how Red bull is promoting three attributes of football- control, technique and style in an innovative format. Red Bull Street Style helps youngsters improve their skills with the football which will help India produce quality footballers in the long run”, said the illustrious footballer. Executing the event On how the agency was selected to manage this event, Pawan Bansal, Chief Operating Officer, Jagran Solutions remarked, “We bagged this initiative because of our proven execution capabilities right from Chris Pfeiffer India Tour to Speed Street to Campus Cricket and now to Red Bull Street Style.” September, we are expecting more buzz and increase in interest leading up to that time”. The Game Red Bull Street Style is a sport that combines soccer with rhythm and style. The rules of the sport that has grown incredibly popular in football bastions around the world in recent years are: 3 minutes, 2 players and 1 ball. Athletes go head-to-head, expressing themselves while showing off their various ball tricks with their bodies. The jury evaluates the athletes’ style, technique, creativity in combination with music. Each battle follows the same format with each freestyler having 20 seconds to impress the judges before passing the ball back to his On the execution of the event in different cities, a Red Bull spokesperson remarked, “There has been a tremendous growth in the understanding of the sport in the last few years in India. While, it cannot be viewed as a challenge, there’s no doubt that the quality is constantly improving as well. Finding the right talent has always been one of the keys to the success of the event. Red Bull Street Style was able to reach out to the right set of participants to ensure great quality of competition and finding a deserving winner from India. Each city has its unique, core freestyle fans. As an urban street sport, Red Bull Street Style lends itself to every venue and situation and hence making accommodations has never been a problem with the event.” 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 34 IN FOCUS Going the Kids’ way, all the way... Think Events conceptualized and executed a launch event for KidZania which was hosted and presented by children By Rachael Rajan KidZania, an indoor theme park built to emulate the working of a real city, engages with children from the ages of 4 to 14 through adult role play, was created and developed by Mexican entrepreneur Xavier López, current KidZania CEO. The first KidZania opened in September 1999 and presently there are 11 operational centres across the globe in 7 countries with 11 additional centres under development. India commented, “Indians have now become global citizens and are looking at differentiated experiences. When we look at the kids’ entertainment category, currently we have very few options available - mainly television, malls and video games. Parents and teachers are looking for new ways to motivate and inspire children. KidZania with its unique blend of education cum entertainment is poised to fill in this void.” The upsurge in Indian households, with their increased purchasing power and enhanced awareness about global market is an important factor that has led to Kidzania investing in the Indian market. In launching Kidzania in India, the brand has taken into consideration the young Indian population, wherein 30 percent of the Indians are age 14 and below. KidZania announced its entry in India and held its launch and press conference on June 13 at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Think Events conceptualized and managed the event which was entirely hosted and presented by children. The agency conceptualized ‘Journey to KidZania’, a live show to be run and hosted by kids of all ages with the purpose of introducing and bringing KidZania to life. KidZania HQ was looking for the right partner who believed in the core values and philosophy of the brand, had strong ethical values and the financial and management strengths to set up KidZania centres across India. The brand has found the right franchise partner in Imagination Edutainment India. KidZania in India On Kidzania’s entry in India, Viraj Jit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, KidZania The Launch Event Being the launch of an international chain in the country, there was a multi-agency pitch and Think Events bagged the mandate to manage the event because of its concept and reveal mechanism. On the idea behind the event, Girish Chandran, Managing Director, Think Events commented, “Absolutely confident about the concept, we convinced KidZania as to what would be the best way of revealing the world of KidZania to the audience. The launch mechanism had to be as exciting as the concept, and so we decided to go with the kabuki screen drop and executed it perfectly.” 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 35 Inspired by role-play in KidZania, the event saw young kids role playing registration officers in the Pre-function area, 8 year old Chef Riya Punjabi sharing the secret of the delicious cookies served at the buffet and 8 year old Riva Desai from KZ Prezz covering the event with a real video camera and interviewing the guests in the waiting lounge. The lounge led to the cabin of Chief Editor, KZ Prezz and the KZ Studio run by KZ Photograhers, all played by kids. The security was handled by a police inspector played by 10 year old Yash Salvi. The 12 year old pilot, Ridhi Arora started the conference with a boarding announcement and hosted the entire press conference. The guests experienced a take-off in Flight KZ 1306, visually executed on a lifesize screen placed right in front of them which vanished with the Kabuki screen drop mechanism, revealing the City of KidZania. This was followed by 14 year old Firefighter Vineet Krishnani announcing the safety measures provided by the Grand Hyatt and 12 year old Dr. Aaliya Ali Khan sharing health tips for the monsoon season. The kids performed a Flag Walk, presenting the KidZania Flag followed by the KidZania Salute. Viraj Jit Singh Chief Marketing Officer, KidZania India “The launch gave our guests a peek into the realistic experience of children engaging in activities at KidZania.” The dignitaries revealed a 3-D Model, the first look of KidZania India at the event. The event came to a close with Kid Editor, Karan Bhanushali distributing the KidZania Journal, which had covered the event and was published on the spot in his KZ Prezz. The Journal revealed Bollywood Superstar and KidZania India shareholder Shah Rukh Khan’s delight on bringing KidZania to India. On partnering with Think Events for the launch, Singh remarked, “We were delighted to have partnered with Think Events for our launch event which brought alive the essence of KidZania through the multiple role-plays the kids performances. It gave our guests a peek into the realistic experience of children engaging in activities at KidZania.” Since this event was hosted entirely by children, there were bound to be challenges in preparing for the event. Chandran remarked, “Kids were the whole and soul of the event and the concept, which made identifying the right kids the biggest challenge.” Think Events selected the kids through auditions with a mock script. The agency then had a few rehearsals and training sessions with the selected kids closer to the event date. Singh added, “It was fascinating to see 8 year olds delivering scripted dialogues like professionals. The quality of the kids and their amazing stage presence made the event successful and helped us deliver something we thought would have been a daunting task.” The event was attended by Hernan Barbieri, Global Integration Director, KidZania Mexico; Sanjeev Kumar, KidZania India Director & CEO. Kidzania’s Marketing Strategy Kidzania’s marketing strategy over the next 12 months is focused on building awareness of the concept among brand partners, families, schools and NGO’s. On whether the brand intends to pursue on-ground initiatives, Singh remarked, “The initial focus is to build relationships with potential industry partners. Once we have our partners tied in, we will work with them to promote the brand on specific cross-promotion tie-ups.” Girish Chandran Managing Director, Think Events “Kids were the whole and soul of the event and the concept, which made identifying the right kids the biggest challenge.” A consumer centric marketing plan will kick off later in the year, mostly in the last quarter of 2012. The brand is looking at an integrated marketing approach and intends to use all media vehicles - TV, Print, Radio, OOH and Social Media. Singh added, “Since we will have TV, radio and print partners at the centre of our media related activities, we will leverage our relationships with them while building our marketing strategy. We are also looking at taking the KidZania concept out of the center to schools and neighboring towns and villages, and so there will be a focus on BTL activations.” Social media will remain the key medium to engaging with parents. Kidzania India already went live on Facebook on June 14. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 36 MARKET PULSE “Open your world to music with Heineken Green Room” Samar Singh Sheikhawat Senior Vice President (Marketing), United Breweries Ltd. Heineken, which began as a small 19th-century local Amsterdam brewer, has grown into a worldwide business with the most valuable international premium beer brand, Heineken Premium Beer. Today, Heineken is enjoyed by consumers in over 170 countries, making it the third largest brewer in the world by volume. It is brewed in 48 countries in the world. Across the world, Heineken connects with consumers through marketing activation campaigns based on its global sport, music and film platforms. These include the UEFA Champions League Football and the Rugby World Cup. Heineken also partners some of the world’s most premium and high profile music festivals and has also been James Bond’s preferred beer for some time. In India, Heineken is initially focusing on activating the brand at premium pubs, bars, lounges, restaurants and retail outlets to drive awareness and trial, and will leverage the brand’s global proposition, ‘Open Your World’ across all marketing executions. Digital activation and social media in particular are being used to extensively ignite conversations and connect with its consumers. In a conversation with ExM, Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President (Marketing), United Breweries Ltd. discusses Heineken’s marketing strategy for India, its activities in the LIVE space, and its latest offering – Heineken Green Room. Internationally, Heineken has done much in the LIVE experience space to build its brand, what is the experiential marketing strategy in India? What percentage of the marketing budget is assigned to this format of promotion? Heineken partners some of the world’s most premium and high profile music festivals such as Coachella and Ultra in the USA, Rock in Rio in Brazil, Oxegen in Ireland, the Open’er Festival in Poland, and Balaton Sound in Hungary. While genres may vary, the emphasis is always on delivering the Heineken experience, which is premium, surprising and always part of the current conversation. In India, we will engage with UEFA Champions League football matches, music activations such as the Heineken Green Room 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 37 and Heineken Tonight, and James Bond movie related activations. A large part of our marketing investments in Heineken would go into these. Highlight some of the most successful LIVE brand experiences created by Heineken in India. How have these helped engage with the relevant target audience? In India, we are just starting the journey. Heineken has started associating with music to connect with consumers in India. We have chosen Heineken Green as a platform, as against the large festival formats, as it allows for more exclusive and premium music experiences. How will the Heineken Green Room be a benchmark in LIVE experience creation? What will be the unique aspects of the initiative? What are the expectations in terms of scale and attendance for the inaugural edition? A series of intimate and exclusive events, Heineken Green Room brings together unconventional artists in special venues for musical experiences that aim to be different from the party clichés. Apart from bringing in musicians and DJs that have never played in India, the idea of the Heineken Green Room is for them to become social, contagious music experiences, with guests tweeting, blogging and instagramming them to make each party a social event that travels well beyond the four walls of the Green Room. The artists invited to Green Room events will as such be handpicked and fresh - no star DJs, no has-beens, and no one who has already visited India for an event, small or big. The idea is to bring in artists with interesting sounds, matched with an interesting point of view. An integral part of the Heineken Green Room will be the Green Room Sessions that precede the party. These Heineken Green Room Sessions will see the artist taking questions from a knowledgeable audience and host, who will discuss and debate matters of music and the artists’ raison d’etre. The idea of the session is to create buzz and talking points as well as form meaningful relationships with artists. Heineken Green Room hopes to forge a meaningful relationship with artists and their music. While other brands bring in popular artists to get more eyeballs, Heineken’s approach is slightly different – fresh artists for exclusive one-night only events accompanied by a discussion in the afternoon, called the Green Room Session. This discussion in itself and the entire exclusive experience aims to set our effort apart from others, in that it delves deeper into the cause of the artist and seeks to have an informed conversation about the state of the industry and each artist’s point of view. Is the Green Room an international initiative by the brand? Will the Green Room be an annual property? We intend to make this an annual property for sure, and maybe even twice a year. The Heineken Green Room is a platform that is present in quite a few countries around the world where Heineken operates. Closer to home, the Heineken Green Room is doing very well in Singapore and that model has been our inspiration. The idea behind the name ‘Green Room’ is that it connotes going behind the scenes and is in tune with our philosophy of ‘Open Your World’, encouraging patrons and guests to expand their music experiences beyond the mainstream. Additionally, of course, the colour ‘green’ is closely associated with Heineken. Highlight a few more LIVE initiatives planned for the future? How will these support the marketing strategy for the brand in India. Music will be the driving force in marketing activations for Heineken in India (HGR, Heineken Tonight, etc ). Heineken Green Room is very much an integral part of the brand’s ‘Open Your World’ positioning, leveraging the brand’s long-standing relationship with music as a means to connect with our Men of the World. Based on the idea of bringing together unconventional artists for exclusive music experiences, Heineken Green Room offers a musical experience that is fresh and aims to be different from the party clichés involved in regular music events. Each event is carefully created to ensure that the few who get through the door leave with an experience that’s always fresh and interesting. Heineken Green Room RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month Corporate events Exhibitions Showreels Audio Visuals. Wedding Pre-Wedding A one stop shop for Photography & Videography 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 39 MARKET PULSE In the trenches with the masters of trash Warren D’Souza Managing Director, SOUND.COM standards that would have eclipsed any other major Rock n Roll act that has toured this country. I was so excited to hear a replay of the “Call of the Kulu” during sound-check; it was an anticlimax to have the show cancelled and the equipment be the victim of arson and looting. A lot has changed over the past one year and change has been the only great news that I have for you. We are in the business of technology and exploiting it to the fullest and what more can you do other than adapt, evolve and grow, which ultimately leads us to change. We have been doing this for the past 14 years. After winning the 1st edition of the PALM Awards for “Sound Company Of The Year 2012”, we were already looking ahead. We were done with what we had achieved, and were looking at new things to excite us and ignite our reason to come to work the next day with some fire in our bellies; a new source of pride for walking to the winner’s podium in an encore next year. Event Managers and Event Production Houses, yours are the dreams of your vendors too. And we dream big, just like you. We have aspirations, goals and milestones, and we cannot achieve them without you and your support. I have seen a few event managers do fantastic productions within India and abroad, and the one thing that comes to our mind is “What is this fixation with foreign companies?” We can match their global standards. We have proved it with The Commonwealth Games, The Oman Tattoo and the many international artists that have toured this country. You are willing to pay top dollar for rental and professional services in Europe and South East Asia, but just don’t have the pockets for our domestic productions. When we need to put a critical show together, especially when it comes to video and lighting, many a time gear has to be air-freighted from various parts of the world to match the production standards required by international promoters. Why not promote solid Indian companies that have the vision to match global standards in their rental stock and service provision? Very few companies are willing to do anything to make the punters experience really great. As far as the result is concerned, our objective of ‘Doing an extremely good job’ is overridden by ‘Getting the job done’. I want to highlight the Metallica show in Gurgaon. Leaving aside what went wrong, I can tell you that the legendary band and the most prolific band mixer Big Mick Hughes would have given the punters a show with performance Which leads me to this fixation with international top tier acts which we vendors die to have on our CVs. I asked my team, “What would give you more pride – doing a Bryan Adams or an AR Rahman concert?” The answer was simple: we audio-profiled AR’s Symphony Tour & World Tour including India, just like any other major artist would get pampered in North America and Europe. We ensured that no stone was unturned to give our very own Grammy, Oscar, international and numerous Indian awards winning artist a sound system service and solution that is matchless in audio production standards. Nothing gives me more pride than being the only Indian company in the country doing the technicals for the Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, ‘Zangoora’ at the Kingdom Of Dreams, our very own answer to any Broadway or west-end musical, and AR Rahman’s live events. I can conclude that when AR opens his concerts with the drum roll of “Naadaan Parindey” from his axe man Ranjit Barot, the goosepimples I get reinstate my faith in what I do and make me think, “I am so proud to be Indian. This is what I was born for, this is all I know, this is what I do. Our world of this beautiful and organic science called SOUND.” We thank everyone for visiting the PALM Expo ‘12 and making it a great success Modern Stage Service awarded the best staging company at the PALM Expo 2012 The future of sound is here... • Sleek and attractive design • The first of its kind self powered speakers • Powerful sound output • No amplifiers required Welcome to the age of K-array NOW, proud distributors of: 3 Dimensional Projections & Media Servers 35, New Municipal Market, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi - 110003, Tele: + 91-11-24619543/643/743 Fax: +91-11-24627788 info@modernstageservice.in www.modernstageservice.in RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month Located at the uber-luxe arcade, The Collection in UB City, Bangalore, Fava is a chic Mediterranean restaurant and lounge, which exudes an understated sophistication. The restaurant offers discerning diners an opportunity to experience the magnificent and varied cuisines of the Mediterranean region. Fava overlooks the grand amphitheatre with the sprawling greenery of historic Cubbon Park in the backdrop and the beautiful fountain area of UB City. Together this creates an ideal setting for events like musical evenings, concerts, theatres, exhibitions, fashion shows and theme parties of upto 1500 guests. For smaller events and parties Fava on its own can host 250 to 300 guests. For Event & Activation Enquiries Contact: Shruti Saha: +91 98451 77162 | Email: fava@avantgardehospitality.com www.fava.in TESTIMONIAL “On our checklist for entertainment, Fava tops the list not only for the best Mediterranean food and excellent service but also for its fantastic ambiance overlooking the buzzing piazza and the amphitheater of UB City, which is one of the hippest locations in Bangalore. This is an ideal venue for events like the hugely successful Signature After Match Parties we regularly have there.” - Sunil Mathew, Vice President – Business Affairs, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd. FLOOR PLAN FACTFILE Capacity - Fava: 250/300 | Fava+Amphitheater : 1500 Catering Specs - Theme dinners, cocktail parties, live food counters and much more featuring Indian, Oriental, Mediterranean and Italian cuisines for upto 1500 guests. Technical Inventory - Vendors available as per client requirement Operational Hours - 1100 hrs to 2300 hrs Power Supply - Regular power supply available, additional power through generator Permission Status - Prior permission needed from mall and government authorities 20 Busaba Lower Parel, Mumbai India’s first South East Asian restaurant, Busaba, has over the past decade developed a reputation of being a fabulous dining spot. Busaba is a must “to do” on several guide books and hotel concierges for visiting tourists and expats in Mumbai. After much critical acclaim and popularity, this well known and highly recommended eatery has also been bestowed with several awards such as The Times Food Guide Award for “Best Oriental” in 2011 and “Best Korean” in 2012. In January 2011, Busaba Lower Parel was born in the heart of corporate Mumbai widening its horizons and attracting eclectic audiences to indulge in lip smacking Asian fare, fabulous service and an industrial yet soulful ambience. Busaba Lower Parel is a destination for some of Mumbai’s swankiest dinners, corporate shindigs, fashion events and celebrity studded parties. FACTFILE Footfalls - 1000 (Weekly Average) Max. Promotions Area - 1500 sqft No. of Promotion Sites - 2 Clientele - Minissha Lamba, Imran Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Anil Kapoor , Sonam Kapoor, Cathay Pacific, Lakme, J P Morgan, Bang Bang Films ,Bloomberg, General Atlantic For Event & Activation Enquiries Contact: General Manager Gary Saldanha : + 91 9833562165 Email: gary.saldanha@gmail.com PR & Marketing Roshmin Mehandru : +91 9920933387 Email: roshminmehandru@hotmail.com Busaba, Lower Parel: Todi & Co, Mathuradas Mills Compound, N M Joshi Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400011 Tel: +91 2267478971 | 72 | 73 | 74 Busaba Colaba, Mumbai Founded in 2001 by Celebrity Chef Nikhil Chib, Busaba the iconic Mumbai restaurant has been recognised by many of India’s finest food awards, lifestyle and food publications, critics and the likes. One of the most applauded being the Times Food Awards for Best Oriental in 2011 and Best Korean in 2012. Busaba was the first authentic South East-Asian restaurant in India, located in the prestigious surroundings of South Mumbai’s Colaba area. This restaurant brought South East Asian cuisine into focus in India. Busaba’s South East Asian menu is authentic, wholesome and elegant. Over the years, Busaba steadily built a robust reputation for delectable cuisine, impeccable personalized service, and to top it all in a cozy ambience. As a result, Busaba Colaba has become a cult restaurant in the area, with a fabulous bar and lounge on the ground floor attracting a sophisticated and niche clientele with the likes of fashionistas, Bollywood figures and serious foodies strolling in and out. FACTFILE Footfalls - 1000 (Weekly Average) Max. Promotions Area - 1400 sqft No. of Promotion Sites - 2 Clientele - Freida Pinto, Naseeruddin Shah, Ricky Ponting, Nargis Fakhri, Meher Jessia, Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, Sikander Kher, Amarchand Mangaldas, Ambit, Barclays, Grant Thornton, Fitch, Trilegal, Deutsche Bank, BCP Advisors. For Event & Activation Enquiries Contact: General Manager Gary Saldanha : + 91 9833562165 Email: gary.saldanha@gmail.com PR & Marketing: Roshmin Mehandru : +91 9920933387 Email: roshminmehandru@hotmail.com Busaba, Colaba: 4 Mandlik Road, Colaba, Mumbai - 400001 Tel: +91 2222043769 | 79 | 72 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 49 Glimpses Arola launch in Mumbai JW Marriott Mumbai has partnered with two star Michelin Chef Sergi Arola to bring his Arola brand to India. June 9 saw Arola’s doors opening for the first time. In honour of the occasion, JW Marriott Mumbai hosted a gala party in association with Chhaya Momaya. FBB RJ Style-o-meter the second edition of the FBB RJ Style-ometer, the hunt for the most stylish RJ, was announced by Fashion at Big Bazaar and Percept Media on May 31. The grand finale took place on June 9 and 10 in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. The event saw participation from 34 RJs. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 50 Indianhanger.com anniversary Indianhanger.com celebrated its one-year anniversary bash on June 2 at Bungalow 9, Bandra over a fashion show with young divas Ira Dubey, Nishka Lulla, Zoa Morani, Malini Agarwal, Anandita De, Ashika Mehta, and Shaan Khanna. Indianhanger.com unveiled an exclusive collection of clothes and accessories from noted and upcoming designers. Strings India Tour Saregama India Ltd. and Le Club Musique came together to bring Pakistani pop/ rock band Strings to perform in India. The Strings Live - India Tour 2012 saw the band performing on June 8 at Jynxxx Club in Delhi and June 10 at Royalty Club in Mumbai. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event in Delhi and 700 people in Mumbai. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 51 Heineken Green Room Heineken’s latest offering, the Heineken Green Room Sessions, was conducted in Delhi on June 20 at One Style Mile, F Mumbai Lounge and Dinner in Mumbai on June 22, and City Bar, UB City in Bangalore on June 24. The initiative was managed by Crayon Events and Entertainment in Delhi and DNA for the other two cities. Blenders Pride Reserve Collection Fashion Showers The second edition of the ‘Blenders Pride Reserve Collection Fashion Showers in association with Jaguar was held at Vivanta by Taj. An exclusive, invite-only event, the night saw glamorous fashion shows by Bangalore’s Ramesh Dembla and Kolkata’s Abhishek Dutta. The night also saw the unveiling of volume 1 of the BFWTunes High Fashion Runway music. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 52 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season Five launch Cineyug Worldwide managed the fifth Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa launch show, the shoot for which took place at Filmistan Studios in Goregaon, Mumbai, from June 4 to 8. The show was hosted by Manish Paul and Ragini Khanna. This time, in order to highlight the new contestants, each contestant was introduced by a Bollywood, Cricket or Television celebrity. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 53 Puma Loves Vinyl Puma and NH7 came together to create the Puma Loves Vinyl campaign, featuring the biggest and most talented bands from across the country collaborating with Puma on a limited edition Vinyl record. The launch event for this campaign took place on June 23 at Mehboob Studios in Bandra, Mumbai, and was executed by Cream Events. 4 July 2012, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 54 Classifieds Mai CV at Go Lives Mindz Productionzs Positions: Positions: Manager/Asst. Manager – Business Develpment Executive/Asst. Manager – Operations Executive/Asst. Manager – MICE Executive/Asst. Manager – Corporate Relations Executive/Sr. Executive – Destination Management Wedding Planner Assistant Manager – Client Servicing Event Executive Graphic Designer Location: Cochin/Trivandrum/ Location: Delhi Location: Bangalore Mail CV at work@go-live.in Mail CV at Executive Eventss Positions: Calicut/Coimbatore Mail CV at hrd@executivekerala.in bobsy@mindzproductionz.co.in RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month RNI registration 108290/2010 Postal registration no MH/MR/N/150/MBI/11-13 posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on every 7th or 8th of the month Experience a city that needs no introductions Beneath cooling fog or atop towering hills, our City by the Bay is one of few places in the world whose reputation precedes it. Already famous for our A -list shopping, dining and cultural scene, 2012 brings not-to-be-missed events like the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary, U.S. Open Golf Championship, and two America’s Cup World Series races. Jump-start your adventure here: www.sanfrancisco.travel.