I am Anna - Eventfaqs

4 SEP 2011 

MAIN ISSUE 64 PAGES + 8 PAGES RED ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT | 

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 5 ` 100/- 

Events | Entertainment | Promotions | MICE | BTL | Sponsorship | Sports 

I am Anna

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IN FOCUS

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IN FOCUS

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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 

SHWETA RAMSAY 

shweta@eventfaqs.com +91 98923 59703 

SHACHI TAPIAWALA 

shachi@eventfaqs.com +91 98336 21173 

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 

CAROL SANIL 

carol@eventfaqs.com +91 98203 63042 

SHRUTIKA SALVE 

shrutika@eventfaqs.com +9122 2648 9915 

CIRCULATION: 

RAMESH PATIL 

ramesh@eventfaqs.com +9122 2605 7539 

ACCOUNTS & ADMIN: 

PURVESH BHATT 

accounts@eventfaqs.com +9122 2648 9915 

ExM is a monthly magazine by EVENTFAQS, 

publishers of India’s only platform for events 

and experiential marketing - 

www.eventfaqs.com. 

Subscriptions are ` 1,000/- (India) and US$ 

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postage. Mail at exm@eventfaqs.com for 

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Printed by: Vishal Vashulal Nagdev 202, Brooke 

Ville, Near Magnet Super Market, Mogul Lane, 

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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 64 pages including covers 

+ 8 pages Red Entertainment Special Supplement. 

It’s all happening here 

This month we pay tribute to a much-needed crusade and the one 

man who decided to actually do something about it. Like millions of 

others, we make known our stance against corruption, but we also 

extend our tribute to the single most effective activation our nation 

has witnessed since its independence. 

A single event has been the reason for skyrocketing ratings for 

news channels. It has enjoyed prime position spreads of every 

publication. The buzz online and on social media have clocked 

trends worthy of case studies. And of course, in the lead have been 

the best-attended and most engaging activations! The medium 

of experience allowed supporters to truly emote and show their 

undying support to the cause. 

We acknowledge that its not all been positive amplifications. For 

instance, skeptics have posed questions on where the funds 

for such a massive movement could have come from? But any 

experiential marketer will tell you that if you compare investments 

of this particular activation to its resultant engagement, the RoI is 

extraordinary. 

While on the subject of value, an interesting way to decipher 

valuation of this campaign would be to see what price a brand 

pays to be associated with this campaign? And more so, how many 

brand will be willing to even share that spot? 

As experiential marketers, we can’t help that our imagination carries 

us away. In this issue however, we present real trends in experiential 

marketing. We analyze insights in two seemingly opposite ends 

of the experiential marketing spectrum: Rural markets, in which 

engagement is enhancing through Intellectual Property; and highend 

events, in which virtual engagement is integrating seamlessly 

to make what we term a Hybrid event. 

karishma@eventfaqs.com 

4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 05 

Coming soon.. 

www.eventfaqs.com/exvenues

CONTENTS 

GLIMPSES 

Event Briefs 

Promo Power | MICE | Live 

Sports Rush | Media Active 08-13 

Also Featured 

Hybrid Events: When Online met On-ground 

Market Pulse 

“Formula 1: A sport which has 

significant appeal for Vodafone’s 

customers around the world.” 

- Anuradha Aggarwal, Vice President – 

Marketing, Brand Communication and 

Consumer Insights, Vodafone Essar Ltd. 


48 49 

Industry Watch 

Agency | Destination 

Venues | Events 14-17 

In Focus 

Lead Feature Road to Rural with Engagement 

19 

47 

India: A window to tradeshow 

opportunities in Asia 

- Charlie Greco, Tradeshow Consultant 

26 

40 

42 

50 

IIJW displays its second 

edition of jewellery trends 

Gitanjali gives its stakeholders 

a sparkling show with 

Ticket to Bollywood 

Hero steps out with its 

new identity 

EEMAGINE 2011 

gets scaled up! 

52 

30 

34 

36 

55 

51

ALSO FEATURED

MICE 

Rachnoutsav Events manages ADP 

India Company Day 

Rachnoutsav Events 

managed Automatic Data 

Processing India’s 12th 

Company Day celebrations in 

India, which is a reward and 

recognition programme for the 

associates of the company. This event took place at ADP 

India in Hyderabad and Pune. 

Rakhi Kankaria, Founder, Rachnoutsav Events said: “We 

has been managing events for ADP India for the past 10 

years. The event theme was EVOLVE as it believes that 

the vision of company is evolving with time, the mission is 

evolving and so are the values of the company. This event 

engaged around 3,000 associates of the company.” 

Percept Networks to manage North 

East trade expo 

Percept Networks will manage 

the first edition of NE Trade Expo 

Guwahati, organised by Aroha 

Empire. The event will take place 

at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre in Guwahati from Sept. 29 

to Oct. 9. The NE Trade Expo brings a plethora of choices 

for shopping lovers of the North-East region to a single 

platform during the festive time of Durga Puja and Diwali. 

Ranjan B. Gohain, CEO, Percept Networks - Guwahati 

said: “The NE Trade Expo Guwahati is our first attempt at 

managing and organising a trade show independently. We 

expect over 200 people to attend the expo. We also plan to 

take the event to other cities in the North East region and 

Bengaluru early next year.” 

RMAI announces Rural Immersion 

Program 

The Rural Marketing 

Association of India 

organised the Rural 

Immersion Program which 

took place in Delhi at the 

India International Centre 

on Sept. 6 and 7. This 

program, designed and delivered by industry veterans, 

aimed to educate participants on the ‘Go-To-Market’ 

strategy for their business. 

Participants developed a greater insight into rural branding 

and positioning, and reviewed and analyzed sustainable 

best practices used by different organizations. The program 

covered topics including rural settings, environment 

and cultural aspects; understanding behaviour of rural 

consumers; and branding in rural India. 


IITM completes travel exhibits in 

Bengaluru and Chennai 

Sphere Travelmedia & 

Exhibitions organized its 

53rd and 54th edition of 

India International Travel 

Mart (IITM) from July 29 

to 31 at Palace Ground, 

Bengaluru, and from 

Aug. 5 to 7 at Chennai Trade Centre in Chennai. With 

organizations and tourism boards from over 20 states, IITM 

showcased a variety of destinations from different spheres. 

Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere TravelMedia said: “India 

is one of the most interesting countries for the travel trade 

industry. IITM, organized on a B2B and B2C format, had 

over 20,000 visitors each at Bangalore & Chennai.” 

CS Direkt manages CEO’s Council 

2011 for Max New York Life 

CS Direkt managed CEO’s 

Council 2011 for Max New 

York Life from Aug. 18 to 

22 in Zurich. Every year, 

Max New York Life selects its top performing agents to 

be a part of the CEO’s Council. At the event, the agents 

are commended and felicitated with a tour and a unique 

experience. This year, the theme ‘With You We Will’ talked 

about teamwork. 

Sanjeev Pasricha, MD and CEO, CS Direkt Group of Cos. 

said: “Our three-year association with Max New York Life 

went one notch higher this year being allocated the CEO’s 

Council event at Zurich. Right from the touch points that 

highlighted the theme, the welcome, the giveaways and the 

collaterals, the surprise extension for some of the Cabinet 

Council members, everything had to be perfect to a T.” 

ICE appointed Convention Agency 

for AdAsia 2011 

AdAsia 2011, returning to India 

after eight years, is taking place 

from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 in New Delhi. 

The theme this year is ‘Uncertainty: 

The New Certainty’. Integrated 

Conference & Event Management 

(ICE) won the bid for appointment 

as the convention agency of 

AdAsia 2011. 

Naveen Rizvi, VP India & Business Head, ICE said: “The 

bidding process involved a series of presentations made to 

the organizing committee. The creative flow of ideas and 

the detailed execution plan was a USP of the presentations 

given by ICE, which helped us in winning this bid.” 

For latest updates on events and on-ground promotions from across India, log on to www.eventfaqs.com

Promo Power 

Dabur Hajmola initiates a Treat to the 

Town campaign 

Market Men Consumer Connect 

& Events executed a promotional 

activity for Dabur Hajmola, 

promoting its Saunf flavor from 

Aug. 3 to 5 across Mumbai. The 

campaign was called Treat to the Town. As part of the 

campaign, dabbawalas were given product sampling 

sachets of Dabur Hajmola Saunf to complement the 

dabbas. Market Men targeted around 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh 

people. 

Archan Gurtu, Director, Market Men Consumer Connect 

& Events said: “Dabur wanted to create a buzz for Dabur 

Hajmola Saunf, so the best thing was a sampling wherein 

we targeted all the office goers through which we promoted 

the product and gave an experience of the mouth freshener.” 

Tata takes the Nano to the people with 

a ‘Shop on Wheels’ 

Marketing Solutions is 

conducting an activation for 

Tata Motors to promote the 

Nano in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, 

where they take the car closer 

to the consumer for a demo - experience. This activity aims 

to show people that the Nano is a great buy, in terms of 

economy and because it is fuel efficient and spacious. The 

activation, which began on July 28 and will end after Diwali, 

features a canter designed as a ‘Shop on Wheels’. 

A spokesperson from Tata Motors said: “The objective is 

to get the car up close to the people who are prospective 

customers. We want people to experience the car. We want 

it to become a preferred car choice for first time buyers.” 

Nickelodeon and McDonalds launch 

SpongeBob SquarePants Happy Meal 

Nickelodeon India and 

McDonalds India launched a 

Happy Meal with SpongeBob 

SquarePants which was 

available from Aug 12 to 18 

across 12 cities and over 100 

McDonald outlets. As part of 

the on-ground activities, meet and greet sessions with 

SpongeBob SquarePants were organised in different cities. 

Sandeep Dahiya, SVP-Communications and Consumer 

Products, Viacom18 Media said: “We are continuously 

innovating to reach out to more and more consumers with 

our consumer products range and feel that this tie-up will 

further boost the ever growing popularity of ‘SpongeBob 

SquarePants’ in the Indian market.” 


AkzoNobel launches new global Dulux 

brand identity in India 

AkzoNobel, a major paints and 

coatings company, has launched 

a single new global brand identity 

for its top retail consumer paint 

range, Dulux, and its related 

brands including Flexa, Levis, 

Alba, Coral, Sadolin and Marshall. The new identity is part of 

AkzoNobel’s endeavour to reinforce its global market position 

and increase its worldwide market share in consumer paint. 

Amit Jain, MD, AkzoNobel India Ltd. said: “Dulux has, 

over the years, come to epitomise the best quality in the 

decorative paints industry. The new global brand identity 

reaffirms our colour leadership. India is among the first 

few countries within the AkzoNobel global network to 

activate this transition to the new Dulux brand identity.” 

Brand Box manages IPO launch event 

for L&T Finance 

Brand Box managed the IPO 

launch event for L&T Finance 

Holdings, the financial holding 

company promoted by Larsen & 

Toubro Ltd. The event was held 

on Aug 12 at the National Stock 

Exchange in Mumbai, the first 

time any event was allowed to be organised at the NSE. 

Sheetal Saliya, Head-Strategy Planning, Brand Box said: 

“The brief was to manage a grand event wherein the top 

brass of the company would be present. With planning and 

execution time of less than 72 hours, the concept needed 

to be impactful and innovative, and needed to create the 

desired hype around the IPO. The theme we chose was 

‘Hope’ as the brand tagline is ‘Asha Ko Disha Denge Hum’.” 

Shriram Fertilizers visits the paddy 

fields of Punjab and Haryana 

Ascent Brand Communications 

undertook a 15 day van promotion for 

Shriram Fertilizers & Chemicals, from 

Aug. 6 in Haryana and Punjab. This 

activity, which aimed to promote the 

range of Crop Care Chemicals (CCC) 

among trade partners and farmers, 

engaged around 4,790 visitors, 

covered 30 mandis and generated around 1,079 leads. 

Pradeep Yadav, Manager Strategic Planning & 

Development, Ascent Brand Communications said: “CCC’s 

basic function is to protect against pests and fungus. Hence, 

the creative strategy proposed was ‘Shriram Suraksha ki 

sity-jisne bajai, Faslon ki suraksha pai’.” 


ALSO FEATURED 

IN FOCUS

Sports Rush 

Put the pedal to the metal with 

Vodafone Race To Fame 

As a run up to the grand prix 

in India, Vodafone Essar 

announced the launch of 

its engagement platform, 

‘Vodafone Race To Fame’, 

on Aug. 10. This initiative 

will include two different 

challenges namely, Vodafone Race to Fame - Life in 

the fast lane, and Vodafone Drive into the Big League. 

Kumar Ramanathan, CMO, Vodafone Essar said: 

“Vodafone is the title sponsor and official mobile partner 

for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. This contest 

will fulfill motor sports fanatics’ wildest dreams and give 

thousands a thrill of watching it on their television screen.” 

Atlanta Foundation organizes corporate 

cycling rally 

For the third time, the Atlanta 

Foundation organized a major 

corporate cycle rally - The Freedom 

Ride 2011 - at the Hyderabad 

International Convention Centre 

on Aug. 15. The theme for the rally 

was ‘Freedom through Education’ 

and the cycling event was held to 

commemorate 64 years of India’s independence. 

The cycling event witnessed the participation of 1,800 

corporate executives from more than 35 corporates. The 

cyclists rode bicycles for 64 kms to coincide with 64 years of 

independence, or five or ten kms in support of the education 

of underprivileged children. The proceeds collected will be 

utilized for the education of underprivileged children. 

White Copper Entertainment manages 

to Gun for Glory 

Gagan Narang Sports Promotion 

Foundation organised a Gun for 

Glory shooting championship 

from Aug. 3 to 9 at the Shiv 

Chhatrapati Sports Complex 

in Balewadi, Pune. The event, 

managed by White Copper 

Entertainment, was conducted 

under the aegis of the National Rifle Association of India. 

Pawan Singh, Director, Gagan Narang Sports Promotion 

Foundation said: “Shooting can be a stress-buster, besides 

improving mental focus, personal discipline and self 

esteem. This competition was targeted at the common man 

to bring him closer to the sport and make him aware of the 

challenges a shooter undergoes while competing.” 


Delhi gears up to run for the Airtel 

Delhi Half Marathon 

The next edition of the 

Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is 

scheduled to take off on Nov. 

27 under the aegis of the 

Athletics Federation of India. 

This year, the marathon is 

dedicated to ‘Friends’ and invites people to come together 

in the spirit of friendship. This edition expects to see around 

30,000 sports loving people come together to run with some 

of the world’s leading distance runners and India’s best. 

Sanjay Kapoor, CEO-India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said: 

“Airtel’s success story is synonymous with determination, 

perseverance and the ability to never lose sight of the 

long term goal, like a seasoned runner. We salute the 

spirit of forging ahead in the long race and are delighted to 

associate with the Delhi Half Marathon for the fourth year.” 

High Street Phoenix gives mall goers 

a taste of rock climbing 

As part of its Thrilling 

Tuesdays initiative, High 

Street Phoenix (HSP) 

associated with Natura 

Outdoor Education and Training Solutions to organise an 

artificial rock climbing and rappelling activity on Aug. 23. 

The activity gave adventure enthusiasts an opportunity to 

experience the thrill of climbing and rappelling down a 20 

foot high artificial rock climbing wall. 

“At HSP, we want to pioneer and encourage adventure 

sports amongst our patrons and, in lieu of this, once a 

month, we bring to you an adventure sport activity followed 

by workshops,” said Pritti Ravindra, VP-Marketing, High 

Street Phoenix. 

MediaCom launches new global 

sports division 

WPP group company 

MediaCom Worldwide 

has launched a new 

global sports division, 

MediaCom SPORT. MediaCom SPORT will offer four key 

areas of services: Strategic advice, rights negotiation, 

rights activation and measurement. 

Stephen Allan, Chairman & CEO, MediaComsaid: 

“MediaCom previously focused its sports expertise at a 

local and regional level but we realised that our clients now 

require a more global understanding of the sports arena as 

their budgets continue to shift towards investments in this 

area and with it a much greater sensitivity to achieve solid 

returns. We need to be able to offer the very best in advice.” 


LIVE 

India debuts in Karaoke World 

Championship 

McDowell’s No. 1 associated with 

VH1 to organize the ‘Karaoke 

World Championship’, wherein 

India debuted as one of the 40 

participating countries. The grand 

finale was held on Aug. 6 and the 

world finale was held from Sept. 8 

to Sept. 10 in Killarney, Ireland. This event was produced 

by Nash Events & Entertainment and Savio D’Sa. 

Lalit Kewalramani, Proprietor, Nash Events & Entertainment 

said: “We publicised this event through our Facebook page 

and made announcements at the cities where we conducted 

our zonal rounds. We engaged 30 to 50 people through 

each city trial. KWC was the mother of all championships.” 

Second edition of Chevrolet GIMA 

Awards announced 

The Global Indian Music 

Academy (GIMA) announced 

the second edition of the 

Chevrolet GIMA Awards which 

is scheduled to take place at the 

Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon 

in late September. GIMA is an 

effort by Wizcraft International Entertainment to recognize 

Indian music across genres in the country, while giving the 

music industry a unified platform to celebrate its talent. 

Chevrolet GIMA Awards 2011 has received over 1,500 

entries, with over 40 films and 160 non-film albums vying for 

the awards. The nominees were assessed by a jury of 33 

members from the Indian music fraternity. The final winners 

for GIMA were then voted upon by the GIMA Academy. 

Eventos Promotions to organise 

second tattoo convention 

Eventos Promotions and 

More will organize Indian 

INK, 2nd International Tattoo 

Convention, at Club West 

End, Goa, from Nov. 18 to 

20. This is India’s second 

tattoo convention which 

will include well-known 

artists from the tattoo community. Last time, the agency 

managed to engage around 7,000 each day through 

the first convention and is expecting the same this year. 

Shibanii Shah, Proprietor, Eventos Promotions and More 

said: “The tattoo industry has been promoted all over 

the world and with the craze we have seen in India’s first 

convention, the tattoo industry is bound to grow.” 


Dainik Bhaskar Group engages 

readers through Bhaskar Bollywood 

Awards 

Dainik Bhaskar Group initiated the 

Bhaskar Bollywood Awards, which 

allowed its readers to nominate their 

favourite Bollywood celebrities in 

various categories, as well as to present 

the awards to them. Over three lakh 

people participated in nominating 

the celebrities. The awards were 

sponsored by Estilo from Maruti Suzuki. 

Gyan Gupta, Business Head, IMCL said: “Award functions 

normally do not take the audience into consideration. 

Mango people are the ones for whom movies and hence, 

they should be the ones deciding who deserves the award.” 

Ray-Ban launches new property Ray- 

Ban Never Hide Sounds 

Ray-Ban has launched a new 

annual property titled ‘Ray- 

Ban Never Hide Sounds’ in 

association with Rolling Stone 

magazine. The brand new 

platform has been initiated for young Indian rock bands to 

showcase their talent at a national level. The grand finale 

of the event is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on Dec. 4. 

Rishu Singh, Senior Manager - Marketing and Activation, 

Rolling Stone India said: “The event property has been 

conceptualised by us. We will also be managing the 

promotions, execution and production of the event. 

Registrations for the event are on until Sept. 30.” 

MTDC presents Govinda Festival to 

attract tourists to Maharashtra 

MTDC launched the Govinda 

Festival to attract tourists to 

visit Maharashtra. The festival 

was held in association with 

George John Advertising. MTDC 

invited the representative of the 

Castellers de Vilafranca team 

from Spain. The Spanish team 

of 250 people created a human pyramid and participated 

in the festivities on Aug. 22 alongside the local teams in 

Mumbai. 

Rajesh Das, Vice President, George John Advertising said: 

“The Govinda festival is celebrated across the state and 

was organised by the local mandals. The brief received 

from the client was to convert this festival into a tourism 

opportunity for the state and to attract international and 

domestic tourists.” 


Media Active 

BIG Live to give BIG Salute to Women 

Entertainers 

BIG Live has announced its 

new property, BIG Salute to 

Women Entertainers Awards. 

This is a first of its kind initiative that proposes to honour 

women across seven regional markets and celebrate the 

success of the Indian women entertainers across cinema, 

television, music, media, fashion, dance, sports and 

theatre. 

Rabe T. Iyer, Business Head, BIG Live said: “Through this 

concept, we wish to pay tribute to the world of women 

entertainers without whom we wouldn’t have been treated 

to a truly complete entertainment package. These awards 

will have a high appeal in their respective regions as 

people will get to see their local women entertainers on this 

pedestal achieving recognition.” 

Star News and Aarakshan debate 

reservations with the students 

Reservation in education has 

long been a topic of debate and 

division in the country. In August, 

Star News, in association with 

the movie Aarakshan, brought 

that debate to the very people 

it affects - the students. The cast and crew of Aarakshan 

travelled to Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow to develop a 

firsthand understanding of what the youth of India truly feels 

about reservation and how it has affected their lives. 

Filmmaker Prakash Jha said: “The student community 

determines the future of a nation. Their opinions and ideas will 

shape the world to come. The entire Aarakshan team were 

very excited to talk to students about reservations.” 

BIG Digital initiates online reality 

show 

BIG Digital has announced 

a youth online reality show, 

‘Transform India - Youth 

Uncensored’ which will be 

activated in the second or third quarter. The objective of the 

show is to empower the youth by providing a platform for 

them to voice their opinion against social problems. This 

activity will be held in 100 colleges across six cities wherein 

the colleges will compete against each other by uploading 

videos on how they believe they can best tackle societal 

issues. 

Soumen G. Choudhury, Business Head, 92.7 BIG FM said: 

“Nationally, our sales team is carrying this property and being 

a unique proposition, we have recorded a lot of interest from 

clients, especially brands targeted at the youth.” 


Sony Entertainment organises van 

activation campaign for KBC 

Sony Entertainment Television is 

holding a van activation campaign 

promote the show, Kaun Banega 

Crorepati (KBC), across 22 towns. 

This event started on July 29 and 

is a 40-day pan India activation, 

which is being managed and 

executed by RW Promotions. 

Danish Khan, VP and Head-Marketing, Sony 

Entertainment Television said: “KBC is an iconic show 

and part of everyone’s daily lives. Every year, we get 

many people who want to participate in the show and 

through this activation, we aim to take the show where 

people can cherish the moment of being in the hot seat.” 

92.7 BIG FM’s Big Green Ganesha 

comes back for the fourth year 

To promote creating a cleaner 

and greener environment, 

92.7 BIG FM continues 

with its Big Green Ganesha 

initiative, now in its fourth 

year, which will be carried out 

across 13 markets. Led by 

92.7 BIG FM, the property has a strong on-ground paper 

collection drive in residential colonies and corporations. . 

Soumen Ghosh Choudhary, Business Head, 92.7 BIG FM 

said: “Through this offering, we want to connect with the 

entire city and bring them together to make a difference 

through a simple act of paper contribution that will help us 

in reaching out to our listeners.” 

Brandwidth Events helps Star Movies 

introduce Na’vi to Mumbai and Delhi 

As a build up to Star 

Movies’ premiere of 

Avatar, Brandwidth 

Events went on-ground to 

engage the viewers and 

fans of Star Movies in Delhi and Mumbai. For the activation, 

a Na’vi, the fictional blue-skinned humanoid from the movie, 

was recreated and taken around to engage the audience. 

Saurabh Yagnik, GM & Sr. VP, English Channels, STAR 

India said: “Star Movies preiemered Avatar, which 

showcases the greatest fight for freedom, as a tribute to 

India’s independence this year. We had a man dressed as 

a Na’vi who went across Mumbai and Delhi to engage with 

the audience. This activity grabbed instant eyeballs and 

captivated the audience, which led to a very successful 

word of mouth and viral buzz.” 


Industry Watch Agency 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 14 

Ideazfirst Events 

launches new 

logo 

On Aug. 5, Ideazfirst 

Events launched a new logo 

symbolizing their tagline, 

‘Innovative Ideas. Better 

Business’. Along with a 

new Mumbai office, the 

logo comes as a part of the 

company’s expansion plan, 

which looks to increase its 

network all over India by 

the end of 2011. 

Rajesh Kishanpuria, CEO, 

Ideazfirst Events said: 

“The new logo represents 

a ‘Bulb with a star’, which 

symbolizes the creative 

and fresh ideas that we 

produce for our clients’ 

events and promotions. We 

hope to bring fresher and 

newer ideas to the event 

management industry. If 

we don’t change, we don’t 

grow. If we don’t grow, we 

aren’t really living.” 

Wizcraft’s 

Government 

Alliances Division 

bags major clients 

Wizcraft International 

Entertainment has 

launched a Government 

Alliances Division, which is 

a full-service advertising, 

communication and events 

company that offers 

a bouquet of services 

to clients in the public 

sector and to government 

accounts. This initiative 

aims to creatively augment 

the communication and 

service delivery of public 

sector agencies, thereby 

making it more efficient, 

effective and dynamic. In its 

first quarter of operations, 

the enterprise has already 

bagged two major clients - 

the Department of Tourism, 

Government of Rajasthan, 

and the Ministry of Health, 

Government of India. 

Shrikant Hazare appointed 

CMO at KOOH 

On Aug. 11, Kids Out Of 

Home Pvt. Ltd. (KOOH) 

announced the appointment 

of Shrikant Hazare as its 

Chief Marketing Officer. 

Hazare is an industry 

veteran with over two 

decades of marketing 

experience. He will lead 

KOOH’s marketing efforts for 

their sports (KOOH Sports) 

and events (Fun @ Field) 

divisions. In his new role, 

Hazare will be responsible 

for introducing the concept 

of sports development to 

its core audiences, utilizing 

disruptive marketing ideas 

through unconventional 

mediums. He will drive 

the marketing strategy 

and brand management 

functions including brand 

communication, brand 

design, sports marketing, 

offline and social media 

marketing. 

Commenting on the 

appointment, Susir Kumar, 

Co-founder and Chairman, 

KOOH said: “KOOH is a 

fledgling organization with 

a clear aim to rekindle a 

love for the outdoors in the 

lives of kids, parents and 

communities. In Shrikant, 

we found the right qualities 

to drive KOOH’s marketing 

function. Given his proven 

leadership skills, sharp 

business acumen and 

track record in building 

brands, we look forward to 

leveraging Shrikant’s skills 

in achieving our mission.” 

Thot Media launches ThotMumbai 

Thot Media, a Delhi based 

events and activation 

agency, officially launched 

its Mumbai office on Aug. 

1. The company’s client list 

includes Hindustan Times, 

Sony, and Fiat. For the 

Mumbai office, the company 

has roped in Sanjay Sahni, 

former employee of TIC as 

Senior Vice President and 

Regional Director (West). 

Sahni will be playing a lead 

role in ThotMumbai. His 

immediate goals include 

Former Jagran Solutions COO starts 

up Pulp Strategy Communications 

Ambika Sharma, the 

erstwhile COO of Jagran 

Solutions, has taken the 

path of entrepreneurship 

and begun a full service 

experiential marketing 

and communications 

agency, Pulp Strategy 

Communications. Pulp 

Strategy is fully operational 

and specializes in the B2C 


space, providing customized 

and measurable solutions 

to address specific brand 

marketing objectives. 

setting up a fully functional 

office within the shortest 

possible time in Mumbai. 

The thought of opening the 

Mumbai office took root 

when new opportunities 

coincided with the business 

needs of some of the 

company’s existing clients. 

Based on the strength of 

their past work in the city, 

Thot Media aims to make 

a notable presence on the 

Mumbai BTL landscape. 

Krayon Events to launch 

three properties for kids 

and youth segment 

After functioning in the kids 

and youth activation space 

for several years, Krayon 

Events has announced the 

launch of three new event 

properties in the areas of 

sports, entertainment and 

intellect, catering to the 

same segment. The three 

properties are titled Get 

Set Go, Face the Music, and 

Ideasforlife.com. 

Tabassum Modi, Executive 

Director, Krayon Events 

said: “Creating an own IP is 

the way to go for all event 

agencies. The properties 

we are launching are in 

three diverse areas and are 

backed by research and a 

clear understanding of what 

the market needs. We have 

high scope of growth for all 

the three properties in the 

future. We plan to roll out 

two of the three properties 

by October.” 

Pulp Strategy provides 

solutions under seven 

verticals - Brand Activation, 

MICE, Retail & ISP, Rural 

Marketing, Consulting, 

Digital & Social Media, 

and Unique Youth connect 

Channel via I cafes. 

Sharma said: “The 

activation industry is 

growing at a rate of 18 per 

cent CAGR. We will focus 

on all industries and brands 

which focus on consumer 

experience.”

Industry Watch Destination 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 15 

MCVB premieres its showcase 

in Mumbai 

The Melbourne Convention 

+ Visitors Bureau (MCVB) 

brought Melbourne to 

Mumbai on Aug. 22 with 

the ‘Destination Melbourne 

Showcase’ – the first ever 

in India. This showcase 

featured nine leading 

business events suppliers 

who emphasised what 

makes Melbourne the 

perfect location to combine 

business, pleasure and 

travel. 

Thailand plans to 

tap India’s tier II 

markets with new 

destinations 

Tourism Authority Thailand 

(TAT) plans to promote the 

less explored destinations 

of Thailand among potential 

tourists in tier II cities of 

India. 

Chattan Kunjara Na 

Ayudhya, Director TAT in 

India said: “The primary 

objective this year is to 

make people from India 

travel to unexplored 

places in Thailand. Our 

provinces are ready to 

host Indian tourists. The 

tier I market is getting 

saturated and therefore, 

a lot of opportunity lies in 

the tier II market where 

people wish to explore new 

international destinations. 

As per our estimation, we 

should receive 885,000 

Indian tourists. To achieve 

this, there is a lot of 

emphasis on promoting 

newer destinations and 

concentration on the tier 

II India market. We are 

going to aggressively target 

tour operators and agents 

to check out other options 

which are perfect for Indian 

tourists.” 

Edwina San, Director – 

International Incentives, 

MCVB, said: “29,578 

Indians visited Australia for 

business in the year ending 

April 2011, which is a 19 per 

cent increase over last year. 

These figures are expected 

to grow significantly when 

Melbourne hosts the 2012 

Amway India Leadership 

Seminar, bringing over 

4,000 delegates to the city.” 

KTO expands presence in 

India to promote tourism 

In order to promote tourism 

relations in India, the Korea 

Tourism Organization (KTO) 

has opened a representative 

office in Mumbai, in addition 

to its current office in Delhi. 

This office aims to promote 

Korea as a premium 

tourism destination to the 

travel trade, consumers, 

media and airlines. KTO 

plans to collaborate with 

travel agents based in West 

India to introduce an array 

of travel options and tie-up 

with Indian tour operators. 

Jae Sang Lee, Director, 

KTO in India said: “Having 

representation in Mumbai 

will heighten the awareness 

of Korea’s many attractions 

and the state-of-the-art 

facilities in the country to 

further develop business 

and leisure travel.” 

Ahmedabad is wooed at the Travel 

and Tourism Fair 

The Travel and Tourism Fair 

(TTF) took place from Aug. 

19 to 21 at the Gujarat 

University Exhibition Hall, 

with participation from over 

350 exhibitors from home 

and abroad. From India, 26 

states put up stalls while 

there were nine stalls from 

different countries. The fair 

was inaugurated by Vipul 

Mittra, Principal Secretary, 

Tourism & Civil Aviation, 

Government of Gujarat. 

Mittra said: “TTF 

Ahmedabad is a good 

opportunity for Ahmedabad 

as it offers fascinating 

glimpses of hundreds of 

tourist destinations from 

across India and the world. 

Besides state and national 

tourism organizations, it 

Government and experts agree 

that Kashmir has great MICE 

tourism potential 

Experts claim that 

alongside the sightseeing 

tourism opportunities that 

Kashmir offers, the Valley 

can also be promoted as a 

classic MICE destination. 

Executives of Cox and Kings 

International Travel Agency, 

which held a ten-day 

long programme on MICE 

tourism in collaboration 

with the Sher-e-Kashmir 

International Convention 

Centre (SKICC), noted that 

Kashmir had great potential 

for MICE tourism. 

Nasir Aslam Wani, Minister 

of State for Tourism, stated 

that the government will 

endeavour to fully explore 

the tourism potential 

of the state. He said: 

“Kashmir’s topography 

is extremely feasible for 

holding big conferences 

and events at a national 

and international level. 

Measures are underway to 

create more MICE tourism 

infrastructure in all the 

three regions of the state 

so that corporate houses do 

not face an inconvenience 

while conducting their 

conventions.” 

had the participation of a 

large number of hotels, 

resorts, travel agents, touroperators, 

cruise-lines and 

the like. With the upcoming 

Diwali vacations and 

Gujaratis travellers in mind, 

most of the participants 

had special packages on 

offer along with otherwise 

unavailable deals and 

options.” 

Macau tourism 

extends MICE 

stimulation 

program 

The Macau Government 

Tourist Office has extended 

its Strategic MICE Market 

Stimulation Program to Dec. 

31 due to its favourable 

impact on the tourism 

industry in Macau. The 

program, launched in May 

2009 as a plan to support 

the Macau tourism industry, 

was extended to help 

attract more international 

MICE events in Macau. The 

Program includes three 

categories: Meetings and 

Conventions, Exhibitions 

and Incentives.

Industry Watch Events 

Spikes Asia celebrates 25 years 

Spikes Asia is the annual 

awards and festival 

for creative excellence 

in advertising and 

communications across the 

Asia-Pacific region. Taking 

place in Singapore from 

Sept. 18 to Sept. 20, Spikes 

Asia 2011 celebrates 25 

years of the event. Apart 

from the awards, Spikes Asia 

builds a learning platform 

by bringing the pioneers of 

advertising world together 

and exchanging ideas 

through various seminars 

and workshops. The awards 

ceremony will take place on 

Sept. 20 at the Esplanade 

Theatre with the after party 

taking place at the IndoChine 

Waterfront. 

This year’s jury members 

across the eight juries 

have been announced. 

CIBTM goes to Beijing in 

its sixth edition 

The sixth edition of the China 

Incentive Business Travel 

and Meetings Exhibition 

(CIBTM) took place from 

Aug. 30 to Sept.1 at the 

China National Convention 

Centre, Beijing, China. 

CIBTM 2011 provided a 

dedicated business platform 

for over 300 exhibitors to 

meet and conduct business 

with international and 

regional industry buyers. 

This event was supported 

and co-hosted by the 

China National Tourism 

Administration (CNTA) 

and the Beijing Municipal 

Commission of Tourism 

Development. 

Jeffrey Xu, Project Manager, 

CIBTM said: “With China 

being forecast to be the 

number one economy of 

the world, the capital city 

is clearly the ideal location 

to support the MICE sector 

in Asia. There is immense 

interest in the sector, both 

inbound and outbound, as 

local corporations expand 

globally and the world’s 

leading organizations 

increasingly focus on 

this part of the world 

and its abundant growth 

prospects.” 

Australian Association CEOs talk about 

keeping abreast of event trends 

Australian Business Events 

Expo 2011 presented a 

seminar with four leading 

Australian Association 

CEOs at The Destination 

Showcase - ABEE on Aug. 11 

at the Sydney Convention 

and Exhibition Centre. The 

seminar was part of the 12 

ticketed presentations at 

The Destination Showcase 

and was hosted by Rodney 

Cox, Director, International 

Exhibitions at Exhibitions 

and Trade Fairs. 

Dr. Caroline Hong, currently 

on the Advisory Board of 

ABEE and Ambassador of 

Business Events Sydney, 

chaired the discussion 

covering the CEOs’ 

perspective on issues 

and solutions to staying 

on top of event trends. 

“The session explored 

the thoughts of leading 

Association CEOs and how 

they manage business 

events,” said Hong. 


Commenting on the jury, 

Terry Savage, Chairman, 

Cannes Lions said: “We 

have a fantastic jury lineup, 

with some great creative 

minds coming together to 

determine the best work in 

the region. We look forward 

to welcoming them to Spikes 

Asia where, no doubt, there 

will be some outstanding 

work to be seen.” 

Second 

International 

Travel Mart 

The second edition of the 

Goa International Travel 

Mart (GITM) is scheduled to 

take place from Oct. 21 to 

23 with the theme, ‘Refresh 

Goa!’ The event, which 

offers a networking platform 

for buyers and sellers from 

the tourism industry, aims 

to boost Goa’s travel and 

tourism industry. Referred 

to as ‘the state’s biggest 

industry event’, the GITM 

is organised jointly by the 

Goa Tourism Development 

Corporation (GTDC), the 

State Tourism Department, 

and others. ITB Berlin has 

indicated a willingness to 

partner with GITM this year. 

Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC said: 

“GITM will stress on looking 

beyond Goa’s beaches and 

will focus on the state’s asyet 

unexplored hinterland, 

heritage, churches, cuisine, 

etc. GITM is tailor-made to 

allow the smaller players 

from Goa’s tourism industry 

to achieve global outreach. 

We face stiff competition 

from Sri Lanka and other 

neighbouring locations. Goa 

has not reached the half 

million mark yet in foreign 

tourist arrivals and neither 

is it in the top bracket in 

domestic tourist arrivals.” 

PALME Middle East 

2012 

PALME Middle East will 

be celebrating its tenth 

anniversary from May 1 

to 3, 2012 at the Dubai 


& Exhibition Centre. The 

event will give international 

manufacturers and 

technical providers the 

chance to network with 

and showcase their latest 

technologies to a proven 

high quality audience. 

PALME Middle East 2011 

saw 4,650 visitors and 

occupied space of 13,000 

sqm by manufacturers and 

distributors. 

EIBTM 2011 calls 

for registrations 

EIBTM 2011, a leading 

global event for the 

meetings and events 

industry held Barcelona, 

Spain, will take place from 

Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 at Fira 

Gran Via. EIBTM gathers 

industry professionals 

for three days of focused 

access to a dynamic 

business environment, 

thought provoking 

professional education and 

business networks. 

This year, the event expects 

to see over 14,200 meeting 

industry professionals from 

across the globe, including 

more than 8,300 meeting 

and event planners and 

buyers and 3,800 top 

level international decision 

makers guaranteed 

through the Hosted Buyer 

Programme. A new feature 

at EIBTM 2011 is the 

‘Future Events Experience’, 

where delegates will see 

how future conferences 

and meetings will be run 

and experience emerging 

technologies and products 

contributing to the changes.

Industry Watch Venues 

Marriott International 

introduces reward point 

offer to promote MICE 

Marriott International 

has introduced an offer 

wherein, booking a 

meeting between Sept. 

1, 2011, and March 31, 

2012, and holding the 

same between Sept. 1, 

2011, and Dec. 31, 2012, 

could earn up to 150,000 

Marriott Rewards bonus 

points. Marriott Rewards 

points can be earned 

at over 3,400 hotels at 

participating Marriott 

Rewards brands. 

These reward points 

are applicable only to 

individual members of 

the program and not 

to corporations and 

organizations. Bonus 

points will be awarded 

up to six to eight weeks 

after the conclusion of 

each qualifying event. 

Beginning with the second 

meeting, an unlimited 

number of triple points 

can be earned on all 

events ranging from social 

gatherings and guest 

rooms to conferences and 

trainings. 

These triple points cover 

50,000 points base and 

100,000 points bonus on 

qualifying charges per 

meeting or event. 

Crowne Plaza Adelaide to Expand 

Conference Facilities 

From its inception in 

May 2010, Crowne Plaza 

Adelaide has become a 

popular venue for meetings, 

events, conference and 

social gatherings. Based on 

the success of the hotel’s 

current meeting facilities, 

the hotel will be expanding 

its conference offering and 

adding two new conference 

rooms to its portfolio. 

Each room will be able to 

accommodate 50 guests 

with theatre style seating, 

and 30 guests for banquet 

seating. The facilities 

will be ideal for training 

sessions, cocktail parties 

and boardroom meetings. 

The rooms will be able 

to be used together or 

independent of each other. 

Brendon Meppem, General 

Manager, Crowne Plaza 

Bali’s pride – the Bali 


Centre 

The Westin Resort Nusa Dua 

and the Bali International 

Convention Centre (BICC) 

offer Bali’s most extensive 

conference facilities. 

With events ranging from 

international conferences 

and world summits to 

corporate conventions 

and exhibitions, the BICC 

and The Westin Resort 

have facilities and services 

that rival any hotel in the 

world. At the resort, the 

17 meeting rooms can 

be configured for events 

hosting 25 to 2,500 

people. Adjacent to the 

resort, the BICC boasts 

more than 26,000 sq ft, 

while Nusa Indah Hall can 

Adelaide said: “We’re 

looking forward to adding 

two new ground floor 

conference rooms to our 

already strong meetings, 

events and conference 

offering. The demand for 

our conference facilities 

over the last 15 months 

has demonstrated the need 

to further expand in this 

area to create additional 

conference spaces.” 

Philippines catches the attention of global hotel brands 

In the recent past, the 

Philippines has been 

enjoying a steady increase 

in tourism and is becoming 

a sought-after MICE 

destination in Asia. This 

has caught the attention 

of global hotel brands 

who want to be a part 

of the trend, resulting in 

an increase in properties 

willing to cater to the 

ever-growing demands of 

corporate guests. 

New openings across the 

city include Resorts World 

Manila’s Maxim Tower, a 

six-star all-suite hotel, 

as well as the soon-to- 


open Remington Hotel. 

The SM Bay City Arena, a 

multipurpose entertainment 

venue with a capacity of 

up to 18,000 people, will 

open in late 2012. The 

Aseana Business Park is a 

1,300-hectare site designed 

for business, tourism and 

entertainment facilities. 

host conferences or trade 

gatherings with 30,000 sq 

ft of indoor exhibit space 

and an additional outside 

exhibit area of 22,000 sq 

ft. 

The BICC has hosted 

many large scale events 

in recent years including 

the Blackberry Group 

Meeting in January 2011, 

the Indonesian Palm Oil 

Conference and Price 

Outlook 2010, and the 

2007 United United Nations 

Framework Convention 

on Climate Change 

Conference, attended 

by more than 11,000 

participants. 

Nature meets 

high tech at 

Sarawak 

Sarawak has been taking 

advantage of the known 

fact that wherever they 

are, conference delegates 

love ditching their suits and 

ties for unique experiences 

outside their meeting 

rooms and convention halls. 

‘Nature meets high-tech’ 

has been Sarawak’s selling 

point since the state began 

focusing on developing the 

MICE sector. 

Jill Henry, CEO, Sarawak 

Conventions Bureau said: 

“We are still very new in 

the international market 

but we are in the right part 

of the world, as the old 

bastions of the conventions 

industry in Europe and the 

US are slowly losing market 

share to destinations in the 

Asia Pacific such as China, 

South Korea and India.”

ALSO FEATURED

LEAD FEATURE 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 19 

Road to Rural with 

Engagement 

By Karan Iyer 

A Bollywood movie released in 1971 had a very interesting 

title, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, which literally means my 

village, my country. The title of this movie seems very 

appropriate when one takes into context the fact that 72 

per cent of India’s population still lives in rural areas. If 

one considers this fact, the largest number of India’s 

consumers dwells in small towns or villages. As India’s 

economy grows, the spending power of this massive 

audience is also witnessing an increase and so is their 

understanding of brands. The potential of this market is 

significant enough to make both brands and marketers 

stand up and take notice. 

“If you take the top 20 cities out of your list, still a good 

percentage of people live in either small towns or villages 

and modernisation is happening in these places. For 

example infrastructure developments like a power unit or 

an auto plant cannot be put in metros. These are being 

developed in small towns or SEZ zones. This means not 

only will locals get employment, but a large number of 

professionals are also going to be there. A lot of money that 

will be spent in developing a project will go to locals, giving 

a boom in economy and when there is money exposure 

there is a market so small towns have a high potential,” 

Rajkumar Jha, National Creative Director, Ogilvy Outreach, 

Ogilvy Action, told ExM. 

Road to Rural 

However, the rural market is a challenging and different 

type of market for brands to tap into and requires a different 

approach from the usual advertising and marketing 

strategies used for the urban audience. 

Probal Gaanguly, Director, Think Tank, told ExM that 

marketers in recent years have realised that rural India 

only differs from its urban counterpart, but the scope of the


rural market in all Indian states is huge. 

“The growth in sales of brands in various product categories 

is going to be achieved from rural markets in the coming 

years. The rural consumer is getting more and more aware 

of different brands and their propositions. Since most of the 

mass brands are mostly competing in similar price ranges 

and at minimum price levels, it is extremely important 

for these brands to keep using innovative platforms to 

communicate and build their brands. Due to the inroads of 

telecom services in rural and interior India, consumers are 

getting more alert and brand conscious,” Gaanguly said. 

Explaining the reasons as to why the rural market is 

different and challenging, Gaanguly said that the first 

problem is access since the rural areas are dispersed as 

opposed to being concentrated as it is in the case of urban 

areas. He further explained that “satellite TV has made 

consumers out of rural people and villagers are constantly 

getting connected to the urban culture. While marketers 

are now scampering to cash in on these developments, the 

problem is that there is no media which is directed to rural. 

Hence, even today direct media connects with the rural 

audience rather well. The real challenge is finding a right 

direct contact as that holds the key to both short term brand 

awareness and sales, as well as long term brand equity.” 

So, where general or should we say urban strategies of 

advertising and marketing lack the reach into the rural 

populace, experiential marketing makes its entry into the 

picture. Below the line marketing strategies like on-ground 

activations and intellectual properties have proven to be 

the most effective in reaching to this vast audience. 

“A rural person is used to buying after experiencing the 

product and will enquire, test, compare and consult before 

Rajkumar Jha, 

National Creative Director, 

Ogilvy Outreach 

“We do not buy for fun, 

it is a calculated buy, 

show off will not attract, 

performance will. For 

people who do this 

business, it is a long 

process and a bit risky.” 

making a purchase. Bigger the ticket, longer the buying 

process, but what happens is he gets all this in parts and 

out of his efforts,” Jha told ExM. “Say, if a rural person has 

to buy two suitcases for his daughter’s wedding. If you 

make him comfortable, show him the range, give him the 

catalogue ask him to come back after consulting people 

at home, chances are you will be able to sell a high end 

model, or an additional vanity bag because a lot of purchase 

influence comes from females who not necessary come 

to shop. Take white goods for example, models are being 

made to better suit the requirements of the rural person, 

like battery operated, or stock water for washing machine. 

The joy of use needs to be shown and they need that on a 

one-to-one basis in their own language.” 

However, the rural market is challenging even for the 

experiential marketing industry, as Jha elaborated that 

scale, cost and understanding of the rural consumer will be 

the challenges for the industry. “We do not buy for fun, it is 

a calculated buy, show off will not attract, performance will. 

For people who do this business, it is a long process and 

a bit risky. Your control mechanisms have to be superbly 

orchestrated.” 

Engaging with IP 

Intellectual properties like festivals, fairs, sport competitions, 

etc. garner a significant interest among the rural audience 

and are apparently one of the most effective direct 

marketing platforms for this market. Jha believes that the 

events and experiential marketing industry can leverage 

these existing properties or even create some of their own 

to promote brands. He added that intellectual properties 

relating to sports and entertainment, and cinema related 

festivals, would be of interest to the rural audience. 

The experiential marketing industry has taken note of this 

and there are a number of industry players that already 

have a stake in rural events or have created intellectual 

properties of their own. The Jatra, which is a well-received 

folk theatre form of Bengali theatre, has been in existence 

for more than 500 years. This theatre is held in small 

towns and villages of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa 

and Tripura. Think Tank is associated with this property in 

Bengal and Orissa and its association is with some of the 

largest producers in these states. 

“Each producer engages close to 75 people per production 

to put together this moving theatre every year. About two 

to three months of preparation is done before a producer 

is ready to launch the first show and, thereafter, the Jatra 

moves from one location to another, at times travelling 

more than 500 kms overnight. For these towns and 

villages, Jatra offers the biggest entertainment platform 

and thousands of people travel up to 25 to 30 kms to see 

these shows,” Gaanguly told ExM. 

Think Tank works with some major corporations like 

Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Tata, Nestle, Exide, Colgate, 

Dabur etc. for associations with Jatra as part of their 

rural marketing strategy. “In the last season brands like

LEAD FEATURE 

Probal Gaanguly, 

Director, 

Think Tank 

“The growth in sales of 

brands in various product 

categories is going to be 

achieved from rural markets 

in the coming years.” 

Lux, Vivel, Everyday, Tata Shaktee – to name a few were 

associated with Jatra in order to effectively spread their 

communications in rural markets,” Gaanguly said. “Most of 

these corporations are considering Jatra as their mainline 

marketing medium for rural areas. More and more brands 


are seeing the benefit and cost effectiveness of this 

medium and are extremely keen to explore opportunities.” 

During Jatra, a brand’s USP is communicated to 

consumers through multi-touch points like static branding 

like logos or messages, on-stage, posters, banners, 

newspaper advertisements etc. Brand communication 

is also done through integrations in scenes or dialogues 

highlighting brand USP, as well as through OOH and 

mobile van campaigns. Explaining the rural reach through 

Jatra, Gaanguly said: “The effectiveness of the brand 

communication increases many folds through these multitouch 

points and at times even reaches the brand in 

media dark areas where no other platforms are reaching. 

Jatra will certainly increase the reach of any brand into 

new territories. Also, the cost of reaching out to millions 

of rural consumers is quite low thus making this medium 

tremendous value for money.” 

Camels, Goats and…Hot Air 

While Think Tank is leveraging Jatra to help brands tap into 

the rural market, E Factor is associated with another rural 

event called the Pushkar Mela which is held in Pushkar, 

Rajasthan. Pushkar Mela has been an annual festival for 

over a hundred years and is one of the world’s largest fair 

for buying and selling camels, horses, cattle and goats. 

The fair, which witnesses over 40,000 animals being sold 

to farmers and traders from across four states, is an eight 

day activity held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8, attracting over three




Samit Garg 

CEO, 

E Factor 

“All leading MNCs and 

Indian brands are now 

shifting their focus to 

capturing the rural markets 

as it is an important growth 

area to their top and 

bottom lines.” 

lakh Indian and foreign tourists. 

“Rajasthan Tourism has done a fabulous job of promoting 

this festival over the years. Last year, the Rajasthan Tourism 

board decided to promote sports and a new attraction to 

the festival. They decided to host the first international hot 

air balloon festival during the Pushkar Mela,” Samit Garg, 

CEO, E Factor, told ExM. “E Factor Adventure Tourism is 

the single largest hot air balloon company in the country. 

We made a pitch to the Rajasthan Tourism board to sponsor 

our IP of the largest Indian International Hot Air Balloon 

festival in India. In the first year, we had participation from 

15 countries. It was held across three days and the pilots 

flew Indian and international tourists over the sand dunes, 

palaces, forts and the Pushkar fair.” 

Seven brands – Gitanjali Lifestyle, Fly Kingfisher, MSN, 

UTV Action, Big FM, Dainik Navjyoti and Sahara News 

– associated with the hot air balloon festival at the 

Pushkar Mela in the first year. Calling it a successful 

rural engagement, Garg said that the festival is the right 

platform for FMCG, healthcare, telecom, mobile handsets 

operators, bikes, tractors and agriculture products as well 

as banking institutions that aim to target rural India. 

Garg believes that all leading MNCs and Indian brands are 

now shifting their focus to capturing the rural markets as it 

is an important growth area to their top and bottom lines. 

“Most of the population in these markets is uneducated and 

penetration of media is low. We at E factor are creating 

intellectual properties with our new division E Factor Media 

where we lease out our properties to brands for three to ten 

years as advertiser funded properties. These properties are 

a blend of entertainment and engagement as it gives the 

brands a correct mix of media which is customized to the 

brand’s target audience as well its brand positioning. On- 

ground activation and events are a part of the campaign. 

Most times the valuation of exposure is five to eight times 

the money spent on the advertiser funded properties, which 

are annual properties built over the years and audiences,” 

Garg told ExM. 

The winds of brand marketing are shifting towards the rural 

market and, given the fact that conventional advertising and 

marketing strategies are not able to tap this audience, the 

experiential marketing industry appears to be the best bet 

ahead for these brands. However, the road ahead into the 

minds of the rural audience will not be an easy task even 

for the experiential marketing industry, but there are tools 

at the industry’s disposal. Intellectual properties are one of 

those tools and leveraged appropriately, present a way for 

brands to garner attention from a massive audience.

LEAD FEATURE 

Lokmat Connects with Rural Lok 

Lokmat Connect, which is the experiential marketing 

division of the Lokmat Group, creates marketing and 

activation solutions for brands, products and services. 

The division is one of the largest solution providers across 

Maharashtra with fully functional and professional inhouse 

client servicing, operations and creative teams at 

12 centers including Goa. Lokmat Connect is proficient 

in activation, MICE and intellectual properties. Lokmat 

Connect has three major activation platforms – Yuva Nxt, 

Bal Vikas and Sakhi Manch – through which it connects to 

target audiences for any brand specific activity. 

Lokmat Connect has various large format intellectual 

properties targeting various audiences. In the recognition 

platform, Lokmat Connect has awards like Maharashtrian 

of the Year and Sakhi Gaurav. Its sports platform includes 

Aurangabad Premier League, Nagpur Premier League, 

and Kolhapur Premier League. Lokmat Connect also 

runs school contact programs in Maharashtra called 

Sanskarache Moti and Jungle Book. On the rural level, 

Lokmat Connect has Grameen Khel, a rural sports meet, 

and Krishi Exhibition, an exhibition for farmers. 

“We engage our readers and communities in Maharashtra 

as a whole through such initiatives and engagement 

programs. Our initiatives generate participation in the 

range of 500 to 50,000 individuals per location. Also, it is 

their experience at these events/initiatives that bring them 

back year after year,” Jitendra Mirwani, Business Head, 

Lokmat Community Initiative (Lokmat Connect), said 

in an exclusive interview with ExM. 

Mirwani spoke to the magazine about Lokmat Connect 

and its intellectual properties that allow it to reach out to 

small towns and rural areas. 


What are the Intellectual Properties that Lokmat has 

for rural areas and how successful have they been in 

engaging the rural audience? 

In the rural space, we have the Grameen Khel property 

which provides a unique mix of largely sports and cultural 

programs to engage the public, as well as encourages 

local sportsmen from interior regions to come forward 

and showcase their skills and talents. Our rural sports 

fraternity has some bright stars, but no recognition or 

encouragement. We have taken it upon ourselves to 

create these unique games meet to recognise and award 

our rural sports stars through Maharashtra Grameen Khel. 

Also, we will encourage them to come and participate at 

the state level. 

We recently had the first edition of the property. We 

have plans to develop it into an annual event and 

organise it across all major districts of Maharashtra, with 

Aurangabad being the first step towards it. The event 

covered 75 villages in and around Aurangabad. Around 

3,000 participants registered for various games and it was 

attended by minimum 20,000 to 30,000 people a day from 

villages. Through our promotions, we have engaged over 

5,000 villages in Maharashtra through this initiative. 

The promotions for the event were done through a 360 

degree campaign, which included extensive coverage 

on newspapers, television, radio, outdoor and print. 

There were several road shows and personal contact 

programmes organised for promotions. Pre-event van 

promotions were done for two days prior to the event 

to make people aware about the ground event. The 

encouragement for rural sports will bring in a new of wave 

of recognition and encouragement to our budding stars in 

villages. 

Krishi Exhibition – All State Farmers Exhibition is another 

intellectual property which is a joint venture between 

Lokmat Group and the Department of Agriculture. The 

exhibition had been organized at a grand state level 

two years ago in Amravati. On this occasion, various 

companies from every corner of the state had their stalls 

setup. There were about 85 stalls and 3 lakh to 3.5 lakh 

people had visited the exhibition from the entire Vidharbha 

region, gaining information about products of various 

companies. One of the achievements of the exhibition was 

that many people from Amravati received employment. 

The District of Amravati in Vidharbha region is dominated 

by farmers’ societies. We ensured that through this joint 

agricultural exhibition, farmers gained information about 

various agricultural products, seeds, machinery etc. In 

order to bring farmers in the main stream and to make 

their views positive, we organized talks by experts on new 

technologies, irrigation methods, market knowledge, micro

LEAD FEATURE 

finance options etc. It has been a tradition to organize this 

exhibition every alternate year and make it larger. 

What was the idea behind creating intellectual 

properties for small towns/rural areas and have there 

been any corporate brands associating with the rural 

properties? 

I read somewhere that traditional advertising is an animal 

that should have died 100 years ago. Brand managers 

and marketers have outgrown the lure of celebrity 

endorsements, television and print medium spends that 

take away over 90 per cent of their budgets. They have 

woken up to new media. Platforms such as OOH, digital, 

and social media offer options to the marketers today. 

Having said that let me reiterate that none of them work 

in exclusivity. The offer or a solution has to be inclusive. 

Therefore, an integrated media cum activity/engagement 

idea that we offer to a brand in a particular geography or a 

target profile is a ‘solution’. 

Brand solutions designed for mass market, rural areas 

or targeting specific groups like farmers or households in 

the interiors are rural intellectual properties. Some of the 

brands that have participated in our rural properties are 

Lifebuoy, Parle G, Videocon, Airtel etc. 

The level of participation is the highest since these 

brands co-own the initiative namely, Lifebuoy presents 

Lokmat Sanskarache Moti or Parle G presents Lokmat 

Grameen Khel etc. We take great care in creating an 

integrated campaign which projects the brand proposition 

seamlessly into the execution. Brand managers see 

value in these intellectual properties since Lokmat puts 

their might behind it, and the fact that we create these 

properties for the long term, gives them the opportunity to 

meet various brand objectives namely new launch, new 

schemes, positioning, recall etc., over a sustained period 

of time. 

Here, I would not shy away from saying that the 

encouragement from our participating brands have really 

helped us push the envelope and we believe we create 

some path breaking inroads with our initiatives. 

Do you have plans for creating further Intellectual 

Properties that seek to tap small towns and villages? 

Creating intellectual properties is not difficult, but giving 

them a long life is a challenge. We have tasted some 

success with our properties in the last couple of years, but 

we have not always been able to sustain our intellectual 

properties given some constraints of relevance over 

a period of time. I have realized that there are risks 

much larger than only financial connected with creating 

intellectual properties. 

Inherently, intellectual properties are created with our 

learnings or insights that are our starting point. Before we 

embark on any new venture, we have to go through the 

litmus test of involving our research experts, our editorial 

team, the management, and the Lokmat Connect seniors. 


Usually one of ten ideas is taken for discussion further so 

the answer to the question is yes, albeit very selectively. 

We believe if we are able to sustain 5 to 6 large format and 

2 to 3 small format intellectual properties over a period 

of 4 to 5 years we would have met our goal. If we create 

relevant solutions that can marry the aspirations of small 

town consumers or customers with the needs or objectives 

of the brands, the future of intellectual properties is secure. 

Grameen Khel 

Grameen Khel 

Maharashtrian of the Year awards 

Maharashtrian of the Year awards

ALSO FEATURED 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 26 

Hybrid Events: 

When Online met On-ground 

By Karan Iyer 

What do you get if you cross a snake and a Lego set? 

A boa constructor! 

What do you get when you cross an alligator and a railroad 

track? 

Three pieces of alligator! 

Last one, what do you get when you cross a live event with 

the virtual world? 

A hybrid event! 

By the jokes you might have already guessed where we are 

getting to. Hybrid events are a combination of live events 

like a conference, a trade fair, a workshop or a concert with 

a virtual component like live video streaming, web casts, live 

online commentary, and even an online discussion forum. 

The biggest factors that favour a hybrid event are the cost 

effectiveness and time efficiency of such a concept both 

for the host and for the audience. As a participant, a hybrid 

event helps an organization or individual to save the costs 

of travel and accommodation, as well as save time because 

all its representatives and executives can attend the event 

live with the help of technology. For a host, a hybrid event 

means lesser worries about finding and paying the cost of a 

venue large enough for everybody, and gaining the ability to 

reach out to the maximum audience without missing out on 

anybody who could not personally make it to the event. 

“The benefits are multiple – it can help market the event, it 

can increase the reach of the event while it is happening, it 

can increase the longevity of the event through images/video 

uploads. I believe that complementing events with digital will 

become a critical component of any event,” Vivek Bhargava, 

Managing Director, Communicate 2, told ExM. 

Revolution in Event Evolution 

What apparently started out in 2009 during the peak of the 

financial crisis, virtual events became an option to cut down 

on costs of live events. However, with world economies 

regaining their footing, the return of live events can be seen, 

but now with the added factor of the virtual component. 

Hence, the birth of hybrid events happened, or to be more 

precise, live events evolved into hybrid events. 

Hybrid events is a relatively new concept and still has to gain 

ground, but the process of making hybrid events into a regular 

affair has already started with many international companies 

like Cisco and SAP bringing the virtual component to their 

live events. The topic of hybrid events has even found a 

place this year at Event Camp Europe, the first ever Event 

Camp to take place in Europe. Ironically, Event Camp owes

ALSO FEATURED 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 27 

its existence to the micro blogging website Twitter which 

brought together its founders. 

“There has been an exponential growth on digital over the 

last few years – both on PCs and mobile phones. The number 

of internet users has reached 100 million and mobile phone 

internet users have grown from 40 million to 50 million in the 

last month. Due to this growth, it makes to complement all 

events with online endeavours. This need has even become 

more critical due to growth of social media,” Bhargava said. 

Injecting the Digital DNA 

So, what sort of live events can be transformed into hybrid 

events? Pretty much most live events can carry a digital 

component to it, whether it is conferences, conventions, 

workshops, seminars or even music concerts. The digital 

component of an event is not limited to just live video 

streaming of the event or videos of speeches and sessions. 

A hybrid event can even enable virtual participants to actually 

interact and network with other participants, speakers and 

exhibitors. 

An example of a hybrid convention is the annual Cisco 

Live which was recently held in Las Vegas. The event is a 

premier education and training event for IT, networking and 

communications professionals. The event’s online platform 

that allows professionals to attend the event remotely online 

is called Cisco Live Virtual. The platform brings together 

IT, networking, communications professionals and Cisco 

experts from more than 195 countries to collaborate, share 

and learn. 

Nesrene O’Connell, Event Marketing Manager, Cisco, 

Australia and New Zealand, told ExM that Cisco Live Virtual 

was originally created as an alternative to attend the live 

event at a time when travel and training budgets had been 

drastically affected by the poor economic conditions. “We 

wanted to give our invested audiences an opportunity to 

get the content and some of the experience of Cisco Live. 

In the three years that Cisco Live Virtual has been part of 

the Cisco Live portfolio, we have had more than 85,000 

subscribers from around the world participating in live virtual 

events, watching on-demand content, and interacting with 

each other.” 

So, was adding a virtual or online component beneficial to 

Cisco Live? “We were initially concerned that the virtual option 

would cannibalize our onsite attendance. Instead, over the 

course of three years, we have seen our onsite attendance 

grow steadily, fed in part by attendees who attended virtually 

and then upgraded to the onsite experience. By engaging 

a larger audience via both Cisco Live Virtual and uStream 

broadcasts, we are able to share our content and messaging 

with a much wider group of people than those within the 

convention center. Also, Cisco Live Virtual is a global 

platform that unites all of the worldwide Cisco Live events,” 

O’Connell said. 

Business events like conferences and conventions are not 

the only type of events that can be digitalized, any event can 

Nesrene O’Connell, 

Event Marketing Manager, 

Cisco, Australia and New 

Zealand 

“Cisco does see virtual 

events playing a role in 

building an audience for 

onsite events with the 

ability to engage a much 

wider audience, introduce 

them to the brand and 

content, and keep them 

engaged year-round rather 

than just during the event 

itself.” 

be converted into a hybrid event by adding a digital aspect. 

Elaborating on this fact, Bhargava told ExM that a digital 

component can be added to any live event in three phases 

– pre-event, post event and during the event. Citing the 

Mumbai Marathon as an example, Bhargava said that some 

digital aspects that can be added to the marathon include 

giving videos of the route of the marathon and videos on 

how to train for the marathon, as well as a Facebook profile 

page of every runner. For bringing the digital aspect during 

the marathon, live electronic bill boards can be placed to 

showcase SMSes cheering the runners, Facebook cheers 

can be provided live to the runners, live updates on the 

location of each runner as well as live photographs can be 

displayed online, etc. 

Musically Yours! 

Another example that Bhargava provided was that of 

enabling an audience to decide some of the songs that they 

want to hear during a live concert through online majority 

polling that can be done prior or during the concert. This 

ensures that the audience is engaged and brings a digital 

aspect to a live concert. 

Another digital feature that can be added to a live concert is 

a live streaming of the event that would allow a performer 

or performers to perform at one venue and have audiences 

across borders and seas witness the event without having 

to be present at the venue. An example of such a platform 

is ArtistAloud.com, which is an initiative pioneered by 

Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The online 

platform enables independent artists to build connect with 

their fans and allows fans to have access to the music.

ALSO FEATURED 

ArtistAloud.com promotes the music from artists through 

live gigs where it builds the instant demand for music by the 

consumer through mobile or internet. ArtistAloud.com has a 

property called WebCert, which is basically a live concert or 

performance conducted before an online audience instead 

of an on-ground audience. The property recently had its 

second season and was rechristened as Nokia Smartnights 

WebCert as Nokia came on board as the title sponsor for 

the first six WebCerts with various artists. The partnership 

between Nokia and ArtistAloud.com provided Nokia 

consumers an opportunity to experience entertainment both 

via the internet and on the mobile exclusively on Nokia’s 

Smart phones. 

Explaining the idea behind starting up ArtistAloud.com, 

Soumini Paul, General Manager, ArtistAloud.com, told 

ExM: “There was a lot of music being created by various 

independent artists and somehow the industry could not 

seize on this opportunity. Hungama saw this opportunity and 

essentially sought to fill up this gap. Essentially, there was 

need of marketing artists and that is where ArtistAloud.com 

came into the picture with the creation of an online platform 

to promote artists.” 

ArtistAloud.com essentially promotes artists and their music 

through the website, by uploading videos on youtube.com 

and leveraging other social media platforms like Facebook. 

Talking about their property WebCert, Soumini told ExM that 

WebCert initially started off as a marketing tool to amplify live 

gigs. “The concept of WebCert makes doing live concerts 

cost effective since you don’t have to spend money on 

stages, venues and other things that go with doing an onground 

live event.” 

Commenting on the success of the concept, Soumini said: 

“The concept of WebCert has been quite successful. There 

is average traffic coming to the ArtistAloud.com website 

on a regular basis, but whenever such an event happens 

there is always a surge in traffic during such campaigns. 


The fact that well known artists like Shankar Mahadevan 

has come on board to perform and corporate brands like 

Nokia are interested in sponsoring such events shows that 

the concept is gaining ground and people are seeing value 

in the concept.” 

In Vogue 

Does this mean that live online concerts are going to become 

a trend? “Whether or not this concept will become a trend in 

terms of others starting up similar online live events is not 

clear, but this could become a trend among users as they 

get more and more familiar with the concept. Users are 

constantly switching mediums from television to internet to 

Soumini Paul, 

General Manager, 

ArtistAloud.com 

“Users are constantly 

switching mediums from 

television to internet to 

mobiles and the thing that 

will eventually decide on 

what consumers go for will 

be the content that is being 

provided ”

ALSO FEATURED 

mobiles and the thing that will eventually decide on what 

consumers go for will be the content that is being provided,” 

Soumini told ExM. 

Talking more on a macro view of hybrid events, Soumini 

believes that just the formula of hybrid events i.e. combining 

a live event with a virtual component, may not work. The 

success of hybrid events will be determined by what is being 

provided in terms of content and innovation. 

Speaking on the future trend of hybrid events in India, 

Bhargava believes that all events have in one way or the 

other already become hybrid events due to the usage of 

social media. A person attending an event usually shares 

details, videos and photos of the event live on social 

networking websites through mobiles, in turn, marketing the 

event and giving it online exposure. He believes that having 

a digital component to all events will in the future become 

the norm. 

O’Connell told ExM that virtual events will never replace 

physical events, particularly with an event like Cisco Live 

where interactivity and networking is paramount to the 

experience. However, Cisco does see virtual events playing 

a role in building an audience for onsite events with the 

ability to engage a much wider audience, introduce them to 

the brand and content, and keep them engaged year-round 

rather than just during the event itself. 

Uphill Task 

Like mentioned before, hybrid events are a relatively new 

concept, and like any new concept there are bugs that need 

to be worked out to perfect the format. Virtual participation 

does not have the same experience that a live event has 

in terms of face-to-face interactions, and technology has its 

limitations and can be unreliable. The core challenges of 

conducting a hybrid event include building a networking bond 

between participants at the venue and virtual participants, 

and engaging the virtual participants as effectively as the onground 

participants. 

From a technology and service perspective, the host has 

to ensure that it can efficiently address issues of virtual 

participants, provide adequate bandwidth and customer 

support for virtual participation, ensure there is appropriate 

infrastructure to support heavy online traffic and on-ground 

equipment, and create backup technology support, among 

other things. 

Speaking about the challenges of creating hybrid events, 

O’Connell told ExM that one important consideration is that 

a virtual event – just like a physical event – takes resources 

and budget to execute. There are varying degrees of 

investment, from simple web casting to fully integrated 

virtual experiences. Any organization considering a virtual 

event program should carefully investigate the budget and 

resources required, just as they would with a physical event. 

Either way, the virtual event program should not be viewed 

as a replacement for physical events, in most cases, and 

should augment the existing portfolio. 


Vivek Bhargava, 

Managing Director, 

Communicate 2 

“Digital has become very 

complex over the years and 

conventional advertising 

agencies are struggling 

to implement digital 

components despite trying 

to do so for many years. 

The challenge is going to 

be even greater for event 

companies. Event agencies 

need to get digital into 

their thought process and 

their DNA ” 

Bhargava believes that the biggest challenge in implementing 

hybrid events in India is going to be the lack of expertise 

in executing the digital component. “Digital has become 

very complex over the years and conventional advertising 

agencies are struggling to implement digital components 

despite trying to do so for many years. The challenge is going 

to be even greater for event companies. Event agencies 

need to get digital into their thought process and their DNA,” 

Bhargava added. 

A glimpse from Cisco Live!

IN FOCUS 


IIJW displays its second edition 

of jewellery trends 

35 leading designers, 14 design houses in 32 slots displayed 

their masterpieces showcasing their exquisite collection. 

By Shachi Tapiawala 

Showcase by Amrapali 

The 28th edition of India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) 

and the second edition of the India International Jewellery 

Week (IIJW) conceptualised by the Gem & Jewellery Export 

Promotion Council (GJPEC) were held in Mumbai. The IIJS 

was held from Aug. 4 to Aug. 8 at NSE Complex, Goregaon, 

Mumbai, while the IIJW was held from July 31 to Aug. 4 at 

Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. 

At the IIJW, 35 leading designers, 14 design houses in 32 

slots displayed their exquisite collection. IIJW witnessed 

three major international buying house representatives – 

Harry Winston, Boucheron and Cartier. This year, IIJW saw 

participation from designers like Khyati from Eekani Jewels, 

Vijay Golecha of Golecha’s Jewels, Dipti Amisha, Alpana 

Gujral, Johara Jewels by Divya Ahuja, Monica Kapur, and 

Adorn. 

The design houses that participated at the IIJW include 

Gitanjali Group, Sangam Chains, Amrapali, Gehna 

Jewellers, C Krishniah Chetty & Sons, Tanishq, Scintillating 

Jewellery, Kays Jewels, CVM Exports, Jewels Emporium, YS 

18, Sawansukha Jewelllers, Manubhai Gems, Dwarkadas 

Chandumal Jewellers, Anmol Jewellers, Surana Gems and 

Jewellery, Laxmi Jewellery Exports, Kashi Jewellers and 

Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas, Agni Jewels Pvt. Ltd. 

Sponsors associated with IIJW were PC Jewellers and 

Incredible India, Platinum Guild International, Birdichand 

Ghanshyamdas, Red FM, Harpers Bazaar, UB group, 

Zoom TV and NDTV Goodtimes. 

Commenting on the partnership, Sanjay Kothari, Vice 

Chirman, GJEPC said: “No jewellery week has received 

such a response in the second year itself. PC Jewellers 

has been our sponsor since the evolution of IIJW and 

has received a good response and result through this 

partnership and hence they have continued to support 

this year too. The gem and jewellery sector partnered with 

Incredible India, Ministry of tourism, to promote the industry 

to foreign tourists in India and their target group abroad. 

They chose this platform as there is large participation of 

international buyers during the show.” 

Gitanjali being one of the participants at IIJS and IIJW 

claims to have reflected the size, leadership position and 

prestigious status of the group within the industry. Gitanjali 

was the only company to host an official entertainment 

evening for delegates to the IIJS, and also had the largest 

number of stalls and branded offerings at the show itself. 

For IIJS, eight different stalls showcased Gitanjali’s different 

branded offerings to the industry. Gitanjali’s stall design 

and execution was done by E-Sense, while creatives and 

creation was done in conjunction with the Gitanjali team. 

Showcase by Gitanjali

IN FOCUS 

Contributing at IIJW, Gitanjali presented the opening 

show of the fashion week called “Jewelsouk presents 

Gitanjali-Beti”. The Gitanjali event brought together 

jewellery and fashion with forty prominent personalities 

from the world of films, TV and business walking the 

ramp in support of Beti, an NGO movement against 

female foeticide spearheaded by Anu Ranjan. 

Talking about the 

show, Royston 

Fernandes, Business 

Head Events, 

Gitanjali Group said: 

“Being a jewellery 

brand, this was a 

unique presentation 

by the group which 

caters largely to the 

women population 

and hence the idea of 

associating with this 

cause to highlight 

Royston Fernandes women as the 

ultimate canvas to 

the mothers and daughters of tomorrow. Each celebrity 

star walked the ramp accompanied by her daughter 

sending out a strong and unequivocal message against 

the rampant practice of female foeticide.” 

Another participant at IIJW, Tanishq was associated 

to showcase its latest introductions, innovations and 

designs. Last year, Tanishq showcased the Zoya 

collection from the house of Tanishq. Zoya had just 

been introduced a while before and Tanishq saw it as an 

opportunity to showcase the various collections. This 

year, Tanishq showcased the Nizam collection which is 

inspired by the jewellery worn by the Nizams. Tanishq 

is reviving this dying art since it feels that these items 

are worth being handed down generations as heirloom. 

Speaking about the 

benefits the brand 

gets by participating 

at IIJW, Koshy 

Cherian, Area 

Business Manager, 

Tanishq said: “Tanishq 

believes in below 

the line and word 

of mouth and relies 

on the power of its 

outreach. Apart from 

publicizing the same 

Koshy Cherian 

at our stores, we 

believe the designs 

seen by customers will be eye candy for fresh walk-ins 

to come and un-earth at our stores. The good part of 

this platform is that we get other jewellery customers 

to come in and witness our creations. There have 

been crossover customers from such activities. We 


usually manage most of our events on our own. The 

fashion shows were choreographed by Lubna Adams. 

The entire event was designed and co-ordinated by 

Madhavi Sahu, the company designer from the Tanishq 

Design Studio.” 

Amrapali’s show claims to have been extremely well 

received at IIJW and received positive reviews of their 

collection, concept and presentation of the entire show. 

The amalgamation of the jewellery with the adornment, 

the models, the music and the final result was much 

appreciated. 

Amrapali’s collection showcased the ‘Best of Amrapali’ 

– a range of authentic silver, art deco and gold jewellery. 

The collection included pendants, cuffs, earrings, 

bracelets, necklaces, rings with an array of styles and 

choices in every ornament and a bold accent of colours 

and unique designs. 

The shapes and styles were ornate – curving, twisting 

and turning. Ornate hair ornaments adorned the models 

as they walked the ramp. The collection showcased 

captured the essence of Jaipur, rough and non-lustrous 

stones in shades of brown, red, orange and other warm 

colours were used to give an ethnic look. Amrapali reworked 

its new range of Jadau jewellery, combining it 

with full-cut diamonds and Polki, collectively. Amrapali 

also re-invented some old designs in its ornaments. 

Another highlight of the show was Bollywood actor 

Kangana Ranaut who sported an elaborate uncut 

diamond set in traditional Rajasthani Jadau jewellery 

and was also wearing a creation by Masaba Gupta, 

who had designed the entire collection exclusively for 

the show. 

Throwing some light 

on their show, Tarang 

Arora, Designer and 

Head of International 

Operations, Amrapali 

Tarang Arora 

said: “India International 

Jewellery Week is the 

single most prestigious 

platform for a jewellery 

brand to showcase on. 

The brand exposure is 

tremendous as it sees 

crowds of potential 

buyers, customers and 

fashion connoisseurs. A 

highly promoted event, the media coverage is expansive 

giving leverage and impetus to each participating brand 

thereby, relaying it to a larger audience. There were 

a number of reputed brands that participated at IIJW 

drawing in an impressive audience as well. The level of 

showcase was undoubtedly of a high standard with some 

innovative ideas and display of creativity beautifully 

complemented by the jewellery pieces at the shows.”

ALSO FEATURED 



ALSO FEATURED

IN FOCUS 


Gitanjali gives its stakeholders a sparkling show with 

Ticket to Bollywood 

By Shachi Tapiawala 

Suresh Menon and Neha Dhupia 

Besides participating at the India International Jewellery 

Week, Gitanjali also hosted Ticket to Bollywood at the 

Hotel Leela in Mumbai as part of the India International 

Jewellery Show. Gitanjali’s association with the IIJW 

and the Ticket to Bollywood is integral to the company’s 

strategy to be a key player in the lifestyle business. 

Ticket to Bollywood was conceptualized and produced 

by Gitanjali, managed by Cineyug Media and 

Entertainment and the dances were choreographed 

by Pappu Malu while the fashion segment was 

choreographed by Marc Robinson. 

Ticket to Bollywood was a mega starry event, the 

witnesed the coming together of the Bollywood fraternity 

who graced the fashion ramp donning exquisite 

creations by famed designers coupled with a bevy of 

performances. It was presented especially for visiting 

delegates from the jewellery industry across India, 

including jewellers who have partnered with Gitanjali 

brands and others. It gave them an opportunity to 

witness the best of Bollywood, thus ultimately providing 

them a ticket to the world of filmdom. 

Siddharth Kanan and 

Susheel Jangira, the hosts of 

the evening, announced the 

grand opening with a fashion 

show by MISAKEE presenting 

FESTOON which embodied 

the modern yet traditional 

Indian bride. The collection 

comprised of sarees, kurtis, 

and lehengas encrusted with 

diamonds, semi precious 

stones and sequins that 

bring vitality and brightness 

to them. The models walked 

to the tunes of Raageshwari 

Loomba. 

The show stopper for 

this event was film and 

stage actress Shahzahn 

Padamsee. Also at the show, 

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt 

unveiled music of singer 

Raghav Sachar’s latest 

album – ‘Set the Fire’. 

The evening saw cine stars including Gitanjali brand 

ambassadors Bipasha Basu, Riya Sen, Neha Dhupia, 

Raima Sen, Prachi Desai and stalwarts including 

Sanjay Dutt with wife Manyata, Neil Nitin Mukesh, 

Fardeen Khan, among others. 

Sanjay and Manyata Dutt with Mehul Choksi, Gitanjali

IN FOCUS 

Maison De La Perle 

Showcase Raima Sen 

Commenting on the initiative, Mehul Choksi, CMD, 

Gitanjali Group said: “This is the second year of “Ticket 

to Bollywood” and we are proud to bring with it more 

oomph, glamour and glitz for our esteemed guests 

and jewellery partners at the IIJS. Gitanjali Group has 

formed a supreme bond with entertainment, jewellery 

and fashion and we endeavour to cement this bond 

with each passing year, with exclusive and high end 

events as Ticket to Bollywood and more.” 

Gitanjali Group in association with the Maison De La 

Perle, also organized a unique fashion show – Pearl 

of Tahiti – the Princess of Ocean, to mark 50 years of 

Maison de la Perle, showcasing magnificent Tahitian 

pearls. 

Shibani Kashyap and Neil Nitin Mukesh 


Shehzahn Padamsee with 

Raageshwari Loomba 

Riya Sen 

Prachi Desai 

Commenting on this association, Jeanne Lecourt, 

Marketing and PR Manager, Maison de la Perle 

(Tahiti) said: “ It was a pleasure to associate with the 

Gitanjali Group, recognized jewelery pioneers in India, 

and be offered a platform as exclusive as the “Ticket 

to Bollywood” to showcase our prized possessions – 

Tahitian Pearls.” 

The different events held by Gitanjali during this period 

thus helped to reinforce its image as the biggest and 

most forward looking jewellery house in the country 

today. They also showcased its close links with the 

worlds of fashion and Bollywood, and helped further 

the process of integrating the jewellery industry into the 

modern lifestyle segment in India.

IN FOCUS 

Hero steps out with its 

new identity 

By Shweta Ramsay 

Hero Honda Motors announced its divorce with Honda 

on July 29, revamping its name to Hero MotoCorp Ltd. A 

global star studded event was organised in London on Aug. 

9 at the O2 Arena to establish the company’s stepping out 

onto a global platform. The event also marked the unveiling 

of the company’s plans for future growth through cuttingedge 

technology, next-generation product line-up, strategy 

for global expansion and innovative marketing initiatives. 

Amidst dealers, employees and other associates gathered 

at the venue in London on the banks of river Thames, the 

company’s much-awaited new global brand identity was 

unveiled by Dr. Brijmohan Lall, Chairman, and Pawan 

Munjal, Managing Director and CEO of Hero. 

Wolff Olins, a London-based firm and part of the Omnicom 

group, was the agency roped in by Hero to devise the new 

positioning, group architecture and identity of the new Hero 

brand. 


A New Beginning 

Talking about the revamping 

of the brand identity, Munjal 

said: “The new brand, Hero, 

epitomizes continuity and 

change in equal measure. 

While its fundamental values 

and enduring beliefs ensure 

continuity, the new proposition 

and identity also signal 

change. The new logo stands for the new face of India, 

the youthful energy and can do spirit. It is in true sense the 

Indian catapult, which signals that while it is deeply rooted 

in Indian values, it is also poised to go for global expansion 

- a Leap of Faith.” 

Lall sees this as a new beginning that is filled with a lot of 

promise and will now strive to replicate the performance 

achieved over the past 25 years on the global stage.

IN FOCUS 

Pawan Munjal, MD and CEO of Hero MotoCorp 

“I have no doubt in my mind that we would not have 

possibly reached where we are today without the trust of 

our customers. I wish to thank them from the core of my 

heart and assure them that the customer will continue to 

remain at the core of everything that we do in future too. 

I am certain that with our new range of products, services 

and ever-spreading network, Hero will continue to spread 

customer delight in every market that it goes to,” Lall said. 

Hero gave a glimpse of its future product strategy by 

unveiling two new two-wheelers at the event. Bollywood 

actor and youth icon, Ranbir Kapoor, unveiled the first-ofits-kind 

150cc on-road-off-road motorcycle for the Indian 

market called Impulse. This was followed by the Indian 

cricketing all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, introducing a new 

masculine 110cc scooter called Maestro. 

Munjal also outlined his vision for the young company, 

saying: “In the next five to six years, we are aiming for a 

perfect ten – annual sales of 10 million units and annual 

turnover of $10 billion with overseas business contributing 

about 10 per cent to our total annual volume sales. We have 

identified key countries in Africa, South East Asia and Latin 

America as our potential markets. We should be starting 

exports to some of the countries in Africa towards the next 

quarter of this fiscal. We are enhancing our Research and 

Development (R&D) set-up, hiring the best talent, and 

exploring opportunities for collaboration with international 

design houses and technology suppliers.” 

Bringing in a league of heroes 

The event had a good mix of world-class entertainment 

clubbed with the historic identity unveiling moment, 

followed by the preview of the two Hero products being 

launched. The launch show featured new age technology 

lasers, pyrotechnics, SFX, LED and graphics. 

The show began with an auspicious Ganesh vandana, which 

was followed by an opening act by the Dhol foundation. 

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan hosted the entire show 

with performances by actress Anoushka Sharma and 

Shah Rukh Khan himself, all accompanied by Shiamak 

Davar’s dance troupe. The event ended with a grand finale 

performance by International Grammy Award winner Akon. 


A R Rahman, Irfan Pathan, Boris Becker, David Coulthard 

and Shah Rukh Khan unveiled the new logo with Munjal. 

Ranbir Kapoor launched Hero’s first ever on-road-off-road 

bike showcasing the heroism and youthfulness of the brand. 

Hero had roped in two event agencies – Percept and 

G2rams – to manage the grand occasion. Commenting on 

Percept’s association with Hero, Shailendra Singh, Joint 

Managing Director, Percept Ltd. said: “Our relationship 

with Hero has been a long and fruitful one, growing steadily 

for over two decades. Hero and Percept have grown 

together and we have worked very closely with them to 

successfully build the brand over the years. Percept has 

created some of the most memorable Hero campaigns, 

properties and initiatives that have become landmarks in 

the communications space.” 

Singh further added: “For this event which was held in 

London, the brief given to us was rather simple – ‘to launch 

the new brand identity in London and attain overwhelming 

global mileage for the new brand Hero’. Our understanding 

of the brand’s vision and plans for the future helped us to 

a large extent when it came to conceptualizing the theme 

of the event. We created unique strategies, implemented 

and executed each and every element of the event (except 

for the travel and accommodation of the Hero employees). 

Percept took complete ownership of the project from 

ideation to final implementation including all the London 

centric tasks, thereby ensuring that Hero attained the 

desired results.” 

Percept’s idea behind the brand unveiling concept was 

to have heroes of the world unveil the new Hero brand 

identity. Therefore, the company roped in prominent global 

Shailendra Singh, 

Joint Managing Director, 

Percept Ltd. 

“The brief was to 

launch the new brand 

identity in London and 

attain overwhelming 

global mileage for the 

new brand Hero ”


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IN FOCUS 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 39 

superstars including actors, sports personalities, F1 legend 

David Coulthard and renowned singers to reveal the Hero 

identity. 

The main attraction of the awe-inspiring O2 Arena was the 

stage which was made of LED blocks. It was designed 

with various SFX to capture the captivating performances 

of these various stars at the venue. Percept’s aim was to 

create whole new surreal experience for the vast audience 

present at the venue. The audio solutions for the event was 

managed by SOUND.COM. 

An experience for everyone 

When the leader of the two wheeler industry went through a 

brand identity change, the experience for the stake holders, 

dealers and employees had to be one of a kind. The brief 

to G2rams was to make the experience unique for the 

participants, something they would remember for a long 

while. 

Hemant Dahiya, COO, G2rams said: “For G2rams, the 

London event was a prestigious assignment. It was a 

momentous occasion for Hero and a spectacular moment 

in history. G2rams stepped in with its specialist services 

in MICE to help Hero take its brand transformational 

journey into becoming Hero MotoCorp. Having serviced 

Hero Honda for the past seven years, G2rams had the 

advantage of knowing their preferences, the small details 

Hemant Dahiya, 

COO, 

G2rams 

“G2rams stepped 

in with its specialist 

services in MICE to 

help Hero take its 

brand transformational 

journey into becoming 

Hero MotoCorp.” 

that can make an event so great and the finer nuances of 

stay and logistics.” 

G2rams enabled travel and hotel accommodation for over 

1,000 dealers and employees right in the middle of London, 

which was spread over five hotels. Five servicing hubs 

were created to give a seamless lodging experience. All 

information, queries, and issues were addressed by these 

servicing hubs to provide the highest level of comfort to 

participants. G2rams also arranged for transport logistics 

from hotel to the event venue. A small celebration by the 

key stake holders in London was an additional duty handed 

over to the agency.

MARKET PULSE 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 40 

“Formula 1: A sport which has 

significant appeal for Vodafone’s 

customers around the world.” 

- Anuradha Aggarwal, Vice President – Marketing, Brand Communication and Consumer Insights, Vodafone Essar Ltd 

Vroom! Vroom! Will be the sound that New Delhi will be 

waking up to in October. The first ever Formula 1 Grand 

Prix of India will be held at the Buddh International 

Circuit on Oct. 30 after the qualifying race on Oct. 29. 

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team will be one 

of the teams racing at the 5.14 km circuit. The British 

Formula One team is the second oldest active team. 

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are the drivers for 

the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Vodafone has 

been associated with the McLaren Mercedes team as 

the title sponsor and official mobile partner since 2007. 

To find out more about Vodafone’s association with 

Formula One and the McLaren Mercedes team, ExM 

spoke with Anuradha Aggarwal, Vice President – 

Marketing, Brand Communication and Consumer 

Insights, Vodafone Essar Ltd. 

What is the objective for a brand like Vodafone to 

sponsor an F1 team? 

Vodafone has been in partnership with the McLaren 

Mercedes team since 2007. As the title sponsor 

and official mobile partner of the Vodafone McLaren 

Mercedes team, Vodafone is raising its association with 

the motor racing sport to the next level. 

The sponsorship demonstrates Vodafone’s ongoing 

commitment to the Formula 1 World Championship,


a sport which has significant appeal for Vodafone’s 

customers around the world. 

Formula 1 Racing is gaining momentum in India and is 

expected to grow with the first ever Indian Grand Prix. 

This initiative gives us a great opportunity to leverage 

our global association and engage with our customers 

and offer them an experience of a lifetime through 

various initiatives. 

How important is it for Vodafone to engage audience 

on-ground as a lead up to the race? 

On-ground engagement with the audience helps us 

create excitement or buzz around the brand and build 

brand loyalty among customers. Lewis Hamilton has 

been the face of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes since 

2007 in India. We have leveraged this association 

further by bringing Hamilton each year to different parts 

of the country, like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. 

This annual on-ground initiative has been a great 

opportunity to enable our customers and motor racing 

enthusiasts witness the fervour. Additionally, we aim to 

delight our customers by giving them quality experience 

through a host of offerings during the racing season. 

What are the consumer-related activities or 

promotions as part of the lead up to the race? How 

will these benefit the brand’s product and also its 

team? 

This Grand Prix season, Vodafone will be reaching out 

to its customers through several unique promotional 

initiatives. The ‘Vodafone Race to Fame – life in the 

fast lane’ will offer four winners – two consumers and 

two global enterprise customers – an experience that 

money cannot buy. The winners will be spending the 

weekend with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team 

during the motor racing event scheduled to be held at 

Noida, Delhi, from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30. This initiative will 

give our Indian customers an exhilarating experience 

of getting up close and personal with the Vodafone 

McLaren Mercedes team 

Another promotional initiative will be the ‘Vodafone 

Drive into the Big League’ which extends an exclusive 

opportunity to small and medium enterprises to have 

their logo on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars that 

will race at the motor racing event in India. It reflects 

the company’s endeavour to reach out to the small 

and medium business community in India through the 

international platform of Formula 1. 

Apart from this, Vodafone has also planned a host 

of other activities like creating the whole true racing 

experience with one of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 

drivers in a metro city other than Delhi in September, 

Hot Laps with the drivers and road shows and customer 

activation programmes with the Vodafone McLaren 

Mercedes show car at the nation’s prime metros, among 

others, gearing up for the grand finale in Delhi. 

Is the brand working along with any agencies or 

execution partners for these varied activities? What 

will their responsibilities be? 

Vodafone is working with a number of outdoor/event 

agencies for successful execution of the various 

initiatives as build up to Indian Grand Prix 2011. Talks 

are ongoing between the agencies and Vodafone so we 

cannot disclose details on the selection as of now.

MARKET PULSE 

India: A window to 

tradeshow opportunities 

in Asia 

By Charlie Greco, Tradeshow Consultant 

Charlie Greco, former Executive Director of Tradeshows 

– Asia, Venetian Macau, in July announced his departure 

from the five star integrated resort. Greco was responsible 

for attracting a record number of 15 mega-size tradeshows 

to the property in a four month timeframe, earning two 

industry awards in the process. Greco has more than 

25 years of experience as an international tradeshow 

producer and has coveted many international awards for 

his accomplishments. 

ExM got in touch with Greco to find out about his opinion 

and experience in India, as well as the potential he sees in 

this country, and we were pleasantly surprised about his 

future plans. 

There are many more tradeshows/events being held in India 

than any other place in the world in which I have operated. 

Also, the volume of significantly sized and important events 

in one concentrated region is unprecedented. This clearly 

correlates to India’s robust industries in many market 

segments, domestic market demand and great event 

organizers. India has much to offer in the way of products 

and services, and the world is clamouring for quality 

products and services and reasonable price levels. As the 

worldwide recession deepens, alternative sources must be 

found, and India has a lot to offer and a lot to showcase to 

the international markets. 


The Venetian Macau recognized very early on that we 

could be a major conduit for India’s events market to reach 

out not only to the rest of Asia, but the elusive international 

market as well. First, we are only a four and half hour flight 

from Hong Kong to New Delhi. That is a shorter flight time 

for those of us in America trying to reach Las Vegas (The 

tradeshow capital of the world) from New York which takes 

about six hours. After hosting the IIFA Awards, there was a 

rebirth of the Venetian in India as many Indian tourists and 

business people discovered or re-discovered Macau and 

the Venetian as a destination, and not just as a venue. But 

quite frankly, magnificent Indian weddings of grandeur and 

spectacle were some of the first Indian business to discover 

the Venetian and Macau. 

We have put in place for tradeshow/event producer’s a 

special Indian stimulus package of financial incentives 

to come to the Venetian that has worked extremely well. 

There are incentives from a facility standpoint, from a 

marketing assistance standpoint, and of course, the 

Macau government and tourist office stimulus package 

which is very aggressive, very robust and unprecedented. 

Macau in 2010 saw an increase of 57% of Indian visitors, 

representing the fourth largest market. 

In addition to the financial incentives being offered by the 

Venetian and by the Macau government, we recognized very 

early on that for many of our Indian tradeshow/event clients, 

this would be their first adventure into the international 

markets. We put together a program that not only assists 

financially to help bridge the gap of what it costs to produce 

an event in India versus anywhere else in the world, but 

a comprehensive program to help the Indian producer 

every step of the way in getting his/her show launched in a 

foreign market. We provide complete outsourcing services 

from logistics and operations, marketing and sales, special 

event planning and housing. Giving the Indian tradeshow 

producer the ability to one-stop-shop for everything or 

something, has made it extremely easy for them to embark 

for the first time internationally. Clients like iTEN Media 

and their Hydrocarbon Technology Congress, The Export 

Promotion Council for (Indian) Handicrafts, The Royal 

Jewels of India owned and produced by Excelsior Public 

Relations are just a few of the producers that are taking 

advantage of the unique situation. In fact, Seventy Seven 

Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is going to produce an event called 

AEEC in 2012 for international event organizers to come 

to Macau.


The Venetian is a five star world class international 

integrated resort. We boast over 10 lakh sq ft of convention, 

meeting and exhibition space. There is quite frankly nothing 

in Asia whatsoever that can compete with the billions of 

dollars that have been invested in this property and will be 

invested in the coming months and years. Additionally, a 

little known fact is that Sheldon Adelson, Founder, Owner, 

Chairman, Venetian Macau, is a tradeshow producer. Long 

before his historical success in hotels and gaming, Adelson 

owned and produced the largest tradeshows in America. 

The property is built in his vision which obviously includes 

the events business as its soul and foundation. 

The Venetian has the resources to provide all, some or 

none of everything possibly required by a tradeshow 

producer from India to launch an event. Because of its 

stature in the Asian community, the Venetian works with 

many other suppliers of products and services for Indian 

producers to talk with, consult with and work with. The 

options for producers are virtually endless. As like all of 

the other properties in Macau, the Macau Government 

Tourist Office works very closely with the integrated resorts 

in every way possible to help encourage and stimulate the 

MICE business. The MGTO continues to invest significantly 

in this endeavour. 

Asia…and I am rarely wrong! 

cgreco@uemanagement.com 

Note: Charlie Greco now works as an independent 

tradeshow/event consultant based in Macau. He indicated 

to ExM that he will continue to focus on the India tradeshow 

and event market exclusively and with those who wish to 

internationalize their events. 

The MICE market opportunities in Macau and particularly 

in Asia are so tremendous that I have decided to go back 

to being an independent consultant working particularly 

in India. I am so grateful for having had the opportunity 

to discover India both professionally and personally that I 

have decided to dedicate myself to the India tradeshow/ 

event/MICE market. In the more than 25 years that I have 

flourished in the international tradeshow industry, never 

have I felt so welcomed and embraced by an industry in a 

country as in India. I am betting on Asia, and I am betting on 

Pictures of some of the largest tradeshows Greco’s company produced in America and Europe

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GLIMPSES 


Lakme Fashion Week 

Winter/Festive 2011 

Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter / Festive 2011 

was held from Aug 16 to 21 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, 

Mumbai. The event featured 10 sponsors and 87 

designers including Rohit Bal, Archana Kochhar 

and Anita Dongre. Aircel was the Associate 

Sponsor for the third season, while DHL was the 

Official Logistics Partner, Fashion and You was the 

Online Retail Partner and Blenders Pride was the 

official partner. The grand finale featured the work 

of Manish Malhotra. The finale show was set up by 

Effectstech along with hydraulic motors and grand 

curtains.

GLIMPSES 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 48 

Sixth India 

International Salsa 

Congress and 

Championship 

Kingfisher Premium associated with Lourd Vijay 

and presented the sixth India International Salsa 

Congress and Championship at Clarks Exotica in 

Bangalore on Aug 15. 22 national and international 

teams competed for the championship which 

would give them an opportunity to represent their 

nation at the ACEKI World Salsa Championship 

2012 in Hong Kong. Some of the partners were 

Clarks Exotica as the venue partner, Red Bull as 

the beverage partner, and Splash as the wardrobe 

partner.

GLIMPSES 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 49 

EEMAGINE 2011 

EEMAGINE and the EEMAX Awards 

2011 ensured the convention was not 

all work and no play. Each day of the 

three day convention of the Event and 

Entertainment Management Association 

ended with a bang. Team building 

activities, special performances by guest 

artists and international acts and of 

course DJs rocking the party well after 

mid-night were the highlights beyond the 

conference sessions.

GLIMPSES 


Max Little Icon 

Max held the launch of Max Little Icon in Chennai 

on Aug. 13. This event was targeted towards 

children between the age group of four to 14 

years and provided them with a shortcut to fame 

with a platform to showcase their confidence, 

skills and display their sense of style. Other 

activities that ran parallel to the registrations of 

the event were ‘Max Little Icon’ essay writing 

and drawing competition wherein 50 of the best 

essays or drawings were collected and were 

unveiled at the Max Little Icon Grand Finale. 

Gem Visions India 

2012 

The special edition of Swarovski Gems’ 

annual trend and design book, ‘Gem Visions 

India 2012’ was unveiled on Aug. 7 at 

Renaissance Hotel, Mumbai, followed by a 

fashion show wherein Bollywood stars and 

super models walked the ramp showcasing 

the various designs featured in the book.

GLIMPSES 


Red Bull Art Of 

Motion 

Red Bull organised a free running competition, 

Red Bull Art of Motion, on July 30 in Yokohama, 

Japan. The first round of the competition had 

80 seconds to freestyle across the course using 

several different obstacles and features. The 

top 12 contestants advanced to the finals where 

they were judged on creativity, execution, flow 

and technical difficulty. A total of 19 free runners 

from eight nations gathered at Sankeien 

Garden, Japan. 

India’s Got Talent - 

Season 3 ‘Talent Face Off’ 

To create a buzz around the season start of India’s Got Talent 

(IGT) 3, Encompass conceptualized and managed an event 

titled, India’s Got Talent - Season 3 ‘Talent Face Off’ Mumbai 

vs. Delhi. This event was held at Nirmal Lifestyle Mall in 

Mumbai and The Great India Palace Mall in Noida. To support 

the respective cities, IGT Season 3 hosts also joined in and 

co-hosted the event.

GLIMPSES 

Just Dance Homecoming 

Collective Heads managed and executed an event 

celebrating the homecoming of the contestants of Just 

Dance, a reality dance show on Star Plus, in Delhi and 

Kolkata on Aug. 9. As part of the execution of the event, 

a grand welcome was planned at the contestant’s house, 

followed by a mall activation in the evening at DLF 

Promenade in Delhi and City Centre Salt Lake in Kolkata, 

where the contestants performed live for their fans. 


Kochi International 

Fashion Week 2011 

Kochi International Fashion Week (KIFW) 2011 was 

held from Aug 4 to 7 at Casino Hotel, Kochi. The 

event saw 14 shows with 50 models and 16 celebrity 

fashion designers. KIFW 2011 was produced by 

Storm Fashion Company, in association with Gitanjali 

Lifestyle and Lawman PG3. Celebrated actress and 

singer Mamta Mohandas was the brand ambassador 

for KIFW 2011.

IN CLASSIFIED FOCUS 


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LEAD FEATURE 

P R E S I D E N T ’ S D E S K 

Brian Tellis, President, EEMA 

and Chairman, Fountainhead 

Promotions and Events 

For membership and general enquiries on 

EEMA, please contact: 

Brig. S.K. Rattan (Retd.) on: 

eventsassociation@gmail.com 

admin@eemaindia.com 

Mobile : +91 9560712555 

There’s a spring in my step these days, and it all has to do with the annual 

EEMA convention that played out over three days last month. This fourth edition 

of the event took us back to where it all started – Goa. But it isn’t geography 

that is giving me the high, as much as chemistry. For me the biggest success 

of the convention was the sense of camaraderie and belonging that happened 

amongst all our members. It was palpable really – and very important as we 

take forward several initiatives that will benefit the industry as a whole. 

Of course, Goa wasn’t all about sentiment alone, but substance as well. The 

content was superb and the awards ceremony outstanding. We also reviewed 

the year gone by and formulated tangible strategy for the year ahead. 

In introspection we discovered that it was indeed a very satisfying year gone 

by – lots of activity and action, from opening the new Gujarat Chapter, tying 

up with academic institutions (to catalyse a better quality of talent output), and 

launching EEMAg, to fund raising, bringing the industry together through sport, 

and organising a slew of workshops. 

On a critical plane, an industry delegation opened a vital channel of 

representation with no less a decision maker than the Finance Minister, Mr. 

Pranab Mukherjee, himself. The focussed issue that was raised was Service 

Tax, and our team will follow it up at that highest level. 

Much of what we did during the year is an ongoing phenomenon. Which brings 

me to the second part of this foreword: From introspection to looking ahead... 

The Goa convention encapsulated the sentiment succinctly. The mantra for 

this year is: Scale Up! We aren’t looking to re-invent the wheel; rather, build on 

the starts we have made last year, over the various areas mentioned. 

But specifically, this will mean increasing our interaction with Government, 

opening more state chapters and initiating dialogue with our supply chain. 

Expect increased learning, through more workshops – the one already on 

the cards will delve into Standard Operating Practices. We are also keen to 

expand our educational tie-ups. So while EMDI and IIMCM were good starts, 

the focus will be on both breadth and depth. That is to say, not just reaching 

the program to more institutions, but further enriching the curriculum at those 

we have already linked with. 

Importantly and uniquely, we intend to bring out a white paper on the 

entertainment industry. I think, at the inflection point that the industry finds 

itself at, this is an initiative of decisive importance. Just think how priceless all 

the research, statistics and fact file will be for all of us. 

But above all, or should I say in everything we do, the focus will be on bringing 

the fraternity together in a spirit of bonding that was in evidence at the annual 

convention. It’s beautiful this realisation that we are not competitors but partners 

batting for each other. The pie is expanding and there’s enough business for 

everyone. Beyond MICE and Activations, there’s peripheral business like 

weddings and sport that is clearly trending towards the mainline. A mature and 

collaborative approach will benefit all of us – singularly and collectively. 

An exciting year confronts us. Together we can take things to the next level.

LEAD FEATURE 


EEMAGINE 2011 gets 

scaled up! 

Three days of action packed educational and motivational sessions, combined 

with entertainment and activities, was what this year’s convention was all about. 

By Karan Iyer 

All through the year, the events and experiential marketing 

industry plans events, parties, entertainment, conventions 

and a whole bunch of other activities for corporations and 

individuals alike. However, there is a time in a year when 

the industry comes together to throw an event for itself, 

and what an event it was this year. Three days of action 

packed sessions that witnessed prominent individuals of 

various fields giving their insights on topics relevant to 

the industry and a glamorous award show to culminate 

the event. EEMAGINE 2011 raised the bar in terms of 

content in line with its theme of ‘Scaling up’ and raised the 

expectations for the next year. 

EEMAGINE was held this year in the quiet and peaceful 

settings of the Varca district of Goa at The Zuri White Sands 

Resort & Casino. EEMAGINE 2011, the fourth edition of 

the annual national convention by Event & Entertainment 

Management Association (EEMA) India, started on Aug. 4 

and ended on Aug. 6. Sponsors for the convention were 

UB Group, Hilton Janak Puri, Parikrama and Dfrenz. 

On the eve of the convention, Brian Tellis, President, 

EEMA, spoke to ExM about what to expect at the event. 

Tellis had explained that while the format of the convention 

would be the same, the differentiating factors would be the 

higher level of participation this year compared to previous 

years; and the main theme of the convention which was 

scaling up of the industry. He highlighted that careful 

consideration had been taken when deciding the content 

this year which would be made relevant to all verticals of 

the industry. 

Prior to the start of the convention, Tellis said: “The content 

presented at the convention will cater to every type of 

business. While we consider the experiential marketing 

space as one industry, there are several verticals within 

and not every company caters to every vertical. We have 

taken this into consideration this time while deciding on the 

content which will be generic enough to be useful to each 

and every company.” 

Brian Tellis, 

President EEMA 

EEMAGINE 2011 

begins with vision 

Day one started with the 

arrival and registration 

of guests from all walks 

of the event industry and 


space. After a couple of 

informal meetings between 

small groups and individuals, 

the first formal meeting of


F E A T U R E 

EEMAGINE 2011 began - the EEMA Executive Committee 

Meeting. Discussions took place on the year gone by and 

the year ahead, as well as the challenges that the industry 

is facing and how to overcome these challenges. 

This meeting was followed by the annual general meeting 

which involved discussions on everything from the ups 

and downs to the challenges and celebrations. The high 

spirited meeting was no different from the previous years 

in terms of enthusiasm, expression of ideas, thoughts and 

constructive criticism. 

However, the environment surrounding this AGM was not 

just all talk as a number of mandates came out from this 

meeting. These mandates included making more tie-ups 

with academic institutions, creating more state chapters 

to broaden the membership and increasing the number 

of workshops in a big way. The discussions at the AGM 

revolved around the questions of how to make EEMA 

more relevant and what needs to be done from a CSR 

point of view. The discussion over how to further spread 

the EEMA mantra led to plans to bring new changes to the 

EEMA website to make it more interactive and to better 

communicate the association’s mandate and vision. The 

meeting led to seven to eight initiatives being adopted. 

Speaking on what made this year’s AGM different, Tellis 

told ExM that the difference was “that while generally 

people brought up constructive ideas, thoughts and 

criticisms, the mood was very upbeat, the mood was very 

positive; the mood was how to get things done rather than 

just critical appreciation. I have been part of the previous 

three AGMs. I thought the mood in today’s AGM was 

fantastic, very special. In fact, people are still talking about 

what a fantastic feeling it is to come together. I am a happy 

camper as I speak...good stuff.” 

“If you ask me to conclude day one, I would say we have 

received a very clear mandate at the end of the day on the 

vision of the coming 12 months. I think that’s the big take 

out today. We have got a fair amount, if not a very clear 

mandate going forward from members. So, we are very 

clear on how we want to take EEMA forward and along 

with it, its members,” Tellis added. 

Day one of EEMAGINE 2011 culminated with dinner, 

cocktails and a performance by Leslie Lewis. 

Action Packed Day Two 

Day two of EEMAGINE 2011 proved the fact that there 

was a lot of thought put into the content that would be 

presented at the convention this year. From lessons in 

entrepreneurship, maintaining client loyalty and event 

risk management to discussions on the fields of sports 

marketing and rural marketing, the second day of the 

convention was an action-packed learning platform for 

every participant. 

Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO, MakeMyTrip.com 

Harish Krishnamachar, Vice President-South Asia, 

World Sports Group 

Day two began with a welcome speech by Tellis, giving an 

analysis and brief outlook on the events and experiential 

marketing industry overall. He also provided the audience 

with a recap of the points and mandates that came out at 

the AGM the previous day. 

Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO, MakeMyTrip.com, talked 

about the history of the company, an analysis of his 

journey from starting up the company and the things he 

had learned on the way. Encouraging people to take up 

the entrepreneurial route, Kalra provided the audience with 

a detailed glimpse of the challenges of a start up and the 

process of scaling up businesses. He also provided advice 

on how to encourage innovation amongst employees and 

to share profits through ESOPS. 

Following Kalra’s entrepreneurial speech, Harish 

Krishnamachar, Vice President-South Asia, World Sports 

Group, provided insight into the world of sports marketing. 

He provided an in-depth analysis of this field - the growth, 

the challenges and the outlook. He listed out the differences 

between the events industry and the sports marketing field, 

but also provided the common ground between both fields. 

After the sporty insight, it was time to meet and greet the 

closest cousin of the events and experiential marketing 

industry - Advertising. Ambi M G Parameswaran, 

Executive Director and CEO, Draftfcb Ulka, gave the 

audience at the convention the ten commandments of

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F E A T U R E 

creating client loyalty. Parameswaran talked about the 

importance of creating a loyal client base and how to 

ensure that a company can retain client relations for the 

long term. During the Q&A session, Parameswaran also 

discussed how EEMA can play a role in helping to build 

client relations, the need to protect business interests of 

the industry and the requirement of a united approach 

when dealing with the government. 

On the sidelines of the convention prior to his speech, 

ExM caught up with Parameswaran to take his views on 

the convention and the overall industry. Parameswaran 

believes that the EEMAGINE convention has grown 

significantly over the past four years, and expressed his 

delight that the event management business was coming 

together and becoming more professional through such 

events. “The event industry is highly personality driven 

and with such events, the industry is becoming driven 

by processes and other aspects,” Parameswaran said. 

On the question of what he thinks about the theme of the 

convention - scaling up, Parameswaran said that “the 

industry is very much ready to scale up, but it also needs 

to maintain focus on the areas of talent, legal issues and 

technology. The leaders of the industry are coming together 

to address these issues.” Parameswaran forecasts that 

the events and experiential marketing industry would grow 

at the rate of 15 per cent per annum and that in future, 

agencies will specialize themselves into areas like events, 

activation and other verticals. 

Maneck Dastur of KM Dastur Associates was up next 

on stage to talk about event risk management and how 

insurance can help event agencies ensure that they do 

not bear the cost of cancelled events or mishaps due to 

unforeseen circumstances. He spoke about the various 

circumstances which insurance can cover and the clauses 

that need to be taken into consideration while taking 

insurance. 

The final speech of the second day was on the topic of 

rural marketing by Raj Kumar Jha, National Creative 

Director, Ogilvy Action and Vice President, RMAI. Jha’s 

presentation on the scope of the rural market and the need 

for the experiential marketing industry to spread further 

into such areas was both educating and entertaining. In 

fact, the speech was so well received by the audience that 

they gave Jha a well-deserved standing ovation. Jha’s 

message was as simple as it was effective - the people 

living in rural areas have the money to buy products and 

it is just a matter of tapping this audience with the right 

amount of brand promotion. 

“There is a misconception that there is no money or market 

in the rural areas. There is a lot of scope and the reach of 

the rural market is immense,” Jha said during his speech. 

“Understanding the rural market is crucial and there is 

opportunity for the event industry. The industry just needs 

to build scale. Demand for products increases during 


Ambi MG Parmeswaran, Executive Director and 

CEO, Draftfcb Ulka 

Maneck Dastur, KM Dastur Associates 

Rajkumar Jha, National Creative Director, Ogilvy Action 

festive seasons, sports promotions can be done in rural 

areas, intellectual properties can be created, and events 

around cinema can also be done to engage the rural 

audience.” 

On the sidelines of the event, ExM caught up with Jha 

to find out more about rural marketing. “There’s a lot of 

opportunity in the rural market; a lot of work opportunities 

that are opening new avenues. Smaller towns and cities 

are not economically that bad, a lot of money is available,” 

Jha told ExM. “People in the rural areas are getting into 

an aspirational mode. They want to buy trendy products 

that are related to urban society. There is a need to bring 

the service these aspirations. They are buying big ticket 

products, but we need to give them more options.” 

Speaking about experiential marketing expanding into 

rural areas, Jha said that experiential marketing has

LEAD FEATURE 

F E A T U R E 

been in existence in rural areas for ages. “Experiential 

marketing is all about the experience, it is about giving the 

five senses appeal of a product, and that is what people in 

rural areas want. Before making any purchase, they want 

to experience the product, so experiential marketing can 

very much expand into rural areas.” 

The speaker sessions for the second day of EEMAGINE 

2011 ended on this note. Participants were then taken out 

for an outdoor team activity by D’Frens, which involved 

building a racing car. The day culminated with cocktails 

and dinner with entertainment by the Vyas Brothers – 

Sanjeev and Sandeep Vyas and a variety of international 

acts by Red Entertainment and Yogis Angels. 

Learning from History, Seeking the 

Future 

The final day of EEMAGINE 2011 began on a historic note 

with Viraf Sarkari, Director, Wizcraft, giving the audience 

a walk through the history of Wizcraft and, in line with the 

theme of the convention, how the agency scaled up to 

becoming a global event management company. 

Sarkari spoke about Wizcraft’s most prominent property, 

the IIFA Awards, and its growth to becoming an event with 

more than 700 million viewers around the world, making 

it one of the most watched Indian events. He walked the 

audience through how Wizcraft started with a small event 

back in the 1980s called ‘Conga’ and expanded from there 

to managing events like the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth 

Games, the Oman Military Festival: Tattoo, and many 

other large scale events. Through this journey of Wizcraft, 

Sarkari gave audience pointers on how to scale up their 

organizations and businesses. 

Following Sarkari’s presentation, it was time to give the 

event and experiential marketing industry a lesson in PR. 

Ashwini Singla, Managing Director and Chief Executive, 

South Asia, Penn Schoe Berland, spoke about the media - 

online, print and broadcast - and provided tips for the events 

and entertainment industry. Singla asked the industry to 

keep an open mind about social media or online media like 

Facebook since the reach of this medium is even more than 

the print and broadcast media. He further emphasized the 

need to consider what message the industry wants to give 

out through the media and what image it wishes to portray. 

The industry’s focus on innovation and taking substantial 

steps towards its goals will, in turn, garner the required 

media coverage. 

Speaking to ExM on the sidelines of the convention, 

Sarkari expressed his appreciation for the creation of 

such an association for the events and entertainment 

industry. He recommended that the association should 

focus on capacity building and professional building. “The 

industry needs to think about the main purpose - building 

thought leadership, building capacity. Focusing on building 

capabilities will garner the needed media attention. 


The need of the industry is professional credibility and 

not publicity,” Sarkari said. Talking about how event 

companies can leverage the media, Sarkari added that 

“event management companies are in a B2B business 

so they need to do substantial activities. They need to 

Viraf Sarkari, Director, Wizcraft 

Ashwini Singla, Managing Director and Chief 

Executive, South Asia, Penn Schoe Berland 

Deepali Khanna, Additional Secretary, Ministry of 

Information and Broadcasting 

move from logistics to something more substantial.” He 

further suggested considering changing the name of the 

association from Event and Entertainment Management 

Association to Experience and Entertainment Marketing 

Association in order to better reflect the association and 

its members. 

The convention on the third day, also witnessed its first 

step to engaging the government, as Deepali Khanna, 

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and 

Broadcasting, as well as representatives from the tourism

LEAD FEATURE 

F E A T U R E 

Vivek Bhargava, Managing Director, Communicate 2 

Kevin Cottam, Motivational Speaker 

ministry took to the stage and addressed the audience 

on questions regarding governmental issues. Brian Tellis, 

President, EEMA, made a formal request for a meeting 

with the ministry in order to engage the government. 

During Khanna’s address to the audience, a suggestion 

for creating a single window for government permissions 

was made. After she had raised concerns about the lack 

of transparency from event companies during the tender 

process for government events, one of the questions 

put forth to Khanna was whether the government would 

consider EEMA to be a platform for the government to 

check the credibility of event management companies. 

Conducting workshops for the government was also one 

of the major points that came out during the address. 

Khanna also discussed the assessment process for tender 

applications and explained the significance of having bank 

guarantees as part of the process. 

After the discussion, it was time for everyone to go 

Aha! Click, click, click. Kevin Cottam, Director of Multi- 

Disciplinary Events, Inspirational Coach/Facilitator/ 

Speaker/Author, took to the stage for an inspirational 

session. Cottam spoke about his own experience as 

champion ice skater and the motivation needed to take 

that extra push. 

The motivational session was followed by a presentation 

by Vivek Bhargava from Ultimedia E-Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 

and Contextual Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Bhargava gave the 

audience a sneak peek into how digital media can be 


innovatively used to amplify the impact of a live event. The 

focus was on leveraging digital media to bring an event 

online and vice versa. Taking the Mumbai Marathon as an 

example, Bhargava spoke extensively about how online 

applications and social media platforms could be used to 

support and amplify the event by not only engaging the 

participants but also the non-participants. 

Speaking to ExM, Bhargava showed us the power of 

social media right at the convention. He revealed to 

us a significant number of tweets about his speech that 

had happened live on Twitter simultaneously as he had 

been speaking at the convention. Talking about the trend 

of combining the digital world with live events, Bhargava 

said that “the way in which virtualization is happening, all 

events will eventually have a virtual component to them. 

However, the issue that the event industry faces in adding 

the digital media component to a live event is the lack of 

expertise.” 

Combining digital media with a live event will amplify 

the event and while there will be an increase in cost; the 

increase will not be very significant. On the question of 

whether he sees live events eventually turning into a full 

fledged virtual event, Bhargava believes that “at the end 

of the day, you cannot take away the joy of an actual live 

experience.” So, how can the event industry move ahead 

from here? Bhargava explained how logistics and expertise 

will be a challenge and initially partnering with experts will 

help address the issue. 

Entertainment at its Max with EEMAX 

After three days of action packed sessions, EEMAGINE 

2011 ended with people letting their hair down and enjoying 

the night at the Goa Marriott Hotel in Panaji, hosts of the 

EEMAX 2011 Awards. When you are throwing an event for 

an industry that deals in experience and throws parties for 

a living, the bar has to be set high and above the usual. 

EEMAX 2011 Awards was a combination of a party hard 

audience, an open bar and funny man Vir Das as a host, 

resulting in an awards show that brought the house down. 

A total of 16 gold awards, 22 silver awards and 24 bronze 

awards were handed out. The awards were spread across 

22 categories - Best Signature Event, Best Sporting 

Event, Best Public and Outdoor Event, Best Live Televised 

Event, Best New Event or Activation Property, Best 

Product Launch Event, Best Conference, Best Wedding, 

Best Exhibition Design, Best CSR/Environment Initiative, 

Best Road Show of the Year, Best Mall Promotion, Best 

Consumer Activation Program, Best School Contact 

Program, Best Product Launch Activation Program, 

Best Use of Technology in an Event, Best Use of Digital 

Marketing for an Event or Activation, Best International 

Event, Best Internal Communication Campaign/Event, 

Best Integrated Communication Program, Best In-store 

Promotion, and Best Dealer Activation Program.

LEAD FEATURE 

F E A T U R E 

Felix Remedios, Founder and MD, Reynold’s 

acknowledged for his outstanding contribution 

Louis Banks, felicitated for his contribution to the 

event industry 

Wizcraft International Entertainment and Encompass 

Events won eight awards each this year, followed by 

Showtime Events and Krayon, who won six awards each. 

Innobuzz Marketing Solutions won five awards, while 

Candid Marketing and Jagran Solutions won four awards 

each. 

Wizcraft International won the gold award in the Best 

Public and Outdoor Event and Best Live Televised Event 

categories. Encompass Events won the gold award in 

the Best Consumer Activation Program and Best In-store 

Promotion categories, as well as in the Best Integrated 

Communication Program category, in partnership with 

BBDO India. Showtime Events won the gold award in 

the Best Signature Event and Best Use of Technology in 

Event categories, while Innobuzz Marketing Solutions won 

the gold award in the Best Exhibit Design and Best Mall 

Promotion categories. 

Other gold award winners were 70 Event Media Group 

in the Best New Event or Activation Property, Jagran 

Solutions in the Best CSR/Environment Initiative category, 

SOI Live Marketing & Events in the Best Product Launch 

Activation Program category, Vibgyor Brand Services in 

the Best Use of Digital Marketing for an Event or Activation 

category, Beep Experience Management in the Best 

Internal Communication Campaign Event category, and 

Event Crafter for the Best Dealer Activation Program. 


In the Best Wedding category, E-factor Entertainment won 

all three awards - Gold, Silver and Bronze; while Krayon 

won all three awards in the Best School Contact Program 

category. 

The EEMAX 2011 Awards felicitated Felix Remedios, 

Founder and Managing Director of Reynold’s Sound & 

Lighting Services for his outstanding contribution to the 

industry. Louis Banks was also felicitated for his contribution 

to the events industry through his performance at several 

events. Banks did a brief performance at the awards show. 

Behind the Scenes and Beyond 

Priyanka Purohit, Kubra Sait and Vandana Vadhera were 

the emcees for EEMAGINE 2011. Besides Leslie Lewis 

& Band and the Vyas Brothers, Louis Banks and Aditi 

Bhagwat, Red Entertainment and Weirdass Productions 

provided entertainment for the event. 

A lot of hard work went into bringing EEMAGINE 2011 and 

EEMAX together. A number of EEMA members are to be 

given credit for pulling off such a herculean task, including 

Brian Tellis, Ankur Kalra, Atul Nath, Michael Menezes, 

Siddharth Ganeriwala, Rajesh Varma, Serrao, Oum 

Pradutt, Rakhi Kankaria, Rahul Gomes, Sanjeev Pasricha, 

Rajeev Jain, Tabassum Modi, Reema Gupta, K J Singh 

Gurna, Cherish Tota, Sachin Talwar and Brig Rattan. 

For the convention, Crosscraft Pvt. Ltd. managed the entire 

event, Dynamix Media provided the Watchout technology, 

SOUND.COM managed the indoor sound for the 

conference, Just Audio managed event sound, Veretronics 

provided plasma screens, DJ Suleman provided the music, 

and Nuness Travel provided coaches support. 

For the awards show, Mariott was the venue sponsor, 

Team Fountainhead was the event manager, Rigger 

House managed production, Star Dimensions provided 

lighting and trussing, Pixelite Productions managed the 

video production, LED screens and playback support, 

Audio Dimensions provided for sound, TPT Production 

handled the set and fabrication, and Bullseye 

Entertainment provided local support in Goa. 

The three-day convention was in line with its theme 

of scaling up and like promised had content that was 

relevant to people in all verticals of the industry. From 

starting up to growth phase, from motivation to client 

loyalty, and from new marketing fields to digitalizing 

live events, the convention gave everybody something 

or the other to take home. There were mandates and 

a clear vision given to EEMA for the development 

and betterment of the industry overall. However, the 

convention was not just about serious business but 

also about having fun while at it and overall was an 

event that raises the expectations for the next year’s 

convention.


F E A T U R E 

Winners of EEMAX 2011 

Category Name Agency Name Event Name Trophy 

Best Signature Event Showtime Events (I) Pvt Ltd TCS ION Launch Gold 

70 Event Media Group Cartyer Travel With Style Silver 

Phase I Events & Entertainment Pvt Ltd Titan Impressions Bronze 

Best sporting event Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd Common Wealth Games, Delhi, 2010 Silver 

Markcom Solutions Pvt Ltd Tata Photon Plus Shatranj Ke Shahenshah Bronze 

Best Public & Outdoor event Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd Common Wealth Games, Delhi, 2010 Gold 

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd ICC world Cup opening, Bangladesh Silver 

Fountainhead Promotions & Events Pvt Ltd Toon Cricket 2010 Bronze 

Best Live Televised event Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd Common Wealth Games, Delhi, 2010 Gold 

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd International Indian Film Academy Silver 

Cineyug Worldwide Filmfare Awards 2011 Bronze 

Best New Event or Activation 

Property 

70 Event Media Group Channel V Nokia India Fest 2011 Gold 

Krayon ITC Classmate Ideas for India Challenge 2010 Silver 

Jagran Solutions Learn With Yahoo Bronze 

Best Product Launch Event Showtime Events (I) Pvt Ltd TCS ION launch Silver 

Showtime Events (I) Pvt Ltd Volkswagen Vento Launch Bronze 

Best Conference Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Microsft Tech Ed Silver 

Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Asian Paints Annual Sales Conference Bronze 

Best wedding E-factor Entertainment (P) Ltd The Mittal wedding Gold 

E-factor Entertainment (P) Ltd The Jain Wedding Silver 

E-factor Entertainment (P) Ltd The Modi wedding Bronze 

Best Exhibition Design Innobuzz Marketing Solutions Panasonic Sound For India Gold 

Innobuzz Marketing Solutions TIPL - Toshiba India Private League Silver 

Showtime Events (I) Pvt Ltd Infosys Concept Centre Bronze 

Best CSR/ Environment initiative Jagran Solutions Arogya Rath Gold 

Event Crafter Airtel Hamari Guddi Silver 

Impresario EMI Ltd Palathulli Jala suraksha Bronze 

Best Road Show of the Year Innobuzz Marketing Solutions Panasonic Sound For India Silver 

Jagran Solutions Arogya Rath Bronze 

Best Mall Promotion Innobuzz Marketing Solutions Panasonic Sound For India Gold 

Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Gillette Mach 3 Turbo Sensitive Shave India Movement III Silver 

Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Wella Mall Activation Bronze 

Best Consumer Activation program Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Westside Young 'N" Famous Hunt Gold 

C. S. Direkt Canon Image Express Silver 

Candid Marketing Pvt Ltd Ored Togetherness Quotient- Launch Activation Program Bronze 

Best School Contact Program Krayon Junior Horlicks Growth Assesment Program Gold 

Krayon ITC Classmate Ideas for India Challenge 2010 Silver 

Krayon Horlicks Mission Exams Bronze 

Best Product Launch Activation SOI Live Marketing & Events Punjab MEI Kranti Gold 

Candid Marketing Pvt Ltd Oreo Togetherness Quotient- MTO Sampling Silver 

Innobuzz Marketing Solutions Panasonic Sound For India Bronze 

Best use of technology in an event Showtime Events India Pvt Ltd Tata consultancy services ION launch Gold 

Show Space Events Pvt Ltd U truck launch Silver 

Wizcraft International Enetertainment Pvt Ltd Common wealth games delhi 2010 Bronze 

Best Use of Digital Marketing for an 

Event or Activation 

Vibgyor Brand Services Bauch & Lomb - Model of the week Gold 

Jagran Solutions Learn With Yahoo Silver 

Krayon Horlicks Wizkids 2010 Bronze 

Best International event Krayon Horlicks Wizkids 2010 Silver 

C. S. Direkt National Dealer Conference Bronze 

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd The New Age Friendship Celebration Concert Bronze 

Best Internal Communication 

Campaign/ Event 

Beep Experience Management (P) Ltd Playpal Gold 

Show Space Events Pvt Ltd Nokia Tejas tirunaal Silver 

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd Nokia - MTB Bronze 

Best Integrated communication Encompass Events & BBDO India Gillette Mach 3 Turbo Sensitive Shave India Movement III Gold 

Candid Marketing Pvt Ltd Comfort Clothworld Silver 

Candid Marketing Pvt Ltd Friends of Sure Bronze 

Best Integrated communication Encompass Events Pvt Ltd ORAL 'B' SMILE INDIA Movement Bronze 

Best In-store promotion Encompass Events Pvt Ltd Westside Young 'N' Famous Hunt Silver 

Vibgyor Brand Services Fair & lovely maxfairness for men - salon acitvity Bronze 

Best Dealer Activation program Event Crafter Tata Docomo Academy (Panjab & Haryana) Gold 

WOW Events Pvt Ltd Hitachi I-Clean Launch Silver 

Showtime Events (I) Pvt Ltd Castrol Cricket Performance Centre Bronze



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