DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015 by EVENTFAQS Media

DEC / JAN 2015 VOLUME 06, ISSUE 5 PRICE RS. 100

ELEVATING FASHION TO STYLE WITH DESIGN, MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY

EVENTS ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTIONS MICE BTL SPONSORSHIP SPORTS

FROM THE EDITOR

NCREASINGLY ENTERTAINMENT AT A LIVE event is shifting from being one of the elements, to being integrated into the experience. Experiences are only truly resonating if all the elements work in unison to create a memory. It's no wonder then that entertainment curation is becoming more and more necessary.

The more seamless the integration of elements, the more pronounced the experience. This may be contrary to conventional practices of having different elements stand-out at an event. In fact, the less distraction against the experience, the more effective the message. The Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, in its 10th edition has been a great example of this new-age, experience-elevation trend. SALT Experiences and Management ensured that while the elements were plenty, and the touch points were varied, the experience was singular and well integrated. Thus achieving the brands objective of elevating 'Fashion' to 'Style'. While organisers are now challenged and also keen to achieve so much more out of the LIVE Quotient at an event, entertainer themselves must also evolve. And with this trend, the third year of the LIVE Quotient Awards has also grown, embracing newer formats of entertainment, while staying relevant to unique audiences in different events. LQA continues to benchmark the best and most versatile in the LIVE entertainment space, and we invite you to join us in celebrating these achievements on January 14, 2015 in Delhi.

karishma@eventfaqs.com

ExM is a bi - monthly magazine by EVENTFAQS Media, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only platform for events and experiential marketing - www.evenfaqs.com For subscription enquiry : exm@eventfaqs.com EDITOR & HEAD - BRAND & CONTENT KARISHMA HUNDALANI karishma@eventfaqs.com +91 98212 80003 PUBLISHER & BUSINESS HEAD VISHAL NAGDEV vishal@eventfaqs.com +91 98212 24987 CFO & DIRECTOR JIMMY CHOUDHARY jimmy@eventfaqs.com +91 98214 28197 EDITORIAL TEAM DHARM PATEL dharm@eventfaqs.com +91 98194 13143 R. VASUNDARA vasundara@eventfaqs.com +91 75061 10117 KANIKA MEHTA kanika@eventfaqs.com +91 98100 18658 AANCHAL DHAWAN aanchal@eventfaqs.com +91 98716 50137 MARKETING SERVICES TEAM SHAHEN HANSOTIA (Mum) shahen@eventfaqs.com +91 96195 75562 SONAL GUPTA (Mum) sonal@eventfaqs.com +91 7506059597 NITIN MEHRA (Del) nitin@eventfaqs.com +91 99907 86868 VIVEK BINEPAL (Del) vivek@eventfaqs.com +91 8800 327770 CLIENT SERVICING LIZANN PINTO lizann@eventfaqs.com +91 97689 90660 SONAL PATEL cs2@eventfaqs.com DESIGN PRASAD KARAMBAT CIRCULATION & MEDIA MANAGEMENT RAMESH PATIL ramesh@eventfaqs.com +91 22 26300673 ACCOUNTS & ADMIN PURVESH BHATT accounts@eventfaqs.com +91 22 26330674 ADMIN SAMIT ILKAR ISSUE DESIGN & LAYOUT VINAYA PRASHANTH vinnyprashanth@yahoo.com Printed by : Vishal Vashulal Nagdev 202, Brooke Ville, Near Magnet Super Market Mogul Lane, Matunga - West Mumbai 400016, Maharashtra, India Published by : Vishal Nagdev on behalf of (or owned by) EVENTFAQS Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at VSSU Graphics, Unit # 36, Ideal Industrial Estate Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel - West Mumbai 400013, Maharashtra, India and published at EVENTFAQS Media Pvt. Ltd. 112, 1st Floor, Embassy Centre 207 Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021, Maharashtra, India Editor : Karishma Jamnu Hundalani. This issue contains 100 pages including covers.

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CONTENTS

6 18

Industry Watch IN FOCUS –– EEMA, ZEE and Guild galvanize efforts for Kashmir 6

–– The Music Fest Round-up: A quick look at ExM’s pick of Music Fests this season 52

IN FOCUS

–– "We will create presence in India through partnerships." MIKE RUSBRIDGE, Chairman & CEO, Reed Exhibitions 10

–– "We wanted to position our event not just for the music lovers but for those who have an affinity for the culture scene in the city." ANEESHA KOTWANI, Co-founder, Regenerate 56 –– Blackberry Sharp Nights 58

BRIEFS 14 - 17

Stakeholder Engagement

MARKET PULSE –– Want to hire a stand-up comedian? You might want to read this first! 60

IN FOCUS –– Pushkar International Balloon Festival 2014 18 –– "Our focus is always on enhancing the experience so that people talk about it long after the programme is over." CHANDAN DANG SINGH, Chief Marketing Officer, Tupperware India 22 –– South Carolina Could Be The Next Shore To Visit For MICE Travelers In India 24

ALSO FEATURED

MARKET PULSE

PHOTO FEATURE –– Bacardi Triangle successfully concludes during Halloween in the the Bermuda Region 62 –– Hardwell, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Axwell & Ingrosso come down for Sunburn Arena 64

MARKET PULSE

Entertainment

BRIEFS 28 - 29

Sponsorship Marketing

IN FOCUS

–– Blenders Pride Fashion Tour evolves ‘fashion’ to ‘style’ in its 10th edition 68

MARKET PULSE –– "In the case of Harley Davidson, you’re not buying into a product, you’re buying into a lifestyle." PALLAVI SINGH, Director, Marketing, Harley Davidson India 78

Sports Marketing IN FOCUS –– Volini @ Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 36

PHOTO FEATURE

BRIEFS 38 - 39

–– Submerge and UKTI’s Music Conference ‘THE EXCHANGE’ puts the Spotlight on The Indian Music Industry 40

COVER STORY

–– Brands angle for laughter and masti on Children's Day 74

BRIEFS 32 - 33

IN FOCUS

Brand Activation

ALSO FEATURED

–– Bacardi NH7 Weekender features 100 artists across 6 stages 30

Conventions & Exhibitions

BRIEFS 66 - 67

–– Grey Goose and Vogue India celebrate the spirit of Fly Beyond with a star-studded awards night 82

BRIEFS 84 - 85

Glimpses

ALSO FEATURED –– Books Rule! The season with a host of Literary Fests 44

BRIEFS 48 - 49

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INDUSTRY WATCH | IN FOCUS

N A PAN-INDIA GALVANIZING EFFORT OF THE KIND never seen before, Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), the Film and Television Producers Guild and the global media conglomerate Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEE) held a fund-raiser campaign, ‘Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir’ to raise funds and awareness for flood-stricken Kashmir. The relief campaign kicked off on Gandhi Jayanti and Zee’s 22nd Anniversary – October 2, with a message from youth icon Ranbir Kapoor calling on the nation to join hands and raise hope for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The message was released along with a thematic music piece composed by Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj and sung by Sukhwinder Singh. This was followed by a concert on October 18.

IN FOCUS

Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir

EEMA, ZEE and Film and Television Producers Guild galvanize efforts for Kashmir

The fundraiser roped in the who’s who of the film industry including Aamir Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Farhan Akhtar, Ranbir Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Gulzar, Ayushman Khurrana, Daler Mehndi, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Sukhwinder Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj, Pritam, Shantanu Moitra, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Dr L Subramanium, Anupam Kher, Imtiaz Ali, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mukesh Bhatt, Swanand Kirkire, Zaheer Khan, Boney and Sridevi Kapoor and many more.

Simultaneous Events across 4 cities The campaign’s highpoint was the creation of simultaneous live events on ground across four cities on October 18 with the main event at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi and others held in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

A fundraiser, ‘Hum Hain… Umeede-Kashmir’ was simultaneously held across four cities, roping in Bollywood and regional film fraternities to participate. By R Vasundara

“It was a herculean effort. We had about 30 events companies and 100 vendor companies involved in it. In all, over 3000 people worked on the project over 40 days time. ” SABBAS JOSEPH President, Event and Entertainment Management Association

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INDUSTRY WATCH | IN FOCUS

Ravi Kishan performing on the stage for Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir

Speaking about the effort and logistics that went into putting this fundraiser together, Sabbas Joseph, President, EEMA said, “It was a herculean effort. We had about 30 events companies involved in it. And with the on-ground work, ticketing, publicity campaign and other coordination involved, about 3000 people were working on the project as a whole. There were about 100 vendor companies involved too.” From start to finish, the entire event took about 40 days to put in place. The event agencies involved included veteran filmdom specialists like Showtime, Showworks, Fountainhead, ESP and Rashi Entertainment, among others. The event was heavily centered on LED with live films from the tragedy site and videos that showcased the beauty and majesty of Kashmir. “We kept the décor very simplistic,” added Joseph. “The idea was set it up with a view to live telecasting. Actress Aditi Rao Hydari performs at the Hum Hain....Umeed-e-Kashmir concert

The films also demonstrated to the audience what the situation on-ground is, what has been done and what still needs to be done. It showcased the need for rehabilitation, building of hospitals and schools. It also showed the audience what they could go, whether it be donating money, blankets or other supplies.”

Celebrity-quotient to enhance awareness Some of the films had narratives by stars including Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who urged the public to donate to key NGOs. There was much inspirational content centered on the theme of the event, Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir. This included the theme song composed by Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj and sung by Sukhwinder Singh, another by Shantanu Moitra and sung by Shaan, Mohit Chauhan. There was a special rendition of Jugnu by Amitabh Bachchan which was penned by his father, Harivanshrai Bachchan. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son, Rahul Sharma performed on the santoor.

Singer Daler Mehndi croons on-stage for the cause of Kashmir

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INDUSTRY WATCH | IN FOCUS

Anupam Kher's chat with Sameer Kochchar

“ZEE aims at offering a dual support to this initiative. Firstly, through ad revenues generated from the broadcast and secondly by offering a nationwide reach to the event.” PUNIT GOENKA MD & CEO, Zee

And as a tribute to the army, actor Ravi Kishan did a special performance that re-created the entire scene in Kashmir, applauding the army’s role in aiding them.

Amir Khan on Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir charity event

Farhan Akhtar perfroming on stage for Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir

“In all we had about 50 stars roped in across Bollywood and from the south,” said Joseph. “About 1000 people turned up for the show in Delhi and about 1500-2000 in Chennai and Hyderabad. Mumbai, as the studio audience, had a slightly limited number. But the proceeds for the event turned out to be greater than expected. We were anticipating about Rs. 4-5 crores, but it has exceeded Rs. 7 crore, primarily through sponsorships.” Studios were also set up in both New Delhi and Mumbai where celebrities sent across poignant messages, performances and showcase footage films that bring alive the devastation and relief work undertaken in an effort to strengthen the appeal. A collection of celebrity memorabilia went on auction. All money generated through the fund-raiser, through sale of tickets, donations, sponsorships, commercial time, auctions, etc. go to the charity United Way. Booking for tickets was done via Bookmyshow.com

38 channel simul-cast to reach the masses Zee TV’s 10 News channels came together to connect the multiple events that were held simultaneously across the country. A total of 38 Zee channels simul-casted this initiative on October 26. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee said “As a nation, we have always treasured Kashmir the most, our precious crown that it has always been. In such a calamity, it is nothing less than 8

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INDUSTRY WATCH | IN FOCUS

“The Indian entertainment industry has shared a wonderful symbiotic relationship with the land of Kashmir and the time has come to repay the generosity and hospitality of Kashmiris in their time of strife”

Harshdeep Kaur performing for Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir in Delhi

MUKESH BHATT President of the Film & TV Producers Guild

a moral responsibility of every citizen and corporate in India to step forward and extend the best possible support towards the relief. As a global media company, with a wide bouquet of multiple channels across the nation, and a strong connect with over 730 million viewers, ZEE aims at offering a dual support to this initiative. Firstly, through the advertisement revenues generated from the broadcast, which would be entirely donated to the relief work, and secondly by offering a nationwide reach to the event.” Mukesh Bhatt, President of the Film & TV Producers Guild, said, “The Indian entertainment industry has shared a wonderful symbiotic relationship with the land of Kashmir over the years and the time has come to repay the generosity and hospitality of Kashmiris in their time of strife. Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir will not only assemble industry forces on a common platform of compassion and nobility but more significantly appeal to the consciousness of the vast multitude of Indians to generously donate funds in our endeavour to provide some succor to the survivors in Kashmir."

Parineeti Chopra perfroming on stage for Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir

Vivek Oberoi chatting with Sameer Kochchar for Hum Hain... Umeed-e-Kashmir charity

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INDUSTRY WATCH | MARKET PULSE

“ We will create presence in India through partnerships.” — MIKE RUSBRIDGE

ITH OVER 500 EVENTS IN 40 countries, Reed exhibitions is said to have brought together over six million active event participants from around the world in its business last year (2013). The company set up shop in India close to 10 years ago. “We hadn’t been particularly successful in India when we entered 10 years ago,” explained, Mike Rusbridge, Chairman & CEO, Reed Exhibitions. Reed exhibitions never went away but revaluated their strategy on the best way to operate in India. Reed secured four partnerships in India in the last three years, with the latest being in September 2014 with Comic Con India, a unique comic industry themed event. In this exclusive interview with Aanchal Dhawan, ExM magazine, Mike Rusbridge, Chairman & CEO, Reed Exhibitions and Dan Londero, Regional President, Turkey, India & Middle East explain Reed Exhibitions’ future strategy in India. What attracted Reed Exhibitions to India?

MIKE RUSBRIDGE Chairman & CEO, Reed Exhibitions

Mike: Owing to its sizeable economy, high growth, significant population, growing wealth, a democracy and legal system that is well defined and an extremely fragmented exhibition industry, India was the perfect market for us to venture in. In

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INDUSTRY WATCH | MARKET PULSE

Ron Marz, American Comic Book Writer, with Fans

today’s day and age, it is tough for any organization to say that they can afford to ignore India.

When exactly did Reed Exhibitions enter the Indian space? What has been the company’s progress since then? Mike: We came here over 10 years ago, however, we hadn’t been particularly successful. We haven’t gone away but instead, we chose to revaluate our operational strategy for the Indian domain and are focusing on creating presence via a series of successful partnerships. We had four partnerships in India currently with the latest being in September 2014 with Comic Con India, a unique comic industry themed event. Earlier this year, Reed partnered with Triune Exhibitors, one of the leading organizers of Industrial exhibitions in India. Last year, Reed also partnered with Services International, a leading organizer of fire and safety related events in India. The first partnership of Reed in India dates back to 2012, with Manch Communications, a leading organizer of warehousing and logistics related events in India. The whole idea is to get local teams close to local markets onboard as they are familiar with the local environment and they have our resources at their disposal. The local teams can adapt and personalize the Reed Exhibitions Tool Kit as per their requirements. Dan: Aso, after the global financial crisis, we downsized our business significantly. So we ended up with very small operations, and when we emerged from that crisis, we decided to reboot the business from 2011 via partnerships.

DAN LONDERO Regional President – Turkey, India and Middle East and Managing Director of International Sales Group, Reed Exhibitions

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INDUSTRY WATCH | MARKET PULSE

A glimpse from the Bangalore Comic Con

How

would you classify the Indian market? Are there any distinguishable traits that come to your mind?

Dan: It’s definitely different compared to other markets. For instance, the manufacturing sector is quite heavily dispersed and made up of many small and medium sized manufacturers and that is quite different from many countries and makes it difficult to run a large exhibition here. The exhibition industry is highly fragmented here. The infrastructure is still developing and hence it is difficult for people to get to large-scale exhibitions leading to a proliferation of small exhibitions. Though there are many large-scale exhibitions being held, the overall percentage of large-scale exhibitions being held is quite small which is an anomaly. Mike: It is a very fragmented market place as there are many organizers here in India. For us, as a partner, that’s an opportunity to acquire. There is a lack of transport and communication links. While there is a promise of exhibition facilities being built in India, at the moment they aren’t there and that is a constraint to growth. India is yet to arrive fully in the exhibitions industry as compared to other South Asian countries that are building state of the art infrastructure.

What is your take on the ‘Think Global but Act Local’ strategy? How would you say you have modified your strategy as per the Indian domain? Mike: We believe in the ‘Think Global but Act Local’ strategy through engaging local partners. At Reed, we have a “Hub & 12

Spoke” strategy. The spokes are the partners, which are local teams close to local markets, feeding into a hub where they are offering a range of services to those partners. The local partners play on their strengths, which are market proximity and know-how. Meanwhile, Reed supplies financial help, administration, technical know-how, operations, marketing advice or any service they need. The strategy is to start developing the spokes and the hubs in the investment stage. This strategy, which has been particularly successful in China, has now been adapted in the Indian Markets.There is a common global strategy for Reed, which is adapted to every country. Having said that the local adaptation is a must. Reed reinstates the importance of maintaining its global standards, professionalism, highly niche shows, irrespective of the kind of markets it caters to.

What industries and sectors are you looking at in India currently? Mike: At the moment, the industry sectors targeted are those the Government of India is highlighting as its strategic priorities - for example, transport, infrastructure, and energy. There is a huge urbanization going on which is creating a whole new demand. There is a significant wealthy middle class and hence we feel our partnership with Comic Con India would prove to be very successful. We are looking to bring in brands that have been successful in one part of the world and bring them to India and there are active discussions with a lot of industries going on at various stages. There are a couple of filters we will use to identify which sectors are the most attractive in India.

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INDUSTRY WATCH | MARKET PULSE Dan: We are in discussion with a number of different partners at different stages in a number of different industries and we will see what happens.

Can you elaborate on the phrase “geo-cloning” with respect to Reed Exhibitions? Mike: The notion of cloning means to exactly replicate. If we have a very successful show in one part of the world, it won’t fit exactly in another part of the world without adaptation. The whole idea is to take something that works over here and bring it over there. There is an element of taking inspiration from other markets. There are some very strong brands that will immediately resonate in India; we would start with looking at other successful places in Asia for inspiration.

What attracted you to Comic Con India, as it is the first B2C venture of Reed Exhibitions? What other events are lined up for the Reed Pop division in India? Mike: The owner is a very successful entrepreneur who got his events to such a level where he desired to take them to the next level and that’s where we stepped in. Reed hosts some of the biggest Comic Cons in the world especially in America. We intend to bring the international artistes to Comic-Con India. The intention is to develop stronger and more vibrant ComicCons in India as a result of the connections we have with other Comic Cons in the world. Our focus, at the moment, is on building our shows and making them stronger. People in India have diverse interests and not just in pop culture. So, the other things that Reed can be associated with will be decided once we consolidate what we have been doing with Comic Con India.

Power Rangers strike a pose at the Hyderabad Comic Con

Can we expect to see international content in the Indian Comic Cons from next year?

appreciate and recognize the wealth generating potential of the exhibition industry in the Indian market.

Mike: The changes will definitely be visible, however, due to our recent partnership, it will take time to get things in place. International artistes don’t make decisions overnight. However, you will most certainly see a difference when you visit it next year. There is already a difference in terms of ticketing strategy and content. We are very optimistic and excited about the potential of the pop industry in India. In seven years, we have built a 16 million dollar business in USA in pop culture. We aim to deliver a unique experience to the Indian market and are committed to doing so.

Where does the future of India stand in the exhibitions industry?

How helpful has the Government of India been in facilitating operations in India? Mike: There is a growing awareness in the government; however, the Government of India is yet to fully appreciate the wealth generating capacity of the exhibition industry in India. Exhibitions bring wealth, commerce and trade to a nation. That isn’t fully appreciated in India yet and when it is, it will help facilitate the exchange in India. Building infrastructure for exhibitions isn’t enough; we need transport links to connect with it, which is a responsibility of the government. The Indian government is yet to join up those dots. We’re working with the appropriate associations and bodies in the Indian exhibition industry and we believe the government will pay attention to a representation from the Indian exhibition industry, which in our case are our local partners. As an industry, it is essential for us to engage in dialogue with the government so that they

Dan: We hope for a couple of world class venues in the next five years or at least refurbished venues particularly in the metropolitan cities adding a lot of high quality capacity into those cities.We also anticipate higher growth of shows and higher international content. The percentage of international companies participating here is quite low. We anticipate more international standard events happening, accelerated growth and a number of shows diverging off the path of current trajectory and establishing themselves as national events that will be facilitated by improved infrastructure and transport links. Mike: We hope for consolidation in this highly fragmented industry. We hope standards will increase as the market begins to pick up. Why shouldn’t India, given its standing in the world as a leading economy, have regionally significant events?

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INDUSTRY WATCH | DESTINATIONS | BRIEFS

VICHAYA SOONTHORNSARATOON Director - Meetings, Incentives & Conventions Thailand Convention & Exhibiton Bureau

recreational and adventurous attractions in Bangkok, Phuket and Khao Lak, a destination noted for beach setting and lying on the mainland 90 kilometres north of Phuket.

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau organizes Connections Plus 2014

n Oct. 6, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) concluded Connections Plus 2014 ‘MICE on the Isles’, an annual mega familiarization program for corporate executives from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, USA and Vietnam. The trip was organized in collaboration with Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways consisting of 50 overseas delegates.

During the program, the delegates visited and inspected a number of luxury hotel venues, their facilities, other

It was at Khao Lak where one key highlight of the program was featured for the delegates to experience a memorable touch of nature. TCEB opened a window of CSR opportunity for overseas delegates to release hatchlings of Green Turtle to their natural habitat in the Andaman Sea of southern Thailand. It is an effort to save the turtles, the existence of which is an indicator of the ecological integrity of the sea. The Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Center of Phang-nga province is open for groups to join the activity that will help enrich the ecology of the Andaman Sea. Vichaya Soonthornsaratoon, Director - Meetings, Incentives & Conventions, TCEB, said: “With the concluding of ‘Connections Plus’ 2014 program, TCEB has gained a great opportunity and networking platform to showcase Thailand as a MICE destination for corporate planners worldwide. We also encouraged CSR activities for a green initiative in order to help maintain the ecology of the Andaman Sea.”

LUBAINA SHEERAZI India Representative - Ministry of Tourism Oman

man Tourism recently conducted the ‘Discover Oman' program for Indian agents. As part of the program, Oman conducted its largest familiarization yet and hosted 60 Indian travel agents and tour operators from 14th September - 20th September. The agents selected for this program travelled on Oman Air from different Indian cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad. The hosted group travelled to Muscat, Nizwa, Sharqiyah Sands, Sur and Ras Al Jinz to discover the culture, landscape, monuments and cuisine of Oman. The carefully planned six-day itinerary was intended to arm travel agents with all the information and experiences required to be a true Oman specialist and promote the destination effectively to leisure and MICE groups. The travel agents did site inspections at various properties including Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Hormuz Grand Hotel, Al Bustan Palace - A Ritz Carlton Hotel, Sahab Hotel, The Jungle Restaurant and others. They also went to

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Oman Tourism conducts ‘Discover Oman’ Program for Indian agents On the Rocks lounge and dolphin watching with Sidab Tours. The agents attended a B2B session and got an opportunity to network with a wide selection of travel & tourism representatives in Oman, from hotels, attractions and DMCs. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said: "A thorough knowledge of Oman and all it has to offer are of fundamental importance in promoting the destination to the appropriate tourists/clients; hence we decided to organize this tour for the travel agents. Through this initiative we wanted to give them a brief understanding about the diversity of the destination."

INDUSTRY WATCH | VENUES | BRIEFS

OMER KADDOURI President & CEO Rotana

otana stakes its claim on the African hospitality market, with the announcement of its debut project in the commercial capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. The 254-key property will include 191 luxurious hotel rooms and suites and 63 serviced apartments spread across 24 floors.

Rotana to enter East-Africa with 254-key project in Tanzanian capital

The new Rotana property (see representational pic) will be part of the landmark MNF Square in Dar es Salaam - a 65,000 square meters mixed-use project composed of the Five-Star Hotel, Class-A Offices, Retail and Parking Facilities. The project is an intelligent building designed to meet green building standards. The hotel will include six meeting rooms, a ballroom and dedicated business centre.

to operate 100 hotels by 2020. Tanzania has tremendous potential and we are anticipating an excellent response for our debut project in the country.”

Omer Kaddouri, President & CEO, Rotana, said: “We are proud to have been chosen to manage this new spectacular 5-star property and our team is very excited about the opportunity to be in Tanzania. We are confident that we will introduce a new dimension of hospitality in the country. The property in Tanzania falls in line with our strategic goal

Adding further, Kaddouri said: “Dar es Salaam is a business hub and a key gateway to Tanzania’s safari destinations and the hotel will cater to both, resident and visiting business guests as well as tourists. The property will expand the available supply of luxury hotel rooms in the Tanzanian capital and we expect it to be very well received within the local hospitality market.”

Taj Mahal Palace wins ‘Best Overseas Business Hotel’

he Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai received a prestigious award at the 17th UK Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2014 held in London on Sept. 1. The group's flagship hotel won the ‘Best Overseas Business Hotel' award, making it the only hotel from India to receive this honour. The hotel was also voted 29th in the magazine's World's Top 100 list while Taj Falaknuma Palace (Hyderabad) ranked 40th. The Hyderabad hotel also took fifth place in the ‘Asia & India Hotels‘ category.

For over a century, the hotel has been bound with the city's history, hosting Maharajas, dignitaries and eminent personalities from across the globe. With spectacular views of the Arabian Sea, the Gateway of India and the Mumbai Harbour, the 560-room and suite hotel reflects the bygone age of luxury and grandeur whilst offering its guests all modern conveniences. The hotel is currently featuring in a four-part UK documentary series on BBC 2 called Hotel India, which goes behind the scenes of this iconic hotel. Considered a prestigious recognition in the travel industry, the UK Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards are regarded as a coveted seal of approval for hotels, spas, tour operators, airlines, cruise lines and destinations. Chosen by the magazine's readers, these awards reflect the views of consumers on the best the travel world has to offer. The full listings will appear in the October issue of the British magazine. DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

INDUSTRY WATCH | DEVELOPMENTS | BRIEFS

Papa CJ bags the award for Asia’s Best Stand-up Comedian

apa CJ received the award for ‘Asia’s Best Stand-up Comedian’ at the 2nd Top Asian Corporate Ball 2014 in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 21. He is the first Indian to ever receive this honor. The ball celebrates the achievements of towering personalities, corporations and even countries in Asia and was done in association with Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia and Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia. This award marks the remarkable journey of Papa CJ as he completed 10 years as a professional stand-up comedian just a few weeks ago. On his 10th anniversary, he performed in

front of 9000 people in the full house Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur. This was as a part of Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander’s ‘To Know Malaysia is to Laugh Malaysia’ initiative, which looked at uniting Malaysians in laughter at the end of what has been a difficult year for the country. Papa CJ’s focus on spreading happiness has led him to do free shows in hospitals across the world. He founded a charity, One Child, that educates underprivileged children in India. Papa CJ has done over 2000 shows in countries including USA, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia, France, Indonesia, Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives, Malta and Ireland. He started his comedy career in London in 2004 and kicked off the English language comedy circuit in India with his open mic nights in Delhi in mid-2009. He has since performed at every kind of private and corporate event imaginable and at venues including planes, trains and automobiles. He has even performed at gunpoint in South Africa.

astering World, a UK based online mastering network, has launched Audio-Pro in India. It is a new online website for sound engineers which comes equipped with a custom website builder, social media integration, file transfer tools, invoicing, online payments, news and blogging tools and lots of other features. Mastering World has further partnered with Indian webstore Sudeep Audio for allowing easy access and response time for Audio-Pro. The partnership is aimed at a better reach and easy processing for the Indian customer base. This will help amplify Mastering World’s reach and add on to their current set of offerings. Audio-Pro lets freelance music professionals run their whole business from one website on any device, freeing up their time to make more music. The official launch event of Audio-Pro at The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Oct. 29 was hosted in conjunction with the reception of the First Minister of Wales, who also introduced the first look of the website. Singer-composer Kailash Kher, Vijay Benegal of OdBle, Ashish Manchanda of Flying Carpet

UK-based Mastering World launches Audio Pro for sound engineers Productions, Ashish Saksena of Purple Haze Studios and composer Gulraj Singh were present, extending their support to this new venture. The launch party at Indian Education Society in Mumbai on Nov. 1 saw the presence of some of the top honchos of the industry including composer Lesle Lewis, music producer Tarun Shahani, singer Vasuda Sharma, Atul Churamani (MD, Turnkey Music & Publishing) and others. The launch started off with a traditional lamp lighting ceremony and then was inaugurated by veteran music arranger Kersi Lord. DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | IN FOCUS

S OCTOBER DREW TO AN END, THE CLEAR cloudless skies of Pushkar came to life as several colourful hot air balloons lifted off in unison. This was the beginning of the fifth edition of the Pushkar International Balloon festival, a three day annual extravaganza, beginning from October 31. The festival, which has won several accolades at the EEMAX and WOW awards, was launched in 2010 by E-Factor and Skywaltz with support from the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan. What makes this world-class balloon festival unique from the international ones is its positioning – by virtue of it being located within the Pushkar Camel Fair. The festival thus, successfully amalgamates culture, heritage, vibrancy, adventure and lifestyle - all packaged in an experience in the realms of the Thar desert. The fest invites more than a dozen hot air balloons from Americas, Europe and Asia to splash their colours in the skies of Pushkar.

IN FOCUS

Pushkar Balloon Festival

PUSHKAR INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FESTIVAL 2014

Designed as an experiential haven, the festival features an engagingly exhaustive itinerary filled with vibrant activities at the luxurious camp made especially for the festival guests. Attendees can experience a Brahma temple visit, sunrise/ evening balloon ascents, night concert, royal Rajasthani sit-down dinner, hare and hound race balloon race, temple dance, camel race, sunset rides on camel carts, etc. The various folk dances include kalbelia, fire and bali among others. The sprawling annual festivities of the 100 year old Pushkar Fair, mirrors the vibrancy of Rajasthan. It is an epic scale event that is said to attract over 8,00,000 tourists, 80,000 camels/ cattle and more than 60,000 expats from different parts of

extends as platform for MICE The festival has grown today from a simple balloon festival to a well designed package for corporate MICE trips. By R Vasundara

“The fest provides a well appointed camping experience in the realms of a cultural extravaganza. Secluded yet immersed, providing privacy for workshops/group discussions and at the same time at a stone's throw distance from the Pushkar Mela” SAMIT GARG Founder and CEO, E-Factor Entertainment and Skywaltz

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | IN FOCUS

Bird's eye view of the countryside from atop a hot air balloon

world. The fair is a vibrant melee of activities like dances and folk festivities, food fairs, spiritual sprees and craft bazaars. The balloon festival began with the festival launch at the stadium on the evening of October 31 followed by a Rajasthani folk entertainment segment as well as a campfire on the balloon terrace. Dinner was served at the Skywaltz Lounge. Day two saw guests assemble for their balloon flight early in the morning and the first of the balloons took off at sunrise. Breakfast was a picnic out amidst the dunes followed by a visit to the Brahma Temple. Guests headed off for some dune bashing with ATVs post lunch and returned for an evening ascent of balloons and a campfire session by singer turned composer Sashi Suman ( of Mary Kom fame), later that night. The real deal however, began on day three, when the guests assembled for the Hares & Hounds race, where balloons contested in teams to reach a designated point in the shortest span of time. After breakfast, guests were taken to the world famous Pushkar mela, for an experience of temple dance, folklore, handicrafts etc. More dune bashing followed in the afternoon and the day ended with Sashi Suman Unplugged over campfire.

Team MudraMax prepares for their hot air balloon ascent

As a part of their brand activation, some companies had bought advertising rights on the balloons. So, many of the balloons lifting off could be spotted sporting brand names including Lafarge, Philips, Turkish Airlines, Royal Challengers and Max Life Insurance. “There are many foreign tourists who come for this festival, thus giving brands global visibility,” said Samit Garg, Founder and CEO, E-Factor Entertainment and Skywaltz. “Moreover, even the Indians attending the festival fall very much within their target groups.” Selfie at a thousand feet above ground

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The fest had a lot of things in store for corporates as well. Explaining how the fest engages corporate for an off-site, Samit Garg said,"The fest provides a well appointed camping experience in the realms of a cultural extravaganza. Secluded yet immersed, providing privacy for workshops/group discussions and at the same time at a stone's throw distance – it interacts with you on a different high."

The balloon festival site was in proximity to the centuries old Pushkar cattle fair

Commenting on team activities, Garg said, "There are enough of unique team building opportunities that could be worked upon and customized to suit the needs of a business house. Camel Cart Racing, Camel Dressing, team-based dune bashing with ATVs, Hare & Hound Race using Hot Air Balloons are just a few ideas. While the canvas is a flexible playground to tailor-make the packaging of the offsite, it creates a memorable cultural amalgamation of the modern day enterprise ethos and engagement with traditional practices." Adding further about the positioning, Garg said, "The best part of the positioning is that small/medium/large tented colonies could be erected to suit the requirements on a case to case basis, thereby making it possible to brand the colonisation and adding the USP of having built your own tented hotel campus." In all over 60 tents were set up and overall, the festival drew over 80 visitors. The festival had four distinct incremental tariff tiers, where two tiers were designed for individuals/couples whilst the other two were targeted towards corporate hospitality and branding. The corporate packages offer branded baskets, balloons and even vehicles. Taking advantage of this facility, DDB Mudra Max opted to use the festival as a venue for their offsite executives trip, Maxco. “DDB Mudra did an internal team workshop with a team of 10 people. And we made special arrangements for the 2 hour workshop they had daily,” added Garg.

Evening entertainment at the Pushkar Balloon Festival

Speaking about the offsite trip, Mandeep Malhotra, President, DDB MudraMax said,” Maxco is an annual meet that we have with the senior most members, the top 12. Since we are do design MICE trips for others, I thought why not experience this one (Pushkar Balloon festival) ourselves first. Hence, I chose the balloon festival. I also wanted it to be an unforgettable experience. This venue was something different -rustic, yet upscale.“ The team landed in the afternoon of the first day at the Pushkar camp site where they had a meet and greet. “We had a good three hours of brainstorming session later that evening, threshing out our targets for the year 2015,” he added. “It was a very romantic setting, out in the open, right under the evening sky.” The next day, the group did the scheduled hot air balloon ride in the morning, dune bashing in the afternoon, camel rides, music session, a visit to the mela and the hot air balloon race the next morning. The team checked out that morning.

“Since we are do design MICE trips for others, I thought why not experience this one (Pushkar Balloon festival) ourselves first ”

“It was very rejuvenating,” said Malhotra. “Everybody appreciated the local talent and the music. “

MANDEEP MALHOTRA President, DDB MudraMax

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Whether it be taking the staff out for a movie, awarding cash bonuses or planning an overseas trip for your distributors, incentives, have always been central to your operational strategy. How important do you think these are for Tupperware? We are a closely knit organization and focus on forging valuable relationships with our sales force and distributors. Hence, almost every activity of ours is linked to a challenge, a contest, a level, an achievement and the associated rewards, incentives and recognitions. Our range of incentives includes contests, rewards, recognition, memberships, incentive trips, celebration events, newsletters and so on. We believe this is central to our business.bookings. I also hunted for a travel agent myself in case we can’t get our ticketing partner to make the reservations. Sometimes, we visit the destination in advance and make all the bookings in person.

“Our focus is always on enhancing the experience so that people talk about it long after the programme is over” CHANDAN DANG SINGH Chief Marketing Officer, Tupperware India

N AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AANCHAL Dhawan of ExM Magazine, Chandan Dang Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Tupperware India, talks about how Tupperware is engaging interactively with its target audience, forging strong ties with its existing network of employees and how incentives are central to the functioning of the organisation.

Earlier, Tupperware relied heavily on ‘word-ofmouth’. However, the advent of social media has spared no one including Tupperware. How have you modified your traditional marketing model in today's world from the perspective of customer engagement? Yes, we now use digital and social media to connect and engage with our sales force, distributors and consumers. It gives us a wider reach and allows us to engage interactively with our prospective customers. It also provides us a way to be creative in the way we maintain and expand our reach.

What are the prominent events that Tupperware hosts for its distributors and dealers? We have finalized Paris as the destination for next year. Our We have a round-the-year calendar of events that help us reward and recognize, and celebrate successes at the same time. We run these events every quarter centered round a theme depending on the occasion. These events cover different categories of our sales force and distributors. In the last quarter of every year, our Annual Distributor Conference is a prominent event to look out for.

What is the kind of customer engagement strategies that you deploy to work upon relationship building? We mostly connect with our consumers through on-ground activities which we conduct in malls, offices, colleges, and other areas where our target groups are found. We engage them with a range of interesting games, contests and other activities that are in sync with our brand image and what we represent. Of course, we connect with them above the line as well through the television, dailies, magazines, radio, outdoor and other media. In today's day and age, we are using digital media increasingly as a medium of connecting and engaging with our prospective customers. We also believe in building long lasting relationships with our sales force and we do that through continuous engagement activities like challenges, contests, rewards, recognition, memberships, incentive trips, celebration events, newsletters and so on.

Glimpses from various Tupperware activations

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | MARKET PULSE

Glimpses from various Tupperware activations

What factors make you zero in on a particular destination to take your dealers and distributors for an incentive trip? When does the planning for your next overseas trip typically begin? We regularly run challenges or contests with trips as the rewards. Our dealers and distributors have enjoyed extensive travel to a number of locations in India and around the world. While zeroing in on a location, the focus is to shortlist exciting and exotic destinations that provide a wow factor. Since there are several trips that we offer as a result of our ongoing activities, the planning involved in these trips also becomes a continuous activity. The planning typically starts several months in advance before the actual activity takes place.

What are the challenges that Tupperware, being a multi-level marketing company, faces in incentivising its stakeholders? How do you attempt to innovate in your MICE and other motivational programmes?

Glimpses from various Tupperware activations

At Tupperware, our attempt has always been to keep our incentives exciting and innovative. The idea is to make every contest stretch boundaries, yet be realistic. But at the same time, the rewards have to be aspirational and inspiring to everybody. We also believe in keeping it simple and are aware that the way our message is communicated makes a lot of difference. Finally during the actual trip or programme, we focus on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;how to enhance the experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; so that the impact lingers on and people talk about it long after the programme is over.

Glimpses from various Tupperware activations

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | MARKET PULSE

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA Could Be The Next Shore To Visit For MICE Travelers In India… By Aanchal Dhawan

HE RECENTLY CONCLUDED BRAND USA EVENT, provided an interesting insight into the American state of South Carolina. Nikki Haley, Governor, State of South Carolina, United States of America and Duane Parrish, Director for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT) brought to light key features that make the state a MICE haven. "Indians would feel at home in South Carolina, yet the whole experience would be very different" says Nikki Haley. Here are 10 reasons why South Carolina is an upcoming MICE Destination:

1. Stunning, Diverse Locales

From the coastal cities of Myrtle Beach and the historically rich Charleston to the midlands of Columbia and finally the mountains of Greenville, South Carolina banks on its diverse geography, thus offering the visitor an array of options to choose from. Each travel destination promises to offer a signature visitor experience steeped in Southern charm and hospitality. Charleston, one of the coastal destinations of South Carolina, has been ranked by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler as America's Best Destination for four consecutive years. With a history spanning back to the settlement of North America and unparalleled hospitality, Charleston also claims to be America's friendliest city. Myrtle Beach, another bustling destination offers pristine beaches and has also been named as the "World's Best beach" by Yahoo Travel. For those who love the mountains, Greenville, located at the base of the Blue Ridge 24

Mountains, is a major metropolitan business hub that features a bustling downtown area. Columbia, the state's capital city, is home to numerous historic, cultural and educational attractions and plenty of recreational activities.

2. Ease In Connectivity

Charleston Airport, is South Carolina's busiest airport, flying nonstop to 18 airports and 14 cities in the United States. Another major airport is the Columbia Metropolitan Airport which is the main commercial airport for Columbia and the Midlands region of South Carolina. The airport is five miles southwest of Columbia, in Lexington County. Round Trip flights from New York City to Charleston can cost as little as 200 dollars.

3. Accommodation Accommodation Options in South Carolina are plenty. Charleston offers numerous five-star rooms, and hotels in all categories. There are also numerous options for low budget attendees as well as for students. Southern hospitality and dedication to superior quality and service ensures a wonderful and memorable experience. North Myrtle Beach's accommodations include everything from rustic beach cottages and mom-and-pop motels to luxury resorts. Columbia, the capital city, also offers numerous hotels and bed and breakfast places for travelers.

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | MARKET PULSE

Historic city of Charleston

South Carolina. Indian food is also popular throughout South Carolina with restaurants scattered in Greenville and Columbia. South Carolina’s Lowcountry and coastal towns also host local seafood festivals throughout the spring, summer and fall. From iconic hot spots like Hilton Head Island and Charleston to lesser-known hidden gems like Yemassee, Port Royal and Little River, the festival offerings range from fresh-caught shrimp and classic Lowcountry boil to lobster rolls, blue crab and oysters.

Nikki Haley addressing the gathering

4. Culinary Offering

The city of Charleston is famous for its culinary offerings, with new restaurants opening every week. From Italian to Sea food to Asian fare, Charleston is known for its diverse food options. Charleston boasts of a growing reputation as a gourmet hotspot, where slow-cooked, traditional Southern food is experiencing a revival. The locals mainly eat pork which is the definitive ingredient of southern cooking. The Myrtle Beach area is known for its fresh local seafood and Lowcountry ingredients like Carolina rice, stone-ground grits and blue crab. There are numerous restaurants which dot the culinary landscape of

5. World Class Conference Facilities Charleston offers various venues to host conferences and meetings. Just 21 miles from the cobblestone streets of historic downtown Charleston, Kiawah Island Golf Resort provides an unforgettable coastal setting for meetings, conferences and special events. Blessed with wide stretches of pristine beach and ancient moss-draped oaks, this natural setting—combined with 35,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space allows one to focus on important strategies, developing business relationships or rewarding employees for exceptional performance. The Charleston Area Convention Center Campus is the perfect setting for high-energy tradeshows, large conventions and more intimate meetings and events. It offers 150,000 Sq Ft of Meeting and Exhibit Space, and 800+ Hotel Rooms. It is also located just minutes from the Charleston International Airport and a short shuttle ride to the Historic District. Another prominent venue would be the Columbia Conference Center in the city of Columbia which is a state-of-the art facility boasting of 40,000 square feet to host meetings and conferences.

South Carolina also offers a serene and scenic environment for MICE groups. The South Carolina state parks provide unique and natural settings for meetings, retreats and team building sessions. Affordable South Carolina State Park meeting facilities range from cozy meeting rooms to conference centers that are ideal for groups of 20 to 272. Scenic settings and access to a DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | MARKET PULSE

The East Beach Conference Center, Kiawah Island Golf Resort

is known as one of North America’s most architecturally significant destinations, with its unique cobblestone roads, the quaint houses and the churches that dominate the city skyline. Flickering copper gas carriage lanterns, ornate hand-wrought ironwork, and hitching posts used by horse-drawn carriages hint at a bygone era. The Myrtle Beach area is also home to the Brookgreen Gardens, the stunning Atalaya Castle and the Horry County Museum.

8. Host To Major Conventions And Shows

South Carolina is no stranger when it comes to hosting major trade shows and conventions. The South Carolina’s historic city of Charleston was also the setting for the 6th annual IAGTO North America Golf Tourism Convention in 2014. It has also hosted Travel South USA and is also set to host the SISO CEO Summit in 2015.

9. Ease Of Entry For Business Groups Duane Parrish presenting a key note at the event

wide variety of outdoor activities including golf, fishing, water sports, and hiking make South Carolina State Parks the perfect choice for group gatherings and team building experiences.

6. Adventure Destination

"We are keen on promoting South Carolina as an adventure destination" says Duane Parrish. South Carolina, with its stunning natural resources is home to many adventure activities like kayaking, white water rafting, stock car racing, nature hikes, fishing, horse-back riding to name a few. For water sport lovers, Lake Murray, a 50,000-acre playground is less than 15 minutes from the heart of the city of Columbia.

7. Rich History And Culture

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, and the first shots of the Civil War were fired soon after, in April 1861, at Fort Sumter in the Charleston Harbor. South Carolina has a rich history, with the most battles and skirmishes fought during the Revolutionary War. Charleston 26

"We truly believe time is money and South Carolina is known for its speed, comfort and efficiency" says Nikki Haley. The authorities are focused on easing the entrance of corporate MICE groups to the country through a speedy visa process. Obtaining visas for business travelers isn't an ordeal anymore with visa authorities taking as little as two weeks to issue 10 year visas to the United States of America. "Our approach has always been on promotional tourism combined with commerce" says Nikki Haley.

10. Entertainment And Nightlife

Be it the broadway at Myrtle Beach or the long list of bars in Charleston, South Carolina knows how to have fun. The Grand Strand at Myrtle Beach boasts of a variety of award-winning music, dance, comedy, dinner shows and celebrity concerts. North Myrtle Beach is famous for the "shag", a dance that originated there and continues to thrive in local dance clubs and at annual shag reunions. The market area district in Charleston has the highest concentration of nightlife and is defined by the North and South Market Street along with East Bay Street. It has many great places to unwind after dinner and they are all within walking distance of each other.

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | BRIEFS

ROHAN SALVI Vice President - Business Development and Client Servicing (Events) Fountainhead Entertainment

artists coordination, show-flow, etc.

UltraTech felicitates more than a thousand dealers in Kolkata

ltraTech recently held its two-day dealer felicitation programme for two regions, Odisha and Chattisgarh, at Mayfair Banquets in Kolkata. Fountainhead Entertainment (FH), which executed last year's meet for UltraTech, was appointed to execute this one for 1000 attendees. The agency was required to design an experience that made the dealers feel valued, felicitating and appreciating their hard work over the past year. FE also had to provide engaging entertainment to create a feel-good factor. Its role included managing the setup, theme, design, branding, collaterals,

The event saw two dance performances by Tanushree Shankar, two dance performances by Avijit & Tinku and a singing performance by Harshi as well, who was accompanied by six dancers. Further were a couple of magic/mind-reading acts by Sixth Sense Nonsense and a standup act by comedian Vipul Goyal. All these acts were juxtaposed with award distributions and saw a presentation as well. The ‘U Lead' logo, conceptualized and designed by the FE team, was unveiled dramatically along with UltraTech's magazine cover. The same event with the above activities took place the following day, but for the other region. Rohan Salvi, Vice President - Business Development and Client Servicing (Events), Fountainhead Entertainment, said: "With limited space for green rooms, we used the lounge area as a waiting area to avoid congestion backstage. The venue was not acoustic friendly as it was made of glass, hence managing the sound was a task."

DEEKSHA SHARMA ARORA Senior VP & Branch Head – North Fountainhead Entertainment

ountainhead Entertainment (FH) took upon the task of creating the perfect experience for Intex and its partners, when the mobile brand reached its 1000 crore milestone. To celebrate its success and felicitate its partners, The Lalit Golf & Spa Resort Goa was selected to host a threeday event. Keeping in mind the moody monsoons of Goa, a beachgrind style rain dance party was organized to welcome the guests. There was an extensive use of masks, surf boards, drapes lights, bright installations and fun props to set up the right mood for the evening. Several entertaining acts were organized for the guests with the likes of interactive international dance performances and Goa’s very own Wendell Gray. The hallmark of the conference was the inspiring address by Narendra Bansal, Chief Managing Director, Intex, as he shared the company’s vision, quoted the new targets and applauded the achievements of all colleagues to an overwhelmed audience which gave him a standing ovation. The other highlights ranged from team building games, personalization to

DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Intex celebrates its 1000 crore milestone the core and an array of events that were closely lined up to make the guests feel pampered and motivated. Deeksha Sharma Arora, SVP and Branch Head – North, Fountainhead Entertainment said: “Our mandate was to make sure that Intex becomes a priority brand for the distributors after this meet. The delegates should look at the brand as one they could sincerely and for a long-term trust and grow with. I believe the reason we won the project amidst nine other agencies who pitched, was because we were able to commit to their vision 100%! We made every suggestion, every concept to make that vision come alive.”

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | BRIEFS

APEKSHA PRASAD Manager - Client Servicing Encompass

sian Paints held a ‘Jashn’ night for the highest level of achievers in the dealer segment for the Aug-Oct time period in Mumbai. It’s a contest where the dealers falling under this category along with their families are brought in for a fun day where Asian Paints interacts with them.

This time, the plan was to take them to Smaaash in the afternoon for a fun gaming session and to Taj Mahal Palace at night for an entertaining gala dinner. Long-term partner Encompass executed the event, held on Nov. 15 in Mumbai. After a day of being active with all that Smaaash has to offer, it was time for the gala dinner. The gala event saw Amit Syngle (President – Sales, Marketing & Technology, Asian Paints) addressing the audience before the first act for the evening, Drum Jam, entertained the dealers. This was followed by two performances by Funny Boyz, leaving the audience in peals of laughter. It was then time for the first segment of awards, where winners across two categories - Premium Raja and Premium Maharaja were felicitated. Magician Mangesh Desai filled in with his act, before the second segment was

Asian Paints organizes a ‘Jashn’ night for its dealers underway. The finale act was the highlight of the evening where Sunil Grover as Gutthibrought the house down with his comedy. Apeksha Prasad, Manager - Client Servicing, Encompass, said: “The challenge was the fact that the dealers were all from in and around Mumbai and we had to give them an experience that they would have never had in the city. They thoroughly enjoyed both events and there was a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm. It was an honour to be part of this event and the efforts of the team were well received and appreciated by guests and the client alike.”

APAAR BHANDARI Chief Operating Officer Think Events

Blue Star organizes its first edition of AMC Customers Meet 2014 hink Events executed the first edition of the Blue Star AMC Customers Meet at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai recently. Blue Star invited its esteemed customers for the launch of its new range of AMC services and products.

A lively and short entertainment act by quick change artists and illusionists left the guests entranced and spellbound. Post the act, VS Ashok (Senior GM & All India Head - ACRSG) was invited on stage to launch the unique range of value-added service products and enlightened the guests on the details of the services through a visually stimulating and informative flash based presentation. The evening culminated with a visually and aesthetically appealing act by the UV Angels.

The event opened with an address by B. Thiagarajan (Executive Director & President – Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Products Business). He took the guests through the journey of Blue Star over the last few years and also through the range of services and allied products that Blue Star had to offer.

Apaar Bhandari, COO, Think Events said: “The event was designed focussing on the services provided by Blue Star and not letting entertainment take precedence. We not only produced the event but also looked into the presentation style and speaker orientation to deliver a show which was both entertaining and informative.” DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

SPONSORSHIP MARKETING | IN FOCUS

RGANIZED BY BACARDI AND ONLY MUCH Louder (OML), the Bacardi NH7 Weekender concluded its fifth edition last month. It commenced in Kolkata on Nov. 1-2 before going to Bengaluru on Nov. 8-9, then Pune on Nov. 21, 22, 23 and culminating in Delhi on Nov. 29-30. Composer Amit Trivedi and comedy group AIB debuted at the festival. The rest of the lineup included Vishal Dadlani, Ankur & The Ghalat Family, B.R.E.E.D, Dualist Inquiry, EZ Riser, Ox7gen, Madboy/Mink, Monica Dogra, Nucleya, Peking Duk, Sickflip, AlgoRhythm, Indus Creed, Nanok, Pentagram, Shaa’ir + Func, Sky Rabbit, Delhi Sultanate & Begum X, Sandunes, DJ Sa, Foreign Beggars, Reggae Rajahs, Skrat, The Raghu Dixit Project, The Ska Vengers, The Vaccines, etc.

IN FOCUS

Bacardi NH7 Weekender

BACARDI NH7 WEEKENDER features 100 artists across 6 stages The festival concluded four editions across Kolkata, Bengaluru Pune and Delhi By Dharm Patel

Around 100 artists performed across six stages - the Bacardi Arena, the Dewarists Stage, Red Bull Tour Bus, Micromax Stage and MTS Stage. Apart from the music, the fests featured a flea market, a ferriswheel, a Breezer stall (with chuskis, gol-gappas, LEDs, glasses, etc.). There were also three special bars: Untameable Bar, wherein festival goers participated in an obstacle course to win a prize, Bacardi ‘Bar on Tap’ where the concept of how draught beer is served in pubs was carried forward with Bacardi being served on tap and Dewars ‘Bar on Tap’ with whiskey served in barrels, being poured out of taps. Speaking about the property, Manish Seth, Director Marketing & Sales, Bacardi said: “We are thrilled to turn five this year with this truly iconic property. The irrepressible spirit of Bacardi gives it a natural affinity for great music. We believe Bacardi NH7 Weekender embodies this indomitable spirit and unbridled passion as this sentiment is also witnessed across festival-goers in the country. Each year, we’ve strived to take the festival to a larger platform, in terms of scale and experience. We want our fans to go back home with a unique and unforgettable experience.” Commenting further, Vijay Nair, CEO, Only Much Louder said: “Preparing the lineup of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender is one of the most fun creative processes in the run up of the festival. It is also one of the most challenging. Achieving the right balance of exciting international live performers, one-night-only festival sets, acts that people will discover and fall in love with after catching them live at the festival, and not missing any Indian artists is really important to creating the perfect festival experience. This year, I think we’ve managed to strike that balance really well." Responsible for the visuals, design and art installations were Sameer Kulavoor, Shilo Shiv Suleman, Wolves, Adarsh Balak and Ayushman Mitra among others. The partners for the fests included Vh1, Koovs, Godrej Chotukool, Stray Dog and others. Adding further about art, Nair said: “Art and design have been a part of this festival’s soul since the very beginning. We’ve always tried to showcase, alongside the fantastic musical talent, some of the country’s most innovative young visual artists. Fans have loved some of the festival’s unique installations, and design elements like the festival flags and the smiley buntings have grown to be a core part of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender experience."

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SPONSORSHIP MARKETING | IN FOCUS

Comedy group AIB with its live musical performance

“We believe Bacardi NH7 Weekender embodies our brand's indomitable spirit and unbridled passion as this sentiment is also witnessed across festival-goers in the country.” MANISH SETH Director - Marketing & Sales, Bacardi India

Composer Amit Trivedi during his debut at the Weekender

The Pulse & Bloom installation by Shilo Shiv Suleiman

“Art and design have been a part of this festival’s soul since the very beginning. We’ve always tried to showcase, alongside the fantastic musical talent, some of the country’s most innovative young visual artists.” VIJAY NAIR CEO, Only Much Louder

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SPONSORSHIP MARKETING | BRIEFS

SANJAY SHUKLA CEO Percept Sports & Entertainment

Adidas associates with FC Goa, with Virat Kohli on board

ercept Activ planned and executed the press conference for the FC Goa franchise of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) on Sept. 23 at the Palladium Hotel in Mumbai. The objective behind holding this event was to announce the new co-owner of the franchise - cricketer Virat Kohli, Adidas' association with the franchise and also unveil the official FC Goa jersey. Attended by around 150 media professionals from around the country, the setup for the event had to be done keeping in mind the list of prominent names both from the sports industry and the corporate world. The event saw eminent

names like Nita Ambani who is also the Founding Chairperson of Football Sports Development (promoter body of ISL), Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, French footballer Robert Pires, head coach Zico along with team owners VN Dhoot, Mr. Salgaocar and Mr. Dempo. The event was also attended by the Marketing & Sales Director of Adidas - Tushar Goculdas. Showing their playful best during the meet, Virat Kohli and Varun Dhawan shared their love for football with the reporters where they juggled with footballs and were further accompanied by Robert Pires and Zico to show them how it is professionally done. Sanjay Shukla, CEO, Percept Sports & Entertainment said: "With the press meeting for FC Goa we have executed an event of an international calibre. The attendees were both from the International and the Indian sports industry. Keeping in mind such personalities which were attending the conference we had designed the stage according to the norms which are followed internationally. We would love to work with the franchise again in the future."

RAJEEV JAIN Director Rashi Entertainment

ashi Entertainment's IP, the Family Fun Car Rally, returned for its 14th edition in Delhi. This year's event was partnered by title sponsor Skoda Auto, so the rally saw more than 100 vibrant Skoda cars. Supported by Delhi Traffic Police, the other partners for the rally were Fever 104 FM, F Secure, AXL Mobiles, Neo Speak and Glow Show Entertainment. Rashi's patron motor sport event saw the cars decorated on the theme of ‘Drive Safe, Life's Beautiful', exuding energy, youthfulness and enthusiasm. The participants decorated their cars in the most attractive manner to win the ‘Best Decorated Car' and also dressed themselves to contest for the ‘Best Dressed Family'. The rally was flagged off at dusk, traversed the Delhi roads finding the marshals and completing various tasks en route. Participants were given an opportunity to collect lucky scores through randomly picking up points in sealed envelopes, solving puzzles and general knowledge questionnaires from various marshal booths scattered along the 65 km long route. The winner of the rally was decided after adding up the points

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Skoda partners the 14th edition of Family Fun Car Rally picked up by participants from the booths, among other factors. The participant with the maximum number of points would take away the winner's title even if he/she was the last to cross the finish line. Secrecy about the final winner till the last participant crossed the finish line is maintained. The day concluded with felicitations and a few musical performances. Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment said: "When the rally was envisioned 14 years ago, the idea was to create an event for car enthusiasts who wanted to enjoy a day out in the sun with their families and we are incredibly thankful to have generous participants and sponsors onboard for our annual property year after year."

SPONSORSHIP MARKETING | BRIEFS

M. S. RAGHAVAN Chairman & MD IDBI Bank

DBI bank recently associated with the IAF Swimmathon in Mumbai where Indian Air force channel swimming team ‘Delphinus’, successfully completed the extreme endurance Swimmathon, the longest open water swim in Asia. The IAF Swimmathon is an initiative to promote and popularize the sport of open water swim in India. The Swimmathon commenced from the Gateway of India, Mumbai on October 28 at 2.30 pm and culminated at same place on October 30 at 4 pm involving around 50 hours swim clockwise around Mumbai. The swimmathon was extremely challenging as the sea conditions were rough and swim was against current, besides other challenges of marine life like jelly fish and a very high level of water pollution. Six swimmers of team ‘Delphinus’- The Indian Air force Channel swimming team were led by Wing Commander Paramvir Singh. Two independent observers from the Maharashtra State Amateur Aquatic Association were on board an escort boat to observe and ratify the record.

IDBI Bank associates with IAF swimmathon for a record 50 hour swim around Mumbai The team has set records for longest open water swim in Asia, first ever swim around Mumbai in clockwise direction, longest swim ever in Arabian Sea, longest swim ever by any armed forces in the world. M. S. Raghavan, Chairman & MD, IDBI Bank, said: "It’s a pleasure to be associated with the Indian Air Force in its record setting endeavour in adventure sports and promote channel swim in India.”

RAHUL TREHAN Director Spin Off

Lava powers up IIT fests in Delhi and Kanpur

obile handset company Lava International Limited added another feather in its cap by powering the college fests Rendezvous (IIT Delhi) and Antaragni (IIT Kanpur). Spin Off Events & Media Solutions won the mandate to execute the activation after a multi-agency pitch. The sponsorships are a part of Lava’s increased focus on college level associations to connect with the youth, its TG. At the fests, Lava set up booths designed to highlight the features of its recently launched Iris X5, a smartphone made specifically to click perfect selfies through a 5MP BSI+ Auto focus front camera with LED flash and wide viewing angle lens. The overall branding at the locations was discrete yet apt to

speak aloud the campaign ‘Selfie of the Day’. The activity involved the crowd to register for the campaign and the agency made sure that each participant was able to click their individual selfies using the various props available at the setup. A lounge was set up to include a click zone, props zone, demo zone and a print collection centre. Each of these selfies were printed instantly and provided to the participant in branded photo frames on the spot which enhanced the brand experience as well. The best selfie of the day was awarded with a brand new Iris X5 smartphone presented by Lava officials. Rahul Trehan, Director, Spin Off said: “We engaged more than 10,000 students and were able to hand over the selfies and prints to them individually. We had four days for each fest and all the props and activities were entertaining enough to engage the students in our campaign.” DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

SPORTS MARKETING | IN FOCUS

OLINI, THE FLAGSHIP BRAND OF RANBAXY, recently associated with the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, organised by Procam International. Volini's campaign for the marathon focused on positioning it as the preferred choice for recovery for the runners and instant relief from pain. Accordingly, Volini set up a large Recovery Zone near the marathon finish line. Post crossing the finish line, the marathon participants headed towards the Volini Recovery Zone. The 6,750 square-foot Recovery Zone had professional therapists and sports injury counselors at hand to tend to pain relief and tired muscles of participants. Supervised by renowned sports scientist, Shayamal Vallabhjee, the zone boasted of masseurs, foam rollers, beds and lounges etc among others.

IN FOCUS

Volini @ Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

Volini associates with Airtel Delhi Half Marathon as recovery partner In a unique experiential marketing activity, more than 7000 Participants of the marathon were given pain relief at the Volini Recovery Zone.

Speaking on the new brand positioning, Subodh Marwah, Vice President & Head – Consumer Healthcare, Ranbaxy, said, “Volini as a brand has been fairly involved in the pain relief market and has been a pioneer of innovation, the spray format itself an example, coming at a time when it wasn’t considered popular. Increasingly, consumers look for a unique engaging experience and the recent association of Volini with the Airtel Half Marathon aimed to give consumers the same. The brand is keen to provide fitness enthusiasts a reason to live their passion and not view the pain as an obstacle to running, hence motivating scores of people to be a part of these mass runs.” Talking about the Recovery Zone, Shayamal Vallabhjee, said, “Marathon is a strenuous sport. While running, one is exerting every muscle of the body. Over a period of time, the muscles tend to swell leading to pain. At the Recovery Zone, we helped the participants relax & nursed swollen muscles to get rid of the pain. It’s great to have Volini as the official Recovery Partner of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon”. “Fountainhead Entertainment and Volini were a perfect partnership for this Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, as Fountainhead comes with vast experience in sports events and easily understands the mindset of participants and their expectations. The recovery zone at ADHM clearly establishes Volini as premium recovery and pain relief product and its symbiosis with Sports Events" said Aditya Shrivastava- Account Director- Fountainhead Entertainment.

SUBODH MARWAH Vice President & Head – Consumer Healthcare, Ranbaxy

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SPORTS MARKETING | IN FOCUS

Runners being given pain relief by the therapist at the Volini Recovery Zone

Left to right- Shayamal Valabhjee- sports scientist, Subodh Marwah- VP

Recovery zone at the Airtel Half Marathon 2014 helping runners

Runners at the Volini recovery zone post Marathon

ADITYA SHRIVASTAVA

Therapists providing pain relief to participants with sprained muscles

Account Director- Fountainhead Entertainment

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SPORTS MARKETING | BRIEFS

AVINASH PANT Marketing Director Nike India

we are truly encouraged by the response. We are sure that the numbers will get even bigger to make this club one of the strongest running communities in the city.”

Nike+ Run Club launches in New Delhi with Gul Panag

ike inaugurated its Nike+ Run Club (N+RC) in New Delhi at Nehru Park on Nov. 4, with Nike athlete Parthiv Patel and celebrity runner Gul Panag. Six years after Nike launched the first-ever run club in India, N+RC has grown into a strong community of thousands of registered runners across Mumbai and Bengaluru, making this one of the largest running communities in the country. Avinash Pant, Marketing Director, Nike India, said: “Delhi has a very passionate and enthusiastic group of runners and we are thrilled to launch the Nike+ Run Club here. We are already seeing some great traction here over the past few weeks, and

The N+RC events will take place on weekends at 6 am at Nehru Park, where runners can register on the spot for free. All around the world, N+RC trains everyday athletes to achieve their personal bests, and help them to realize their full potential by providing participants with overall conditioning, training tips, expert advice, inspiring experiences and Nike product trials, all overseen by expert Nike coaches. For Delhi’s participants, Nike has brought two experienced coaches - Ian Ladbrooke and Rupinder Singh. N+RC provides runners with endurance training, speed workouts and core conditioning specific to each runner’s goals, including information on the ideal running footwear and apparel. The coaches will provide runners the opportunity to train on the race route for the upcoming race, to understand and master the course ahead of race day. Runners can also download the Nike+ running app to help train during the week.

SUNIL BHASKARAN Vice President - Corporate Services Tata Steel

olkata now gets its very own distance-running event - the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K. An initiative by Procam International with the West Bengal Athletic Association, this property was launched on November 5 with Tata Steel as title sponsor and supported by Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police. The marathon would be held on Dec. 28. Reebok came aboard as training and sportswear partner, Nestle as F& B partner, Himalayan as water partner and The Oberoi Grand as the hospitality partner. A total of Rs 21,54,000 would be earmarked for prize money. Around 15,000 people are expected to participate. The 25K in distance running events is a relatively new category being promoted by Procam International. As India’s first 25K to be organized on this grand scale, the city of Kolkata will soon join a privileged list of cities that host road based distance-running events in this unique category. Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President - Corporate Services, Tata Steel said, “At Tata Steel, sports is a way of life and we firmly believe that as the city’s very first distance running platform,

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Kolkata gets its first distance running event, Tata Steel Kolkata 25k this event will grow into one that will bring individuals and communities together, inspire confidence and hope, and help support a noble cause.” Race categories include the 25K (elite and amateurs), Open 10K (amateurs), Ananda Run (6 km), Senior Citizens’ Run (4 km), and Champions with Disability (4 km). The 25K and Open 10K are compulsorily timed race categories, certifying a runners’ timing and recognized in running circles throughout the world.

SPORTS MARKETING | BRIEFS

RICHARD SCUDAMORE Chief Executive Premier League

he Premier League along with title sponsor Barclays is all set to host its second international fan park event called BPL Live on Dec. 13-14 at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai. Set in England, the Barclays Premier League (BPL) is said to be the most popular league in the world and especially in India. BPL Live is about giving international fans the opportunity to experience the passion and excitement of BPL matches and stadiums. With the first BPL Live event having taken place in Johannesburg (see pic), South Africa in April, it is a free, interactive experience designed for fans of all ages to enjoy. BPL Live will offer fans in India the opportunity to watch live matches broadcast on a 380-square-foot screen, meet legends of the BPL and get close to the iconic trophy. There is capacity for 12,000 supporters each day and admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The arena will comprise various zones like the Live Match Zone, Trophy Zone, Club Zone, Screening Zone, Pitch Zone and Skills Zone. BPL clubs and official partners will be present

Barclays Premier League Live set to be staged in India at the fan park with interactive games, quizzes and the opportunity for fans to meet club mascots. Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive, Premier League said: “We are very excited at the prospect of bringing BPL Live to Mumbai to engage with fans of the league and our clubs, in India. We know that fans around the world enjoy the passion and excitement on display when they watch our competition and we think this event will be the next best thing to being in the stadium on a matchday. We are particularly looking forward to coming to India as interest in football is at an all-time high."

GIRISH SHAH EVP - Marketing & Sales Godrej Properties

qualified to play at Bangkok and compete in the International Final scheduled to be held on January 24th.

Godrej Properties Golf Challenge returns with its fourth edition

odrej Properties Limited (GPL) the real estate development arm of the Godrej Group is set to host the annual Godrej Properties Golf Challenge (GPGC) with its fourth edition. This year’s edition teed off at Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon on Nov. 15. In line with the successful format that was adopted for the third edition, the tournament will feature six different golf clubs across the country including reigning national champions, Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). The winners of the two handicap categories from each city leg will be

Season four of the GPGC is set to witness a total participation of over 1000 golfers. Round two takes place at the Karnataka Golf Association on November 29, Round three at the Willingdon Sports Club in Mumbai. RCGC, Qutab Golf Course in Delhi and the Oxford Golf and Country Club in Pune will host the remaining city legs on December 7, December 13 and January 10 respectively. Girish Shah, EVP - Marketing & Sales, Godrej Properties, said, “When we started with the Golf Challenge, we had no idea it would be so popular and go this far. At Godrej Properties, we have always believed in engaging with customers on a personal level. This goes a long way in cementing the bond of trust that Godrej Properties as a brand has built over the years with its customers. We are really excited about the upcoming Golf Season and with this new season, we sincerely hope to continue to give our customers a unique and special experience as always.” DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

ASSOCIATION/TRADE CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS EVENTS | |INFOCUS IN FOCUS

UTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE INDIAN MUSIC industry’s potential was The Exchange, a day-long conference organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in association with Submerge, at The Lalit in Mumbai on Nov. 7. It was an endeavour to get British and Indian talent, trade bodies and industry professionals in the music industry together to understand the region and discuss potential business opportunities. Concluding the day-long conference was a multi-city music showcase by Grammy-award winning British house trio, Dirty Vegas and trance music legend, John Fleming from Nov. 7 to 9 in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune.

IN FOCUS

THE EXCHANGE

Submerge and UKTI’s Music Conference ‘THE EXCHANGE’ puts the Spotlight on The Indian Music Industry

The conference saw representation from key names from the music industry, regulatory heads, music label honchos, management agencies, international speakers and Indian and international artists across all genres of music. Some of the speakers and moderators at the event included Devraj Sanyal (MD, Universal Music Group), Nikhil Chinapa (Director, Submerge), Mohomed Morani (Director, Cineyug), Brian Tellis (Chairman, Fountainhead), Owen Roncon (Director, Oranjuice), Thanush Joseph (Marketing Director, 70 EMG) and many others. Speaking about The Exchange, British Deputy High Commissioner, Western India, Kumar Iyer, said: “It’s great to announce this mission and broaden our engagement into new and creative sectors in India. The UK and India make and produce some of the best music in the world – creating a platform for collaboration and promoting the best that both countries can offer is exactly what this conference is about.” Adding further, Hermit Sethi, Director, Submerge said: “I'm extremely happy to finally put together a forum where the music industry can speak openly. It's something all of us at Submerge have been working towards for years now. We've found great

The endeavour was to get British and India talent, trade bodies and professionals together. By Dharm Patel

" "The UK and India make and produce some of the best music in the world – creating a platform for collaboration and promoting the best that both countries can offer is exactly what this conference is about.” KUMAR IYER British Deputy High Commissioner, Western India

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The entire UKTI team poses at the end of The Exchange

partners in UKTI, who, like us, believe this is the service of music. The business opportunities it can generate between India and the UK are immense and more importantly, will be for the greater good of the thriving Indian music industry.”

1. Opportunities in India and Demystifying the Territory: An introduction to the business. The inaugural session at The Exchange began with a keynote by Nikhil Chinapa, festival curator and Director, Submerge. Moderated by Chinapa, the panellists included Devraj Sanyal (MD, Universal Music Group), Manan Singhi (Head - Music Partnership, YouTube South Asia), Karan Grover (Director – Entertainment, MixRadio IMENA - India, Middle East & North Africa), Andrew Mackay (Composer, Abbey Road Studios), Ashish Hemrajani (MD & CEO, Book My Show). Panelists kick-started the session by first discussing prominent statistics describing the population of India - the population that uses credit cards, net-banking, e-retail, mobile data/3G, etc. After ‘demystifying’ the territory and its demographics, they discussed how they could focus on their TG, by using YouTube views and BookMyShow sales as examples. They concluded that these large numbers just show the vast potential and opportunities available in India in terms of the music and live industry.

Chinapa, Morani and others during the final panel

2. Artists: Homegrown talent which has made it big and UK based artists which have toured India. The second session had a star-studded panel full of artists like Dirty Vegas, John 00 Fleming, Nerm, Ankur Tewari, Pearl (Co-founder – Submerge), Gaurav Vaz (Bass Guitarist & Manager - Raghu Dixit Project) and The Emerald Armada. The UK-based artists explained why they keep coming back to India, especially Fleming who comes once or even twice a year. They also mentioned how the streamlining of the VISA processes for UK will help the acts big time.

DJ Pearl voicing her concerns as an artist

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Pearl read out a long list of all the UK-based artists which Submerge has brought down - Above & Beyond, Mat Zo, Mark Knight, John Fleming, Gareth Emery and many others. Pearl said: “I’m proud of this list and the best part is that this isn’t even the complete one, we just compiled it this morning. This also shows the great relationship UK and India have when it comes to music.”

3. Role of Artist Management Agencies: The importance of seeking representation. Nikhil Chinapa speaks during the first panel

The third session was moderated by Girish ‘Bobby’ Talwar (Co-founder OML/NH7, Music Consultant) and the panellists included Tej Brar (Artist Manager, OML), Rishu Singh (Owner - ennui.BOMB), Abbe Rodgers (Booking Agent - Future Boogie), Anu Anna George (A&R Representative/Artist Manager, Mixtape) and Srikant Seshadri (Head Artist Manager, Submerge). This was an interactive one, where they all shared ideas on how artists and managers can collaborate. Brar, who manages Dualist Inquiry and Nucleya, gave examples on how having their own unique identity helps them build as a brand. He mentioned that Dualist tied up with brand Levi’s where he will have to wear the branded jeans to all his gigs for an entire year, thus expressing his style quotient. When an upcoming artist in the audience wanted tips on how to find a manager, Singh replied: “Don’t go looking for a manager. Let a manager find you. He’ll come to you if he sees something in you, make sure you’re good and get noticed.” Once this session concluded, Ankur Tewari came up with a little performance, before the attendees proceeded for lunch.

John 00 Fleming and Ankur Tewari discuss various roles as an artist

4. The Changing Face of the Music Business: A 360 degree approach and discussion on the pros and cons of being an artist signed by a label. Following lunch was the fourth session of the day, Devraj Sanyal (MD, Universal Music Group) moderated this one, with panellists like Arjun Sankalia (Director, International Music - Sony Music), Ashutosh Phatak (Founder, True School of Music and Blue Frog), Deepak Bali (Head, Eros Digital), Samir Bangara (MD & Co-founder, Qyuki), Brian Tellis (Chairman, Fountainhead). “Everything is a 360 degree approach nowadays,” they all agreed. They spoke about how the live experience can be magnified by using other mediums like digital. Tellis said: “With so many live events and gigs coming up, being an event company I can say we are in a very happy and comfortable place right now.”

Members of Dirty Vegas speak during the artist-based panel

The host for the day

5. Navigating the Digital Landscape in India: Shift from physical to digital sales, challenges of making a livelihood through digital sales, concerns such as piracy. Moderated by Vinit Thakkar (VP - Digital, Universal), the fifth session’s panel had on board Soumini Sridhara Paul (Founder - ArtistAloud.com), Chaitanya Mathur (Founder & Partner, The Bangin Beats), Christopher Tarbet (Business Development Music, Rightster Group), Nick Dunn (MD, Horus Music), Pawan Agarwal (Business Head, Gaana), Sylvain Delange (Head of

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | IN FOCUS The final session for the day was moderated by Submerge director Hermit Sethi, the panellists for this one were Mohomed Morani (Director, Cineyug), Shoven Shah (Founder of EVC and Director of Twisted Entertainment), Aman Anand (Director, Kickstart Entertainment), Nikhil Chinapa (Director, Submerge) along with club owners Vishwaraj Mohan (Owner - Counter Culture), Jignesh Soni (Owner - O2), Khodu Irani (Owner, High Spirits) and Jehan Johar (Head - Music Programming, blueFROG).

"The business opportunities The Exchange can generate between India and the UK are immense and more importantly, will be for the greater good of the thriving Indian music industry." HERMIT SETHI Director, Submerge

Sales Asia, Believe Digital) and Ankit Narang (Co-founder, Festival Sherpa). Here, the main argument was whether consumers would buy music online or not, considering the cases of illegal downloads and piracy. Mathur and Narang, owners of music portals, mentioned how easily music news is consumed online. They all discussed good websites for artists to showcase their talent, including SoundCloud, MixCloud, YouTube and other social media. Among this was Bandcamp which gets music out for free and enables easy subscription.

6. Brands & Music: When they combine forces. This panel was moderated by Owen Roncon (Director, Oranjuice) with speakers including Tim Eynon (CEO, Provogue), Sanjay Roy (Marketing Lead, Heineken India), Thanush Joseph (Marketing Director, 70 EMG), Arnold Wilson (Head - Marketing & Business Development, Submerge) and Paul Pacifico (Manager - The All Stars Collective).

Here they discussed all the issues that a venue faces - when booking an artist, promoting a gig and complying with rules and laws (under-age drinking, work permits, late nights, etc). They spoke about how they often have to go into losses by being confident of particular gigs but not meeting the required numbers. Irani commented: “These are the challenges we face regularly but we have to keep taking risks constantly.” Morani said: “No matter what night, Bollywood gigs will always see a full house. An example would be the Bollywood Nights at Hard Rock Cafe, which are their highest earning nights every week.” Soni, being the owner of a club in a tier-2 market, said: “We had to cater to all our audiences, especially when EDM started getting big in India. We switched to more electronic acts and have been seeing successful gigs.” They all elaborated on the mushrooming of music festivals all around the country and how they are managed. Shah spoke about how Enchanted Valley Carnival was incepted in 2010 but could only materialize three years later. He highlighted the importance of creating unique experiences: “We were among the first to introduce camping at music fests and having various activities to keep everyone engaged. While the line-up is very important, we are glad that fans are equally appreciating the overall experience. We reached this conclusion when we sold many tickets even before announcing our line-up.” The conference finally came to a close, with the attendees proceeding to blueFROG, where a networking evening and DJ set by Dirty Vegas and John 00 Fleming followed. The Exchange is part of a week-long trade mission that has been put together by UKTI, in partnership with AIM (The Association of Independent Music) and British labels trade body BPI (British Phonographic Industry). The trade mission, called ‘Music is Great Britain’, from Nov. 1 to 8 saw representatives of the UK music industry host a program of educational seminars, networking events, conferences and artists showcases in a concerted bid to tap into the fast-growing Indian music market and grow British presence in the territory.

In terms of brand association with festivals, they said it was vital that brands carefully integrated with the fests instead of just placing themselves, aka ‘brand slapping’, making sure there is a perfect fit. Wilson said: “We don’t plan for brands before knowing what they want at our gigs - we need to know what they require and then build accordingly, whether it’s a product showcase or even a launch.” They concluded that brands have to be careful who they partner with since how the event was managed is a reflection of them.

7. An Insight into the Live Music Business: Venues in India and concerns they face, festival boom in the country and shift to tier-2 markets. DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | ALSO FEATURED

Books Rule! The season with a host of Literary Fests From the familiar Tata Literature Live! to two new literary properties, Litomania and International Writers and Readers Fest, this was a season for book lovers. By R Vasundara

VEN AS WINTER BEGAN TO SET IN, THE TALK OF the town was all about rhyme, metre, prose and yes, books! The past two months have been a series of continuous treats for book lovers and writers across the country as we saw some exciting literary festivals take place. Right from workshops, plays to even advice on how to get over writer’s block, these lit-fests certainly did not play it by the book!

TATA LITERATURE LIVE! Tata Literature Live! clocked its fifth year since inception, from October 30 – November 2. This year, the fest made a significant move, of expanding to the suburbs too, to reach out to a wider audience. Apart from its birthplace, the NCPA, the fest was also simultaneously held at the Prithvi Theatre in Juhu and the Easel. “There have been many requests from suburban enthusiasts asking us to move closer to them, so we’re making a beginning this year by going to Prithvi Theatre. This will enable Mumbai’s only international literary festival to reach out to an even wider audience,” said Anil Dharker, Festival Director at the time of the announcement. The fest opened at the NCPA to a packed house and an enthralling jugalbandhi by Gulzar and Pavan. In the meantime, there was also a workshop for children, named a ‘Jump into Ramayana’ that focused on educating the young minds about India’s famous mythology through narration and dance while also introducing paintings; imbibing multiple forms of creativity in the city’s to-be performers.

“Without meaning to sound pretentious, a literary festival provides a forum for the exchange of ideas. If it's a lively festival, as I believe Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest is, this exchange is laced with wit and humour.” ANIL DHARKER Festival Director, Tata Literature Live!

The writer’s block, a dilemma owned by every writer today, was addressed in the discussion ‘When the ink runs dry’ with ace writers like Anne Enright, Ben Okri and Vijay Seshadri. A simple solution was phrased in much quirk by Anne Enright who said, “Writers are so imaginative, they could run into the imagination of a block.” They also discussed the beauty of long distance love over poems like ‘Skype’ and ‘Long Distance Calls’ by Rhian Edwards and Ranjit Hoskote respectively. The evening meandered through a lighthearted performance 44

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | ALSO FEATURED

Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Anil Dharker during the launch of the silver anniversary isssue of The Great Indian Novel at Tata Literature Live!

L-R Shobhaa De launches her new book Small Betrayals followed by a conversation with Ted Hodgkinson at Tata Literature Live!

with the ‘The Tricky Part’, a play about Catholicism, desire and human trespass. Amongst other events was the launch of Zareer Masani’s book Macaulay: Britain's Liberal Imperialist. This was followed by a glimpse on the long existing debate about ‘English pushing bhasha literature down’ amidst Hemant Divate, Pavan Varma and the author himself. November 1, opening day at Prithvi Theatre was a day of scripts, plays and fiction. In the session, ‘Fiction Reading’, Anita Nair, Anne Enright, Ben Okri and Akhil Sharma read chapters from their books and shared how they came about writing their books. “I had a difficult childhood. Hence, books became my friends. I love to get lost in books again and again,” said Akhil Sharma, the Indian-American author, introducing himself. The session ‘The Changing Ideas of Romance in India,’ was a very interesting one indeed. The panel consisted of Aastha Atray Banan, Sathnam Sanghera and Ashish Shakya, chaired by associate festival director, Amy Fernandes. Aastha, the woman behind popular Mills & Boons novels in India, believes that “Romance novels exist to get rid of the skepticism in the world”. The high point in the fest however was the session on Shakespeare. Accompanied by acclaimed Canadian pianist, Paul Stewart, The Chamber Singers of Pune, celebrated the songs and words of Shakespeare, through a choral selection from various composers through the ages who have set Shakespearean text and its adaptations to music, in powerful and evocative ways. Shakespeare was converted to opera, musicals and even contemporary pieces of music. The singing was interspersed with readings from some of Mumbai’s renowned actors who share the favourite pieces of the greatest ever playwright. All in celebration of the Bard’s 450th birth anniversary.

“Litomania has been an initiative that has a personal attachment to me. It has been heartwarming and overwhelming to see such a large number of book enthusiast and authors being involved at the festival.” SANGRAM SURVE CEO Think WhyNot Group & Festival Director of Litomania

LITOMANIA Mumbai also witness another literary fest recently, the Litomania 2014 on October 11 and 12. Organised by Think WhyNot Group (TYN), the fest saw footfalls of 4000. It comprised of two days of master classes, workshops and panel discussions by prominent authors and industry experts such DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | ALSO FEATURED

Jaya Bachchan discussing failure of literature in informing current cinema at Tata Literature Live!

Damodar Mall taking a Masterclass at Litomania

as Caleb Franklin, Damodar Mall, Ashwin Sanghi, Sorabh Pant, Prakash Iyer, Priya Kumar and Radhanath Swami at WeSchool; the knowledge partner. Celebrating the rise of Popular Indian Literature, ‘October Litfest’, witnessed the presence of best-selling authors like Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian, Ashwin Sanghi and Sivaraman Balakrishnan. A unique involvement of the attendees was donating their old novels at the art installation called ‘Gift a book Art Challenge’. It is a first-of-its-kind crowd-sourced installation using donated books, which created emotional, connects. Unique workshops like Terribly Tiny tales, publishing for kids, Wild life & conservation amongst others were conducted. This was also the first time a litfest was streamed live on the OgleIndia platform. Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire along with Vikram Sathaye closed Litomania with a rocking end. Talking about the success of the fest in the maiden year of its initiation, Sangram Surve – CEO Think WhyNot Group & Festival Director of Litomania, said, “Litomania has been an initiative that has a personal attachment to me. It has been heartwarming and overwhelming to see such a large number of book enthusiast and authors being involved at the festival. There is always an imbalance in the ratio of author popularity and I hope the sessions have helped budding authors to learn and grasp opportunities. Litomania has definitely taken Indian literature to a platform of great intellectual relevance. ”

“This festival is a great platform to put the Goan culture and literary diversity on the world map” ALAHAM ANIL KUMAR founder, International Writers & Readers Festival

The Litomania initiative was supported by Tridhaatu Realty and Infra Pvt. Ltd., My Financial Advisor, Shriram Finance and WeSchool amongst others.

INTERNATIONAL WRITERS & READERS FESTIVAL If there ever was a romantic place for book reading, that’s Goa. Echoing exactly this thought, the International Writers & Readers Festival held its first edition in Goa this year from October 4-6 at Kala Academy, Panjim, Goa. The festival saw participation from literature stalwarts from across the globe

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | ALSO FEATURED

Students welcoming Ravinder Singh after the session on moving bus

At the International Writers and Readers Festival

along with some well-known personalities from other parts of India and Goa.

Asian voices, foreign markets by Miguel Syjuco, Manu Joseph and Prajwal Parajulay; The unsevered connection of Goa and Portugal by Jose Rodriguez dos Santos and Alexandre Barbossa, Pantaleao Fernandes, Savia Viegas; Others included Conflict in media: The changing holding patterns and unbiased news by Liam Fitzpatrick, Sandesh Prabhudesai, Stephen McCarty; Battle-scarred words, the Literature of war by Jose dos Santos, Amandeep Sandhu, Nandita Haksar, Sudeep Chakravarti; Queen's English with an accent: Literature from Australia by Thomas Keneally, Kirsty Murray and Nine Lives and Other Travels by William Dalrymple at the DMKM Auditorium.

The festival had YES Bank as presenting partner and Flipkart as the principal sponsor. DCEM event association was the event partner, while D'Souza group, The Crown and Justa Hotels and Resorts were hospitality partners. Literati hosted a festival bookshop at the venue. "We are happy the way we received response for the festival. It is going to be an annual edition in Goa," said festival founder Alaham Anil Kumar. Kumar said the festival was hosted to give a great platform where intelligent minds from all over the world gather here and mingle around with local talent in India, and put the Goan culture and literary diversity on the world map The first day of the festival showcased sessions like Raw Nerve: problems of practicing creative skills by Louis de Bernières, Damodar Mauzo, Jose Rodriguez dos Santos, Miguel Syjico and Mridula Koshy. Others included Glowing Ink by Thomas Keneally; Return of King by William Dalrymple; Hartosh Bal and Sudeep Chakravarti; Oracle by Loius de Bernières, Manohar Shetty, Mamta Sagar, Meena Kandasamy and Vishnu Wagh; Solving the Puzzle by Aroon Raman and Kulpreet Yadav; Other rooms, other voices by Miguel Syjuco, Jose Rodriguez dos Santos and Romesh Gunasekara.

The last day of the festival saw sessions like The Individual and the Institution by Romesh Gunesekara, Miguel Syjuco, Ramakant Khalap, Hartosh Bal; Audio:Readings by Louis de Bernières, CP Surendran, Prajwal Parajuly; Trust me, I have an iphone! by Manjula Narayan, Sandesh Prabhudesai, Christophe Kloebe; Romancing the poetry by CP Surendran, Louis de Bernières and Manohar Shetty. Others included Printer's Devils: Copyrights, translations, contracts and Innovation in publishing by Daniel Watts, Mamta Sagar, Leonard Fernandes and Frederick Naronha and Parting Notes by Thomas Keneally, Kirsty Murray, Louis de Bernières, Romesh Gunesekara, Pundalik Naik and many more.

The second day of the festival began with a session by Your words, other mouths by Louis de Berniers and Tom Keneally;

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CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | BRIEFS

RAJU KANNAMPUZHA Managing Director Executive Events

around the globe. Some of the key issues faced by the tourism industry came up for discussion.

Kerala Travel Mart walks down the aisle with its eighth edition

erala Travel Mart (KTM) recently concluded its 8th edition which was managed by Executive Events for the fifth time. KTM took place from September 18 - 20 at Samudrika Convention Centre, Cochin Port Trust, Willingdon Island, Kochi. The theme for the Travel Mart this year was Kerala: A Wedding Destination.

Altogether, 45 countries had their presence in the mart, with 861 domestic buyers and 241 international buyers. The 3-day Travel Mart saw seminars, discussions and brain storming among the tourism industry fraternity of Kerala and from

The first day was the formal inauguration by the chief minister Oommen Chandy, followed by presentations by dignitaries. It ended with a cultural show and a thematic networking dinner. The second and third day was set aside for the expo and b2b meets. There were parallel seminars in various topics like responsible tourism, Ayurveda and tourism etc. The expo was open to the public on the final day. Raju Kannampuzha, Managing Director, Executive Events, said, "This is the fifth time we are being chosen for managing KTM. This was the largest gathering in India where over 400 stalls of tourism products were on display and more than 1,000 buyers visited the mart. Since the theme this year was wedding destination, we had modified the décor of the venue to fit in with the theme. The reception area was set up like a wedding chapel and a mandap was erected inside as an installation. A band, dressed up in wedding finery played to the guests during networking dinner."

NAVNEETH MOHAN CEO Laqshya Live Experiences

aqshya Live Experiences, executed the recently concluded 21st World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia at The Oberoi in New Delhi on Oct. 10.

Navneeth Mohan, CEO, Laqshya Live Experiences, said: "We had planned for this event with the client for almost one and a half months and based on event processes, the event was executed, While there were some mandatory elements to be included as part of World Travel Group’s standard offering each year, the brief given by them was very simple - showcase India in the entertainment content and create concept and designs which go with the overall stature of the event and the people attending the same.” The red-carpet ceremony was hosted by Seema Rhamani, and offered the finest in local entertainment, a gourmet banquet and the presentation of the prestigious trophies. Local entertainment included dance troupes depicting various dance forms across the country. Adding further, Mohan said: "We had given the concept for the acts. The World Travel Organization arranged for the acts 48

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World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia hosts its 21st edition in India with the hotel itself. The acts showcased different parts of India as majority of the audience were from round the globe. The opening sequence was a Kathak performance, followed by Bharat Natyam and Bhangra.” The event was held inside the ballroom at the Oberoi where a stage was erected with three LED screens, a starc cloth and a gold border that gave an Indian feel and colour to the event. A seven-course silver service sit-down dinner was hosted while the awards ceremony was being held. The pre-function had panels showcasing various properties of The Oberoi across India as well as plasma TVs that displayed guest list.

CONVENTIONS & EXHIBITIONS | BRIEFS

ROHAN SALVI Vice President - Business Development & Client Servicing Fountainhead Entertainment

he Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) returned with its film festival from Oct. 14 to 21. Now in its 16th edition, Fountainhead Entertainment was responsible for the smooth functioning of the entire festival in Mumbai. The opening ceremony was held at Chandan Talkies and was hosted by Kalki Koechlin. Celebrities like Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone were also a part of the ceremony, where Catherine Deneuve and Helen were felicitated with lifetime achievement awards. The next six days of the event saw film enthusiasts queue up for shows at Chandan Talkies, Cinemax (Versova) and PVR (ECX). Movies in various categories were showcased; films in each category were judged by a panel of jurors and awarded at the closing of the festival. The closing ceremony was another star-studded event that saw the likes of Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Anushka Sharma. Tara Sharma hosted the evening through the various accreditations and awards. Festival director Srinivasan

The seven-day MAMI Film Festival concludes in Mumbai Narayanan gave a closing speech and thanked the various hands that made the festival such a successful event. The evening concluded with the last screening for the festival, of the movie ‘Fury’. Rohan Salvi, VP - Business Development and Client Servicing (Events), Fountainhead Entertainment said: “Our role included execution of the opening/closing ceremonies, providing added technical assistance, manpower and coordination with various teams across all three venues (largely during press meets with celebrity guests and panels/sessions by directors and other personalities of the film fraternity).

SURESH KUMAR KURAPATY Founder Umbrella Aegis

revealed to create pre-event buzz for the exhibition.

Auto Circuit moves on to its second phase after a successful debut

fter a successful debut in Delhi in August, Auto Circuit rolled out its second phase at Select Citywalk in New Delhi from Nov. 20 to 23. A property of Umbrella Aegis and E-Square Eventz & Promos, the exhibition showcased 14 automobile brands, namely Audi, Mercedes, Volvo, Harley Davidson, Indian Motorcycles, Polaris, Skoda, Honda, Toyota, Fiat, Renault, Hyosung, Tata and Autopsyche.

The exhibition opened with a lamp lighting ceremony where all the custodians of the participating brands and the mall’s team were present. Mall visitors got to see and compare latest offerings from all the participating brands, which got a decent number of queries, leading to sales. The organizers claim that the mall witnessed a footfall of over 500,000 over the period of four days. With its radio campaign and on-air interview on 94.3 FM along with tie ups with AskMe.com, another 2,500,000 people were reached out to, giving participants ample visibility and exposure. Apart from the automobiles on show, there was also a concert by ‘The Rejekts’ on one of the days of the exhibition.

Select Citywalk was selected since it has been awarded ‘Most Admired Shopping Mall’ for the past six years straight. A week prior to the event, a Harley Davidson Street Glide was placed in a box and hidden completely. Each day, a part of bike was

Suresh Kumar Kurapaty, Founder, Umbrella Aegis said: “This is the beginning of a very exciting era of Auto Circuit and there will be no holds barred. We not only plan to go to all major cities throughout India, we plan to go beyond and far.”

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ENTERTAINMENT | ALSO FEATURED

Mutemath performing at Harley Rock Riders in Mumbai

The Music Fest Round-up The innnumerable EDM fests in India have not only paved the path for a few more this season, but also inspired newer genres of music fests. Here’s a quick look at ExM’s pick of Music Fests this season. By Dharm Patel

Harley Rock Riders Harley Rock Riders - Season V returned this year on Nov. 15-16 in Mumbai at Richardson & Cruddas Foundry, with a powerpacked line-up of some of the biggest names in Indian rock music. Harley-Davidson India and Only Much Louder brought to fans performances by 20 bands on two live stages along with hundreds of roaring Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Commenting on the property, Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India said, "Harley Rock Riders is not just a music festival. It is a way for all of us at Harley-Davidson to celebrate and support independent rock music in India and welcome enthusiasts seeking a taste of the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. This year, we are proud to enter into a partnership with Only Much Louder to produce Harley Rock Riders and create a two-day event that will set a new benchmark for rock festivals in India."

“Harley Rock Riders is not just a music festival. It is a way for all of us at HarleyDavidson to celebrate and support independent rock music in India and welcome enthusiasts seeking a taste of the Harley-Davidson lifestyle.”

Adding further, Vijay Nair, CEO, OML Entertainment said, "For me, this feels like going back to my roots. Most of us got initiated into live music through rock concerts and for some reason it's been overshadowed by other genres off late. Along with HarleyDavidson India, we are officially bringing rock back in the scene. Not only will this be the loudest concert this year, it will be a coming together of rock fans from across the country. Rock fans have never had a full-fledged festival to call their own, not for too long though. We promise you, it will be loud."

ANOOP PRAKASH Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India

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ENTERTAINMENT | ALSO FEATURED

The Vans New Wave Music Fest in Goa

The debut showcase of Reset, in Hyderabad

Vans New Wave Music Festival ennui.BOMB, along with Art Escape and Bajaao.com organized the Vans New Wave Music Fest at the Go Karting Arena, Verna, Goa on Nov. 15-16. For the very first time, the country saw 66 live bands from all over Asia come together to perform under one roof, across three stages in two days. The Vans Main Stage saw Mutual Question, Spud in the Box, Laxmi Bomb, Sky Rabbit, The Supersonics and Bombay Basement among others. The Stupidities Stage saw the acts of The Dirty Strikes, Frisky Pints, Skrat, Youth Unite, Grammy Winning Effort, NeerajArya’s Kabir Café, Kyoto Protocol, etc. The Pepsi MTV Indies Stage included Castles in the Sky, Curtain Blue, Madboy/Mink, Jynx, Voctronica, Fuzzy Logic, Your Chin and many others.

Reset At a time when international headliners are the norm for every major festival in the country, Reset, an electronic music showcase, steps away from the expected by curating only home-grown Indian talent. After kicking off in Hyderabad on Nov. 1 and then going to Bengaluru on Nov. 15, Reset will head to Pune on Dec. 6 before concluding in Chennai on Dec. 13. The property has been conceptualised by artist management agency UnMute and events specialists Phoenix Live. On the bill for the showcase at blueFROG in Pune are established DJs and producers like Arjun Vagale, Kohra, Praveen Achary, BLOT!, M.Mat, Jitter, Pawas, Ankytrixx, Oozeundat and Qwiver. Unlike other editions, where the entire lineup has been technofocussed, Pune sees the inclusion of live electronica acts Big City Harmonics and Sandunes.

“For me, this feels like going back to my roots. Most of us got initiated into live music through rock concerts and for some reason it's been overshadowed by other genres off late. Along with Harley-Davidson India, we are officially bringing rock back in the scene.” VIJAY NAIR CEO, OML Entertainment

Commenting on the property, Techno DJ/producer Arjun Vagale, Director, UnMute, said: “Our aim is to bring world-class production, the best sound-system we can get our hands on, with top artists from the Indian scene along with upcoming local talent into one space to create a special journey. Reset is all about the music. I’m stoked about returning to India and playing at Pune. It’s a city I’ve played some great gigs in and Reset will be nothing short of spectacular.” DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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ENTERTAINMENT | ALSO FEATURED

A band performs at the Amarrass Music Festival

Bass Camp Festival Bass Camp Festival, the bass-heavy electronic music festival, was organized by Krunk. It kicked off at blueFROG in Mumbai and Pune on Oct. 17-18, at Moonshine in Delhi on Oct. 19, at The Humming Tree in Bengaluru on Oct. 24 and at 25 Hours Club in Nepal on Oct. 25. It featured global bass duo Symbiz Sound, which was supported by Indian producers like SickFlip, OX7GEN, EZ Riser, Su Real and Tarqeeb. Symbiz Sound comprises Berlin-based, KoreanGerman brothers, Buddysym and ChrisImbiss, who with their on-stage antics coupled with their versatile and innovative sound, has made them one of the rising stars of the European dubstep scene.

Amarrass Music Festival

“Our aim is to bring world-class production, the best sound-system we can get our hands on, with top artists from the Indian scene along with upcoming local talent into one space to create a special journey. Reset is all about the music.” ARJUN VAGALE Director, UnMute

The third edition of the Amarrass Music Festival took place on Nov. 21-22 in New Delhi at Lodi - The Garden Restaurant. This eclectic world music festival brought to its fans national treasures, unknown voices and explores the boundaries of collaboration. This year's line-up brought together artists from Mali in West Africa, the United States, Palestine, Colombia, Brazil, and India to showcase new, cross-cultural collaborations on each night of festival. Programming also included AV presentations and workshops by the artists, an instrument petting zoo and instrument makers. In keeping with tradition, the event will have a series of pre-parties, terrace jams, DJ sets, and pop-up shows leading up to the festival.

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ENTERTAINMENT | ALSO FEATURED

The upcoming Worldfest by Ferriswheel Entertainment

Bloomville Saga Spaced Out Spirits (SOS) fused together musical talent on Nov. 8 and 9 at Pawna Lake (Lonavala) to form India's supposedly first purely acoustic music festival - Bloomville Saga. The artists at the fest included Sounds Of The Sufis, Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Café, Boombay Djembe Folas, Rock N Raga, Brahma Naad, Varun Zinje + Rohan, Gandhar Bhalerao, The Hoodwink Circle and Milind Tulankar. The fest comprised features to complement the music and keep the visitors entertained and involved at the same time. It saw funky art installations, backyard-esque fun activities and delicious local cuisines. There were also be a few workshops for the enthusiastic bunch who would like to discover new ideas and skills. Commenting on the property, a spokesperson from Spaced Out Spirits said: “The concept of music festivals is quite common nowadays, but the acoustic bit, the most natural sound of every instrument, was lost in the midst of the booming electronic scene and most of the unplugged sets were reserved to club gigs. The recent boom of music festivals over the years has lead most people to believe that music is not a dying art anymore. With plenty of self-made groups shaping the independent music scene, it's a booster for coming generations to think of taking music seriously as a passion and a profession.”

Worldfest

A chilled-out camping session at Bloomville Sage

After entertaining audiences over the past two years with performances that have countries from all over the globe, the 2014 edition of Worldfest is set to witness performances from international artistes along with rocking live shows and fun filled games. It is a ‘virtual passport’ to the world, a one-stop destination for anyone who wishes to travel the globe. Not only does the festival provide a complete experiential zone teeming with art and culture, food, handicrafts but also offers an opportunity for first hand interactions with natives from various participating countries.

Worldfest, an exclusive showcase of music, dance, talent and culture from various countries across the globe, is all set to roll from Dec. 17 to 21 in Lavasa. The annual international performing arts festival that attempts to ‘bring the world together in one place’ is a property of Ferriswheel Entertainment.

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ENTERTAINMENT | IN FOCUS

T WAS A LEISURELY DAY OUT IN THE SUN FOR DEEP house music fans, as they strolled across the Radio Club Pier in Mumbai on November 8, armed with wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses and perhaps a bottle of chilled Heineken beer in hand. Adding value to the setting was the Arabian Sea in the background, with the Gateway of India, standing tall in the distance. But the aficionados had more to celebrate than just the fantastic setting. The occasion was the first birth anniversary of Regenerate, a Mumbai-based music property, which held India’s first-ever deep house open-air concept at the pier on that occasion. The carnival like atmosphere and the waves quietly lapping in the sea provided perfect harmony to the soulful moody pulses of deep house.

IN FOCUS

REGENERATE

Regenerate

brings in India’s first deep house open air concept in Mumbai The concept was held at the Radio Club pier and featured a gastronomic fare and an art show, besides deep house music. By R Vasundara

The line-up included American born, Berlin-based artist Kevin Knapp who also belongs to the Hot Creations and OFF Recordings camp - two of the biggest international dance music labels, followed by a series of local acts such as Blot!, Oozeundat, Folic State, Twokid Wickid, Blurry Slur (Qwiver's newly launched alter ego moniker) and Orbs &Zen. “In addition to music, we also had an interesting food line up consisting of House of Lloyds barbecue (Goa), Olive Bar & Kitchen, Royal China, Sushi Koi, The J Cafe & Go Gola who curated the food section at our event,” said Aneesha Kotwani, one half of Regenerate. “We also got Homegrown on board who are curated an entire art show which included work by some great artists such as Adarsh Balak, Squidworks, Tattva to name a few.” Although the event was non-sponsored, Regenerate got Heineken on board as beverage partner to supply free beer and music channel Vh1 covered the event for its music diaries

“We wanted to position our event not just for the music lovers but for those who have an affinity for the culture scene in the city.” ANEESHA KOTWANI Co-founder, Regenerate

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Local Deep House talent Twokid Wickid takes the stage

Mix and Scratch with Lynston D'Souza

episode.  The central theme of the event was about introducing the entire concept of an ‘open air’, which is an international term that is used for outdoor events. “We wanted to position our event not just for the music lovers but for those who have an affinity for the culture scene in the city,” added Kotwani. “It is a fun filled day out with all your needs taken care of and we aimed to provide a chilled, friendly vibe so that everyone can mingle, let their hair down and have a fab time as there is something for everyone.” Accordingly the set-up at the venue, which forms a large part of the event production, was almost carnival-like in its feel. “We took inspiration from the open air parties in Berlin where our setting is minimalistic but yet oozes with a sense of style and slickness,” said Kotwani.

Visitors booked pagodas in advance to chill out at the pier, which included food and beverage too

“There were six Pagoda canopies that we gave out to people which also covered their entry + alcohol costs. We had an entire chill out spot cum art exhibition curated by our friends at Homegrown and a set up for the same. The DJ Booth was placed in the middle facing the edge of the Pier so when people turned towards the DJ they got a beautiful view of the Gateway. We also placed bean bags, low seated couches and swings in the seating area and food and bar stalls to cater to people's cravings.” The day out on the pier was followed by an after-party, which took place at the newly launched Tijuana Iguana in Fort, Mumbai. The event was promoted over social media and by various print and online music publications. Regenerate had roped in Homegrown, Bangin Beats and Decoded magazine as content partners. “For on ground promotions, we had our standees at all the food joints we have associated with - The J Cafe, Olive Bar & Kitchen and Royal China,” said Kotwani. “We also sent out e-mailers to their databases informing them about the event. We also associated with a couple of food bloggers i.e. Food Blogger Association of India, Bombay Foodies, Mumbai Food Lovers to promote the event with some contests and provided early bird discount offer with 100 tickets going @ INR 1200 as a Diwali and New Year offer.”

Visitors check out the art show by Homegrown displaying works by 15 artists

Visitors chill out in the evening as music continues

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ENTERTAINMENT | IN FOCUS

ROM LOCAL TALENT TO GLOBAL LEGENDS, upscale menswear and accessories brand, Blackberrys, gave music lovers in India something new to look forward to this year. Blackberrys expanded it annual flagship event Sharp Nights to a five-city World Music tour. Aptly titled ‘Blackberrys Sharp Nights – Masters Of World Music’ the tour showcased two of the world's leading world music performers, promoted local musical talent and instituted a scholarship fund to help conserve traditional Indian music. The entire tour was conceived and executed by Fountainhead Entertainment. The event agency suggested doing something different this time and turned the Sharp Nights around completely. They roped in Oranjuice to ascertain talent from across the world and local national talent as well. Subsequently, a groundbreaking idea of bringing fashion, music and party together was crafted with a purposeful motive behind it.

IN FOCUS

BLACKBERRYS Sharp Nights

BLACKBERRYS extends Sharp Nights to five-city tour Titled ‘Blackberrys Sharp Nights – Masters Of World Music’, the tour featured Malian folk musicians, local talent from across India and a fashion show cum charity event in each city.

Masters Of World Music featured celebrated Malian folk musician Fatoumata Diawara, who performed in Delhi on November 19 at Blue Frog, Mehrauli and in Hyderabad on Nov 22 at Durgam Cheeruvu Park, Jubilee Hills. The other world renowned artiste who was on the tour was Malian folk Fusion and Blues guitarist and singer Vieux Farka Toure, who performed in Pune on December 3, Bengaluru on December 6 and Mumbai on December 10. Fatoumata Diawara, born in Ivory Coast is a Malian musician currently living in France. She has spent the last year touring the world, culminating in a landmark performance at Glastonbury, 2013. Vieux Farka Toure is a Malian singer and guitarist and the son of the legendary Ali FarkaTouré, whose music was described by Peter Gabriel as "the DNA of the Blues." Vieux was invited to perform at the Opening Celebration of the 2010 FIFA World

By R Vasundara

“Much like how fashion is intertwined with world cultures, world music too emanates from the remarkable diversity prevalent in the universe.” NIKHIL MOHAN Managing Director, Blackberrys

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Cup along with other performers including Shakira & Alicia Keys. With this first-of-its-kind world music tour, Blackberrys also provided an opportunity to home grown talents – Barmer Boys in Delhi, Catharsis in Hyderabad, Highway 61 in Pune, Shoonya in Bengaluru and Rajeev Raja Combine in Mumbai to perform on the very same stage in their respective cities. Commenting on this unique amalgamation of fashion and music and its efforts to accustom the Indian audiences with the genre of world music, Nikhil Mohan, Managing Director, Blackberrys said, “Sharp Nights has always been a much awaited event. This year we are delighted to introduce world music under the Masters of World Music series. Much like how fashion is intertwined with world cultures, world music too emanates from the remarkable diversity prevalent in the universe. It is here that audiences appreciate how music participates and connects to the world in ways unfamiliar to us.”

Upcoming local talent, Music Therapy, performs at the Sharp Nights

Furthermore each concert began with a fashion auction which showcased the Blackberrys AW '14 look – the proceeds of which will be used to nurture Indian traditional music schools, by providing scholarships for deserving students and funds for material support. “Keeping the spirit of unconventional and high end networking alive, our job started with sharing ideas upon ideas of how best to mould the existing Sharp Nights pattern into something more real, more interesting and more measurable,” said Deeksha Arora, Vice President and Branch Head, North- Fountainhead Entertainment. “Thus came the idea of taking it across 5 cities, touching lives of both Indian music lovers as well as world music patrons, and linking fashion to music academies. I’m glad to say that it’s all been wonderfully received thus far by the audiences!”

Models walk the ramp showcasing the Blackberrys AW '14 look in Delhi

“Our job started with sharing ideas upon ideas of how best to mould the existing Sharp Nights pattern into something more real, more interesting and more measurable.”

Malian musician, Fatoumata Diawara, performs to the audience at BlueFrog, Delhi

DEEKSHA ARORA Vice President and Branch Head, North- Fountainhead Entertainment

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ENTERTAINMENT | MARKET PULSE

WANT TO HIRE A STAND-UP COMEDIAN? You might want to read this first! By COMEDIAN PAPA CJ Having performed in a 9000-seater stadium, on a plane, in a bus, on a boat, on a train, at comedy clubs, theatres, universities, hospitals, royal palaces and even at a police station! Papa CJ's audiences have ranged from the age of two to ninety. He's performed at comedy shows, corporate shows, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and even baby showers. Basically at every kind of event you can think of besides a suhaag raat – but you never know, even that night might come! Choosing A Comedian A comedy club provides the perfect environment for standup comedy and is the easiest show in the world. Just because you’ve seen a comedian do well at a comedy club does not mean that they will do well at a corporate or private event. Also how funny someone is on social media has no relation whatsoever to how well they will do at a live event. At a corporate gig, half the challenge is dealing with the environment and logistics. The other challenge is that unlike a comedy show where people have come with the intention to listen, at a corporate show they have come for something else and the comedian is being forced upon them. Does your comedian have what it takes to grab and hold their attention for the duration you want? For corporate shows, it is also important to keep in mind the age and the gravitas of the comedian. If the comedian you’re looking to hire is 22 and jokes about Facebook and his college and if your audience is 40 plus then chances are the comedian will be able to entertain them for 10 minutes, but not 40. Is the comedian you hire the kind of guy whom the CEO of the client firm would be happy to have a drink with? I’m not saying that specifically is the test but look at the comedian and look at the audience and ensure that there is a match. On the flip side, just because you see a comedian do risqué material at a comedy club or on YouTube, does not mean that they are not suitable for a corporate gig. I have done the filthiest of material at a comedy club and I have also performed at Mukesh Ambani’s house with 250 guests and him sitting next to his mother. That gig was not only vegetarian, I even took the onions out. It was a Jain show! Some younger comedians may not understand that the logic of ‘but I’m an artist’ doesn’t fly at a corporate or private gig. And even if they do understand that, they may not have the breadth of the material to cater to the varying needs of different clients. Another problem that is taking place across South East Asia is that new comedians are marketing themselves as professional comedians. As event managers you hire them because they are willing to work for cheaper. They then take on shows that they can’t handle, mess it up, and then the entire industry gets a bad name. Because in the end the client and you think that is the level of ‘professional’ comedians and vow never to hire a comedian again. Be careful of that. Personally I love that old saying – if you think it is expensive to hire a professional, wait till you hire an amateur!

Managing The Environment Unlike music, which can run in the background, comedy 60

requires an audience to shut up and listen. Can you create such an environment for the comedian at your event? If not, he or she may struggle to deliver the goods. What is of critical importance is the bar – if it is in the same room and open during the performance, you’re jeopardising the show from the very start. What I do is that I have a backstage announcement made 15 minutes before the show - ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the performance will start in 10 minutes and will last 45 minutes. The bar will be closed and there will be no service during the performance. So please top up your drinks and grab a seat’. Make sure the audience is settled in and paying attention before the comedian starts. Don’t ask the comedian to begin his or her performance while people are walking in or while dinner is being served. Not every comedian has the ability to herd the cattle but quite a few can entertain them once they are already in the bull pen! Wherever possible, have someone who the audience will pay attention to, whether it is the MC or a senior person at the client, give the comedian a proper introduction. Any decent comedian who has the audience’s attention in the first two minutes should be able to grab and hold it for the rest of the show. Even if your comedian doesn’t ask for it, please insist on a sound check. If the audience cannot hear us clearly, the performance will fail. Ideally there should be clear line of sight and good lighting so that every audience member is able to see us as well. If it is a large room you may also want to have a live feed on a large screen.

Managing Expectations Don’t ask the comedian to give you a two-hour long show. We understand that you’re paying us to perform and would like to get the maximum value out of the deal. However audiences have a limited attention span and beyond a certain length of time you get diminishing returns and the quality of the audience experience decreases. We have a saying in comedy – ‘always leave them wanting’. You should try and do that too! Please don’t ask us to write a 45-minute show on a specific topic for a specific client. Nobody can do that for you. And if they agree, either they will do a lousy job or will need lots of time to give you anything half decent. The material we take on stage at a corporate gig has been tested many, many times at live events and what we bring to you is bulletproof. You can’t have that guarantee with brand new material being performed for the first time. It will be hit and miss. We do repeat jokes at different shows. We know that and do not need to be reminded of the same. You see us often but

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ENTERTAINMENT | MARKET PULSE more often than not the audience is different each time. We are there to entertain the audience, not you! Be aware of the fact that at almost every corporate show the client brief that says the show needs to be clean. And at almost every show on the actual day, they have two drinks and say ‘kuch masala-wala sunao’! Clients are people too and they want the naughty stuff but they want to ensure that it is not associated with their brand and in the off chance if something goes wrong, they don’t want to take the blame for authorising it. These are facts and the comedian therefore has to take his chances and tread a thin line and is often made the scapegoat if things go wrong. Also often the senior management don’t want to be seen to be laughing at some of the naughty stuff, which most of them greatly enjoy. One thing that can help you here is turning off the house lights so that only the comedian on stage can be seen.

Respect It might look like it’s just a guy on stage talking, but what we do is very, very difficult. If you don’t believe us, try it sometime. So please treat us with a little bit of respect! While I give 100% at every show I will go above and beyond and happily take on responsibilities that are far outside my scope of work if the client treats me well. Also we understand that there are many events, whether it is weddings, corporate shows or public events, where you have multiple entertainers. We are also aware that currently in your heads in the hierarchy of artists, comedians have no aukat! But give us the courtesy of a timely sound check. All we need is 5 minutes with the microphone and it is very demeaning to keep us waiting for 90 minutes for our sound check when we showed up on time and the lead singer of the band came an hour late.

on to tell us you have a budget of Rs.20,000/-. Yes, that has actually happened! My suggestion is that if you don’t have the budget for a professional comedian, please hire some other kind of entertainer. More often than not, if comedy doesn’t go well it goes badly. There rarely is a middle ground. A bad show by an inexperienced performer is not good for your client relationship and not good for the growth and reputation of our industry either. Lastly please don’t offer professional comedians ‘exposure’ or ‘platforms’ and please ensure the signatory is not travelling when our cheques are due to be signed! If we can show up in time for the show then our payment should too!

Go For It! I’m fully aware that I’ve been blunt and made this sound a little bit scary. This is in the interest of honesty and transparency and ensuring that comedians, event managers and clients can work together in a way that ensures the greater good of everyone. But don’t let the above put you off. Stand-up comedy is a superbly exciting art form that can work in multiple different kinds of public, private and corporate shows. As comedians we offer something different that audiences haven’t seen a lot of. We throw punchlines every 15 seconds which deliver instant gratification in today’s day of limited attention spans. A good comedian can also be a brilliant MC and because of his or her improvisational skills can deal with any crisis during an event. He or she can also preclude the need for you to hire additional entertainment! So, don’t be scared. Dig your hands deep into your pockets and let us entertain you!

If you start your phone call by saying we were deciding between getting Russell Peters and you, then please don’t go

Photo Credit: Prakash Daniel Photography

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ENTERTAINMENT | PHOTO FEATURE

BACARDI TRIANGLE SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDES DURING

HALLOWEEN IN THE BERMUDA REGION

Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding and Kendrick Lamar headlined performances for 1862 attendees. By Dharm Patel

ACARDI TOOK ITS UNTAMEABLE CAMPAIGN TO another level altogether with its latest property called Bacardi Triangle, which was headlined by Grammy award-winner DJ Calvin Harris, hip hop star Kendrick Lamar, and singing sensation Ellie Goulding. The party saw 1,862 invited guests take on one of the world's most mysterious forces of nature, the Bermuda Triangle, in a three-day, music travel adventure from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. It began with three chartered jets from London, New York and Los Angeles, plus scheduled flights from 22 cities around the world, transporting guests to El Conquistador in Puerto Rico. Bacardi made a multi-million dollar investment in the event's activation in 25 cities across the world. It featured a throughthe-line communications strategy including TV, radio, PR, digital and of course, social media. These guests who were flown from their countries (around 10 from each country) were selected through a lucky draw based on a highly-engaging Twitter contest in India and at three pre-parties in Goa, Kolkata and Bengaluru. Speaking about the brand's initiative, Dmitry Ivanov, Senior Category Director - Rums, Bacardi said: "This is the biggest brand experience Bacardi has ever held. We have worked hard to ensure that, at every step of the journey, guests and audience will be intrigued and amazed. We want to inspire men to live boldly and passionately; and we love great parties and music." Over three action-packed days, the fest delivered poolside sets from world-class DJs, a spectacular Black Magic Halloween party headlined by AC Slater and a handpicked artist line-up that took the party through to the early hours night after night. The last day of the weekend culminated with guests being whisked to a private Caribbean island in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle. On the island, Ellie Goulding kicked the evening off with an hour long set jammed with infectious hits from her multi-million selling album Halcyon. This was followed by globally renowned rapper Kendrick Lamar, who had the crowd in a frenzy as dropped his latest singles. As midnight approached, the excitement from the crowd was palpable. Superstar DJ/producer Calvin Harris appeared on stage to the greatest roar of the weekend. His latest album 18 Months and its string of hit singles were played by him on the decks, accompanied by a visual show typical for festivals of 100,000.

“This is the biggest brand experience Bacardi has ever held. We have worked hard to ensure that, at every step of the journey, guests and audience will be intrigued and amazed.” DMITRY IVANOV Senior Category Director - Rums, Bacardi

Commenting on the event, Manish Seth, Director - Marketing & Sales, Bacardi India said: “Bacardi has always had a very special relationship with music and with this party it has carved a niche for itself. The vision behind this grand music festival was to provide a unique and unparalleled experience in terms of music, ambience and memories that the guests would cherish all their lives. We are thrilled that passionate individuals from India got a chance to travel to this iconic party. We look forward to more such great events in the future as our aim is to create unforgettable experiences for consumers worldwide.” This epic music adventure curated by Bacardi is the latest move in the ‘Bacardi: Untameable Since 1862’ campaign. Bacardi brought in production partner Broadwick Live and Snowbombing, to help the brand curate the event from the ground up.

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Attendees during Calvin Harris' set at Bacardi Triangle

The exquisite El Conquistador resort in Puerto Rico

Kendrik Lamar a few moments before his rap performance

The finale of the Bacardi Triangle

Ellie Goulding before her gig

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The vision behind this grand music festival was to provide a unique and unparalleled experience in terms of music, ambience and memories that the guests would cherish all their lives.â&#x20AC;? MANISH SETH Director - Marketing & Sales, Bacardi India

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ENTERTAINMENT | PHOTO FEATURE

HARDWELL AFROJACK MARTIN GARRIX AXWELL & INGROSSO COME DOWN FOR

SUNBURN ARENA By Dharm Patel

Krewella during their multi-genre set at Sunburn Mumbai

Apart from these, the Sunburn Festival Mumbai & Delhi editions saw W&W, Krewella and Cazzette.

HE EIGHTH SEASON OF SUNBURN KICKED OFF with multiple Sunburn Arena gigs in India, all managed by Percept Live. With Sunburn Goa all set to roll from Dec. 27 to 29, these concerts created buzz on the road to Goa. Most tours are partnered by Hero, Micromax, Kingfisher, Provogue, Smirnoff, Jabong.com, Gionee and Quikr among many other brands. It all started with the Axwell /\ Ingrosso Departures Tour in Bengaluru on Sept. 25 and Mumbai on Sept. 26, where Swedish stars Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso (2/3 of the Swedish House Mafia) brought their SFX and pyro-laden show to India after Ibiza. Simultaneously going on, but only in Delhi, was the energetic gig of world’s no. 1 DJ Hardwell. He had brought his ‘I Am Hardwell’ world tour to Mumbai last year and hence came to just Delhi instead this time.

After these couple of Arena gigs, it was time for the Sunburn Festival in Mumbai and Delhi on Oct. 11 and 12. These shows featured the famous Cubezoid stage from the Goa edition and various activations by brands like Hero. Performing at the events were W&W, Krewella, Cazzette, Anish Sood, Dualist Inquiry, Zaeden and Shaan. The month of November got off to a great start right away, with the world’s no. 4 DJ Martin Garrix playing in Delhi and Mumbai on Nov. 1 and 2. The young DJ stunned the audiences with his pumping set and saw opening sets by Russian duo Matisse & Sadko and Dutch DJ Ralvero along with top domestic talent like Lost Stories, Sartek and Knoxx. Finally, Grammy award winning DJ and producer Afrojack performed not just in Mumbai and Bengaluru but Hyderabad as well. His three-city tour, from Nov. 21 to 23 saw opening acts like fellow Dutch DJs Gregor Salto and Apster along with domestic whizkid Shaan.

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W&W pumping their fans at Sunburn Mumbai

Electro duo Cazzette at Sunburn Mumbai

Axwell & Ingrosso lighting it up with their Departures Tour in Mumbai

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ENTERTAINMENT | BRIEFS

Kingfisher returns with the 10th edition of TGIOF

he Great Indian Octoberfest 2014 (TGIOF) was held from Oct. 17 to 19 at E-Zone Club in Bengaluru. The weekend saw performances by artists like Benny Dayal & Funktuation, Lucky Ali, The Ocean Collective, Apache Indian, Raghu Dixit Project, Free Formation, DJ Whosane, DJ Aqeel, Sky Rabbit, Skrat, Bass Kleph and many more. A heady cocktail of music, beer, food, shopping and games all under one roof, TGIOF is a property of Kingfisher Premium and Common Colours. The organizers claim that the three days of the fest attract footfalls of over 65,000, making it

India's biggest annual beer festival. Now in its 10th year, there was a high dose of technologyintegrated engagements. For the first time, TGIOF had drones distributing beer. TGIOF also witnessed the Oculus Rift in action at Kingfisher Beer Coaster. The Headbang Arena (see pic), with a popular debut last year, returned with a competitive two-player face-off format. The old-time fairground photo booth also got a makeover to become a ‘dynamic moving images booth'. Tapping into the popularity of short videos, Kingfisher tied up with a film production crew that captured six-second capsules of TGIOF and will be uploading it for online audiences over the three days of the festival. These and various other videos will make up the aftermovie for the TGIOF which will be released on social platforms.

ANIL MEHTA Partner StarKonnect Events & Promotions

onsidered as one of the finest blues guitarists to come out of UK, Mick Clarke, with his band, performed in India for the first time as part of the 3rd edition of Simply The Blues (STB). A property of StarKonnect Events and Promotions, STB brings down globally acclaimed blues artists to India every year. Blues enthusiasts had a gala night at the concerts as the band enthralled the audience with their electrifying performance on Oct. 25 at St. Andrews Auditorium in Mumbai followed by a gig in Bangalore at Toit Brewpub on Oct. 26.

Backed by Chris Sharley on the drums and Ed Masters on bass guitar, lead vocalist Clarke had the audience in cheers as he belted out singles from all his albums. The act was supported by Big Bang Blues, a six-piece blues artist group from Delhi, which draws its influences from blues, R&B, jazz, funk and rock. 66

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Mick Clarke debuts in India with a tour for Simply The Blues Anil Mehta, Partner, StarKonnect Events & Promotions said: “Blues is in the blood of every true music lover! As blues legend Willie Dixon so rightly summed up: The blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits. Mick has paid his dues on the blues circuit and his style is raw-boned and straight from the gut. The evening was truly a rollicking affair that rocked our senses.”

ENTERTAINMENT | BRIEFS

SHIRLEY GONG Business Manager - Emerging Markets Ray-Ban

yewear brand Ray-Ban held its fourth musical expedition - Ray-Ban ‘Never Hide Sounds’ 2014. This journey was spread across seven cities, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai. This exclusive platform promotes upcoming talent and gives them an opportunity to be mentored by celebrated musicians. This year, the mentorship is led by seven musicians - Harshdeep Kaur, Raghu Dixit, Rahul Ram, Soulmate Shaa’ir + Func, Uday Benegal, and Vinay Venkatesh. With registrations through September and October, the bands were selected soon after. They performed with the ‘NHS Studio Session’ from Nov. 10 to 13. Ray-Ban invited young aspiring bands to showcase their talent in the seven genres of Sufi, Rock, Folk, Pop, Metal, Blues and Fusion music. This is the stage for passionate music lovers who want to celebrate their individuality and unleash the spirit of ‘Never Hide What You’re Made Of’! Shirley Gong, Business Manager - Emerging Markets, Ray-Ban

Ray-Ban ‘Never Hide Sounds’ returns to seven cities said: “Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds is now bigger and better! We reached out to an enthusiastic audience, giving them this unique platform to showcase their unexplored talent. With a great team of mentors, our endeavour is to provide them an unforgettable experience.” ‘Never Hide What You’re Made Of’ is the campaign that celebrates Ray-Ban’s most innovative and pioneering eyewear collection to date. Designed for those who want to celebrate their individuality, stand apart from the crowd and show what they’re made of, the latest collection fuses classic styles with a contemporary attitude.

WARREN DSYLVA Creative Director Entco Media

Standard Chartered Bank presents The Manganiyar Seduction

he Manganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel recently made its grand debut in Dubai at Media City Amphitheatre last month. The concert was produced and promoted by Entco Media in association with Standard Chartered Bank (presenting sponsor) in a unique three-day private and public show format. Directed by Abel, the show is a celebration of a unique genre of Rajasthani folk music. The show was a dazzling union between the traditional music of the Manganiyars and the visual seduction of exotic palace Hawa Mahal. The evening featured Cyrus Broacha as host and comedian.

SUBRAMANIAN IYER Managing Director Entco Media

Warren Dsylva, Creative Director, Entco Media said: “Our objective has always been to innovate with content and create exclusive experiences for clients. With this event, we took our guests outdoors, beyond the limits of a ballroom setup and gave them an exciting concert experience at the amphitheatre. The venue has played host to acts like Eric Clapton, Gary Barlow and Oasis. We re-created a premium round table seating experience with a cocktail lounge overlooking the main stage. For Standard Chartered clients, it was an exclusive private concert experience." Subramanian Iyer, MD, Entco Media said: “We’ve been working in the international private banking space for some time now with a clear focus on creating exclusive brand experiences for private banking clients. With Standard Chartered Bank, we upped the ante by not only doing a regular gala dinner experience, but also gave title rights for a public ticketed event in Dubai. Over the three days, we hosted VVIPs, NRIs and NRPs along with the people of Dubai of course." DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

BRAND ACTIVATION | COVER STORY

Blenders Pride Fashion Tour evolves ‘fashion’ to ‘style’ in its 10th edition SALT Experiences and Management was partnered in this edition to accomplish a stylish experience through Fashion, Music, Design and Technology. By Dharm Patel

OW IN ITS 10TH YEAR, THE Blenders Pride Fashion Tour geared up with a diverse list of well-acclaimed designers, musicians and celebrities, with the core objective of evolving ‘fashion’ to ‘style’. The tour, in achieving a stylish experience, integrated three essential pillars into the fashion showcase - A mélange of music, design and technology was infused into the tour, which was unveiled with a preview event at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai.

Kicking off the tour, Raja Banerji, Assistant Vice President, Pernod Ricard India said: “This is a very proud moment for all of us at Blenders Pride as we celebrate 10 years of style, substance and excellence. The tour has a history of showcasing elegance and glamour by facilitating its magnificent platform to a talented ensemble of designers, artists and musicians. This year, the tour goes grander, infused with newer dimensions from various facets of style along with fashion with style blenders in literature, sports, music and cinema.”

won the account at the end of the final process. Our enthusiasm and focus on the packaging of the event won us the mandate to plan and execute the tour, our first B2C event.”

Fashion g Style Blenders Pride has been instrumental in giving fashion a large canvas and has been a part of the conversations between the celebrated designers and

For its 10th edition, Blenders Pride partnered SALT Experiences and Management to achieve the ‘style’ quotient of the five-city tour. The ebullient tour went to Hyderabad on Nov. 15-16, Gurgaon on Nov. 22-23, Mumbai on Nov. 29-30, Bengaluru on Dec. 6-7 and Kolkata on Dec. 12-13.

“This year, the tour goes grander, infused with newer dimensions from various facets of style along with fashion with style blenders in literature, sports, music and cinema.” RAJA BANERJI Assistant Vice President, Pernod Ricard India

Talking about SALT’s association with Pernord Ricard, Sumit Chandhoke, CEO, SALT Experiences and Management said: “We have been fortunate enough to have Pernord Ricard as one of our key clients and have been ideating, conceptualizing and executing multiple projects for their portfolio of brands. As a natural progression from this successful and meaningful partnership, Pernord Ricard’s management invited SALT to a multi-agency pitch for the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour account. The pitch involved leading event agencies and we

“Our enthusiasm and focus on the packaging of the event won us the mandate to plan and execute the tour, our first B2C event.” SUMIT CHANDHOKE CEO, SALT Experiences & Management

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BRAND ACTIVATION | COVER STORY

Boman Irani providing his definition of style

Boman Irani, Neeta Lulla and Rocky S

Actress and Showstopper for Designers Shivan and Narresh, Sushmita Sen

Pankaj & Nidhi with models in their collection

Showstopper Nargis Fakhri with Pankaj & Nidhi

Cricketer Wasim Akram along with Fashion Designer Suneet Varma and a model from his fashion show

Designers Little Shilpa, Shivan and Narresh along with actress and showstopper Sushmita Sen

Neeta Lulla with models posing in her collection

Models walking the ramp

Fashion Designer Neeta Lulla along with actress, showstopper Aditi Rao Hydari

Boman Irani and Chetan Bhagat at the preview

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BRAND ACTIVATION | COVER STORY

Mannequins installation signifying the three pillar of Design, Music and Technology

models for the past nine years. This year, for the tour, the brand wanted to evolve its brand experience at its core, so as to foster an association with ‘style’. Speaking about the mandate, Chandhoke said: “We were entrusted with the responsibility and challenge to deliver 10 events in five cities that had to surpass what the 'property' has presented in its last nine years of showcase. Our ideas were ambitious and we needed all the support from the fashion and music industry to put this format to test.” The tour was divided into two days per city and each day was dedicated to the style understanding of the ‘Blenders Pride Reserve’ and ‘Blenders Pride’ brands. The Blenders Pride Reserve collection of brands being more organic and hand crafted, while the Blender Pride brands being more edgy and young, the show days with all its elements emulated these characteristics. Each day, an intense integration of designers, musicians and technical interactions resulted in the creation of a stylized show for each and every designer’s collection. Every piece of music, every visual projected on the screens and every live performance was crafted to come alive as one stylish experience. 70

Each event kickstarted with a segment titled ‘Style Speak’ in which the Style blenders - actors Boman Irani and Irrfan Khan, cricketer Wasim Akram and author Chetan Bhagat, opened the event with an inspiring talk on their own ‘style statement’. Providing his definition of style, Boman Irani said: “I have always believed that confidence defines style. From being a photographer to playing different character roles in Bollywood and theatre the one thing that hasn’t changed is my confidence to challenge myself to do something different and doing it well. I define my style by presenting myself in the best way, no matter what character I’m playing. I am very proud and excited to be associated with this tour as this is one platform which goes beyond fashion and has indeed revolutionized the definition of style for its audience.”

look to create some invigorating content through multiple sessions all based around the topic of ‘style’.”

Commenting on how this aspect added a well-appreciated element to each show in the tour, and how the agency intends to build this up in the coming editions, Chandoke explained, “The style blender would be an integral element in the Fashion tour in coming year as well. We intended to start with one inspirational session, for this year, but in the future

In order to create an experience that truly exudes style, all the elements include the décor, music and technology were integrated seemessly. Every experience further ntegrated and complimented the desginer showcasing their collection. Each show begain with a video of the fashion designer explaining their collection, and an insight on how

The tour featured creations of Abraham & Thakore, Gaurav Gupta, Little Shilpa, Namrata Joshipura, Neeta Lulla, Pankaj & Nidhi, Rocky Star, Shivan & Narresh, Suneet Varma and Varun Bahl. The brand has brought on board some of the best music acts in the country including Ankur Tewari, Ash & Ashvin, Boom Bay Central, Karsh Kale, Grain, MIDIval Punditz and Shaa’ir + Func, to have specially curated live music performances. SALT brought on board MIDIval Punditz as the music curators for the tour, where the duo put together a musical tour de force to collaborate and create with the designers live music that was going to be much more than mere walking music for the show.

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BRAND ACTIVATION | COVER STORY

Monica Dogra during her performance

Model walk the ramp in Suneet Varma's show

Mannequins installation signifying the three pillar of Design, Music and Technology

Model walk the ramp in Suneet Varma's show

MIDIval Punditz, music curators

Guests experience the Augmented Reality Photograph Booth

Poppy Jabbal, Style Anchor in Mumbai

Nikhil Agarwal sharing whisky notes of Blenders Pride Reserve Collection with guest

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BRAND ACTIVATION | COVER STORY

An installation with 3D content mapping for Blenders Pride Reserve Collection

they worked ont heir collection. The musicians chosen for the show began with their set, which led into an introduction of the fashion designer and then the show itself. The musicians conitnued through the show and the technology and stage elements too came alive during the show, with LED pixel mapping, reacting to the beats of the music. Visual artists Santana integrated digital designs complimentary to each show as well.

Style integrated pre-function This year’s pre-function area was not just merely a holding area with a bar but an interactive style zone where the invitees coul look at installations and engage with technology via AR screens. Live social media walls and a red carpet experience that welcomed each and every guest, who were engaged to speak about their own style statement. The audiences were wowed with the Blenders Pride Reserve bottle installation which had 3D graphics and visual content providing an insight into the brand’s history. The 2 bars, Blenders Pride and Blenders Pride Reserve bars made for an interesting engagement zone as well, with technology that made for the bars’ colour to change according to the time of day. Guests could have themselves photographed in stylish locales with an interactive Augmented Reality zone. And manequins signifying the three pillars of the style statement of the event – design music and technology also made for visual delights in the pre-function areas.

The LED-lit bar that changed colours as per the time of day

bring out its core brand propositions on the tour, the concept of showcasing style worked very well and brought in a clear understanding of the brand’s core messaging.” SALT worked on a strategy that saw the move from mere fashion to a more holistic approach towards style being built year-on-year and presented a five-year plan to Pernord Ricard. Letting us in on SALT’s plans for the property, Chandhoke explained: “Blenders Pride Fashion Tour is not about selling clothes, it’s an on-stage experience that one needs to deliver with intelligent packaging. This year we saw the three pillars of music, design and technology being integrated beautifully with fashion to bring out the much appreciated format by all. The coming years will see more pillars added to keep it experiential and to keep the style quotient high. The vision for the property is to become a premier style party with fashion being at its core. The next few years will see this initiative break all stereotypes and deliver classic experiences where fashion will truly move to a bigger platform of style.” Finally, acknowledging some of the core team at SALT involved in the project, Chandoke concluded, “It’s important to ackowledge the team involved in this event, especially since its our first B2C event as a company. Tanya Puneet, Sr. Manager Client Servicing, the Salt'ster who was heading the pitch for the project and after months of proactive planning was able to successfully convert it. Also, Harish Bhardwaj, Group Head Production, whose passion and eye for quality and perfection made the production of this project reach new heights."

The SALT story Commenting on the brief, Chandhoke said: “The brief was simple - to create the new exciting vision for this tour and build on the decade long integrity the property had earned as India’s premier fashion showcase. We worked on a simple yet powerful notion: ‘Fashion is skin deep but Style is much deeper and permanent.’ Keeping in mind the brand’s desire to differentiate between Blenders Pride and Blenders Pride Reserve, and

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BRAND ACTIVATION | ALSO FEATURED

Brands Angle For Laughter And Masti On

CHILDREN'S DAY

Right from food related events, story book launch, movie screenings to even a fundraiser to help child labourers, brands spare no effort to make children smile. By R Vasundara

HILDREN, AS A TARGET GROUP, ARE CRUCIAL TO most brands. Small wonder then, that children’s day for sometime now has been used as a platform to market brands and products in an innovative, yet exciting and fun manner. Here’s five of our favourites this year.

Chef Vikas Khanna Rolls Out Magic Rolling Pin Smile Foundation, in fact, has its plans booked solid for children’s day for the next five years. The foundation has tied up with the Inter Continental Hotel group and with chef Vikas Khanna for a ‘Follow your Heart Tour’, for which the chef would be authoring a children’s story book every year. This Children’s Day Chef Vikas Khanna launched his 16th book, ‘Magic Rolling Pin’, the first ever-illustrative book being written by a Chef at Holiday Inn, Mumbai. This is also the first picture book published by Puffin India. The Magic Rolling Pin is the story of a little boy called Jugnu who loved to play in the kitchen and his kitchen garden, with the vegetables, the butterflies, the sparrows. Jugnu can roll perfect round breads with his Rolling Pin. One day, his friends steal his Rolling Pin and he is distraughted because he can’t roll perfect bread anymore. He tries to make the round bread but he fails. He tries again and again and he fails. He gives it up, believing that the magic was in his rolling pin until his grandmother tells him that the magic is not in the tools but in his heart and he should always follow his heart. “It was a completely new experience writing my first ever illustrative book for kids. I wanted to tell the story which was not patronizing yet inspirational for all the kids. I believe it’s very important to encourage children to dream big and follow their heart.” said Chef Vikas Khanna. Inter Continental Hotel group will be following up the launch with several related events at their Holiday Inn Hotels in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Bangalore. Suraj Kumar Jha, General Manager, General Manager, Holiday Inn, Mumbai International Airport said “ We would like to congratulate Chef Vikas Khanna on the launch of his new book' Magic Rolling Pin". It gives us immense pride in associating with the series of event as we shared a common vision linked with the Holiday Inn brand for their 'Kids Stay & Eat Free’ program” “The objective to launch our campaign, Follow your heart tour, is to encourage reading habits in early age and also sensitize more and more people to ensure every child to go to school”, shared Vikram Singh Verma, COO , Smile Foundation. “Jugnu, 74

“Follow your heart tour, is to encourage reading habits in early age and also sensitize more and more people to ensure every child to go to school.” VIKRAM SINGH VERMA COO , Smile Foundation

the little boy in Magic Rolling Pin is a motivational character who will inspire every kid to dream big and follow his or her heart”, he further added.

Coca-Cola And NDTV Scale Up Clean-School Campaign Coca-Cola India, NDTV and UN-Habitat’s multi partner program ‘Support My School’ (SMS) has now scaled up its effort to touch 1000 schools and 350,000 students by 2016. The third season of the program, an effort that started in 2009, aims to add to the government’s efforts under the ‘Swacch Bharat, Swacch Vidyalaya’ initiative. SMS is a WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) initiative that aims to improve basic amenities in government schools like separate toilets for boys and girls and access to water. The launch took place on Nov. 13 at a newly revitalized Sonkh Government Middle School, Nuh District, Haryana. Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, Venkatesh Kini (President, Coca-Cola

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Chef Vikas with kids from Smile Foundation at the Magic Rolling Pin launch event

Zee Cinema entertaining the kids of the NGO on Children's Day

L to R -Venkatesh Kini- President Coca-Cola India and South West Asia,Anushka Sharma & Vikram Chandra –Group CEO-NDTV launched Support My School (SMS)

The CRY installation of a smiling faced boy covered with chai glasses

India and South West Asia) and Vikram Chandra (Group CEO, NDTV) launched SMS in front of around 1000 students, teachers, principals and partners of various schools that have been revitalized under the SMS campaign.

“We believe that businesses today should join hands with the government and civil society to create a lasting positive impact on the communities in which we operate.” VENKATESH KINI President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia

The SRF Foundation, World Vision India, Plan India and Charities Aid Foundation India are all core partners of the SMS campaign. Their directors were present on the occasion and spoke about the need and request of community to scale the program up and take it to more schools. Speaking on the occasion, Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said: “We believe that businesses today should join hands with the government and civil society to create a lasting positive impact on the communities in which we operate. In addition to our focus on environment and water, we have also been focusing on education because we believe that education is the basis of social change.” Sharma joined the students to celebrate Children’s Day with them. Extending her support to the campaign, she said: “I am very excited to be here today and celebrate Children’s Day in this particular school that has been revitalized by the campaign. Today when we as a country have had so many achievements

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BRAND ACTIVATION | ALSO FEATURED at the global platform, it is disappointing to see that basic sanitation amenities are lacking in the country targeting children who suffer the most. After seeing this school and the changes this campaign has brought about, I am very happy to know that Support My School is being taken to 1000 more schools in India.” Commenting on the initiative, Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV said: “We at NDTV have always been committed to initiatives that bring about positive changes in society. We are proud to partner with Coca-Cola for this campaign and extend our support to the students’ needs of adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities. We hope that the campaign successfully revitalizes the 1000 schools it aims to in the next two years and that we can extend support to many more such schools in the country in the future.” Adding further, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation said: “We are proud to be a part of this campaign which has brought about a positive change to education and sanitation in many schools in India. We learnt from the first season to ensure that we provide a holistic development infrastructure to schools in the second season. There are many schools where the enrolment has increased post the work done under SMS and it is great to see that.”

Children watch a short film while slurping on shakes, as part of Shamiana shuffle

The property was launched at the Flower-works in Pune with a screening. Shamiana also did something at the Pantry at Kalaghoda where short films were screened and this was followed by a discussion with the children on small little recipes that they could do.

Shamiana Shuffle

“This is targeted at children below 11 years of age,” said Cyrus Dastur, founder of Shamiana. “Basically we recognize that kids are an extremely important audience. But the type of films they want to watch are not always easily accessible here. So we decided to launch this property where we hold evenings with short film screenings dedicated to kids, sometimes coupled with other activities, since children like doing things. We also do this, with custom specifications for brands and products like icecream, school-wear, amusement parks etc. For example, we have tied up with Haagen Dazs for an evening of films and desserts.”

Shamiana, of the Short Films Club and the Cine Café fame, has now ventured into the realm of children with a new property, the Shamiana Shuffle, which was launched on November 14.

Children tucked into Häagen-Dazs ice-cream and cupcakes while watching the giant rabbit - Big Buck Bunny, Ornie the pig, the Smoke Man or Raghu’s journey towards becoming a monk.

The campaign, in its first four years, has already revitalized 370 schools in 20 states across the country impacting nearly 120,000 students. The schools were revitalized with contributions of nearly INR 20 crores. The schools revitalized under the campaign have served as model schools in several districts and have led to enhanced community engagement and higher emphasis on attendance and enrolment.

“Since children love animation, a majority of the films we screen are animated ones,” added Dastur.

Zee- Movies. Masti. Magic Zee Cinema, in a unique initiative this Children’s Day, brought together under-privileged children in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad to give them an unforgettable experience incorporating elements of their brand proposition – Movies. Masti. Magic.

“Kids are an extremely important audience. But the type of films they want to watch are not always easily accessible here. So we decided to launch this property.” CYRUS DASTUR Founder, Shamiana

In a first ever on-ground initiative amongst Hindi movie channels in India, Zee Cinema took children from various orphanages for a special screening of the blockbuster movie ‘Happy New Year’. The activation was held across three cities – Mumbai at Fun Cinemas on November 6 and Delhi on November 8 at Fun cinemas and Ahmedabad on November 10 at PVR Cinemas. Post the film, Zee Cinema had booked an entire arena with a sumptuous lunch and plenty of indoor games and activities for the kids to have fun all through the afternoon. A magic show was also organised. When the kids returned to the orphanage, Zee Cinema showered them with exciting and cool goodies to make their day even more special. In all over 300 kids participated in the

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BRAND ACTIVATION | ALSO FEATURED the movie channel category. The response to this initiative has been good, so next we may apportion a little more towards BTL advertising. “

Cry Tries To Restore A Smiling Face To Child Labour On the weekend of Children’s day, visitors at the DLF Cyber Hub in Delhi gazed curiously at a giant picture of a smiling boy, suspended a few feet above the ground. The picture looked oddly luminous and distorted, like looking through a translucent glass pane. On closer investigation, they realized it was covered with several thousand small glasses- the kind that are available at tea stalls.

“This was a CSR intentioned event. But as a channel, it also gave us the opportunity to reach out to and gratify our key target audience – children.” RUCHIR TIWARI Deputy Business Head, ZEEL

festivities, including children from Little Angel orphanage in Mumbai. Speaking about the on-ground activation, Ruchir Tiwari, deputy business head, ZEEL, said, “This was a CSR intentioned event. But as a channel, it also gave us the opportunity to reach out to and gratify our key target audience – children.” Commenting on the fact that this is the first BTL activation by Hindi movie channels in India, Tiwari added, “ It’s a growing area of marketing, but right now it is not being leveraged enough in

This was a part of CRY’s (Child Rights & You) campaign for Project Unlearn, which targets children who are exposed to jobs and duties beyond their age. In short, child labour. The project aimed to ensure that 28,588 children are put to school and not work To bring this to life CRY collaborated with 10Q ( An initiative of CRI Events and E-Factor entertainment ) and installed a life size structure of a child's face covered with chai glasses (most obvious space of child labour understood in an urban context) at DLF cyber hub! “We wanted an image that shows how distorted such childhoods are,” said Richa Bansal, General Manager, Resource Mobilisation North, CRY. “ And we wanted to bring it to life in such a manner, that also allows us to raise some funds for the cause. DLF Cyber space was kind to us and let us use their mall space for free for two weekends and even extended the use to their other malls in Delhi. And 10Q too is doing this only on a cost-to-cost basis, rather than charging their regular fee.” “The intention was to spread the message in a contextual manner - people were asked to remove a glass from the face by donating Rs 200 towards the cause - which would lead to reveal the smiling face of the child, thereby achieving the task of putting children subjected to child labour to school,” said Rajesh Varma, joint partner at 10Q and Director at CRI Events. CRY's campaign poster showing a smiling child made up of bricks, fireworks, matches and chai glasses - industries where children are made to work at. CRY currently has a print and poster campaign going on for Project Unlearn which involves a thematic poster of a child made up of the materials most common to child labour, like fireworks, chai glasses, bricks, cycle tyres, rags and so on. “So when CRY came to us about the design, they wanted a panel that showcased child labour through one or a combination of these elements,” said Jai Thakore, Founder & COO, E-Factor Entertainment, who also heads design and execution at 10Q. E-Factor came up with the design for the child panel and executed it.

“We wanted an image that shows how distorted such childhoods are. And we wanted to bring it to life in such a manner, that also allows us to raise some funds for the cause.”

“In all, over 2200 glasses were fixed on the panel, which stood 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide,” added Thakore. “The whole thing weighed about 450 kilos, so we used two motorized pulleys to suspend it. The advantage is that during lean periods, we could suspend it higher for better visbility and get it down, when somebody wants to remove a glass.”

RICHA BANSAL

The campaign has garnered Rs 65,000 so far and will be on display all month at other DLF spaces in Delhi and may also move to other cities.

General Manager, Resource Mobilisation North, CRY

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“In The Case Of HARLEY DAVIDSON, You’re Not Buying Into A Product, You’re Buying Into A Lifestyle” PALLAVI SINGH Director, Marketing, Harley Davidson India

ARLEY ROCK RIDERS RODE INTO Mumbai on the weekend of November 15-16, for season five, in partnership with Only Much Louder (OML). Season five was more than just rock music. It was also all about motorcycles, with over 100 motorcycles to see, live assembling of motorcycles and an exciting tie up with Rajputana Customs, who built a Harley from scratch right in front of all the visitors. R Vasundara, ExM, caught up with Pallavi Singh, Director, Marketing, Harley Davidson India, who was in the city for the fest, on their plans in India. How has the response to the new season of Harley Rock Riders been, in terms of both ticketing and the social buzz? The response has been phenomenal, even from point of view of people reaching out to us. The line-up is great, we have a great partner on board – OML, who is helping us execute the event. Primarily, the complete enthusiasm both from the music and motorcycle fraternity has been incredible. We have roped in Vijay Singh of Rajputana Customs, who will be customizing the Harley Davidson Street 750. This is the first time in India that someone will be customizing a motorcycle for us. It’s a great

piece of work he’s done for us. We’ve seen the bike and it looks badass with great attitude. This is the first year that we have introduced ticketing for Rock Riders and we have had a good number of bookings. A lot of people have come down for the two-day festival and not just for the music, but also to see the motorcycles. We will have many Harley owners and over 100 bikes coming down. And part of the whole experience would be to hear the thundering roar of a hundred V-twin engines.

Why wait until fifth year to scale it up? We launched the street 750 this year. So we are building this great platform of music and motorcycles so, from an outreach customer point of view, people come in and experience the brand and that was the reason we kept it very open. We wanted more and more people to have a great time and music is one aspect we got right, because everybody enjoys music, especially rock music. If you look at Harley Davidson as a brand, it represents self-expression, freedom and these are the great values that the global generation across the world and people in India relate to. And that’s how music and motorcycles here has been a great synergy for us.

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BRAND ACTIVATION | MARKET PULSE

Harley Davidson at India Bike week

You have stayed away from conventional advertising and TVCs. Instead your approach seems to lean more towards BTL…

We generally do a lot of experiential events. We do five main rallies each year, starting from February. We spend a lot of effort into our customer rides. In Pushkar, where we recently held the 3rd Northern H.O.G (Harley Owners Group) rally, we had about 700 riders participating in it. And we spend a lot of effort into surprising our customers. As a brand, we are about touch and feel. Rather than on screen, a brand like ours really stands more for sitting on the motorcycle and really revving it up, taking it out on the open road; It’s all about experiential events on-ground. So we spend a lot of time in bringing that to our customers’ lives.

What is your target group here in India? Elsewhere, the median age of Harley owners today hovers around 46 years. There isn’t any stereotypical Harley owner. In India, we have a fairly young audience, as compared to any other market in the world. So for our street 750 model, we’ve seen customers starting from age 27 and going higher. It’s becoming much younger gradually but our core customer starts from 35+. Nevertheless, because of street 750, it has come down to 27.

Your brand is one of the leaders of the pack, when

it comes to marketing to ‘millennials’ using music. Are you trying to reach out to a younger audience? Music is an integral part of our brand, because if you look at the 60s, we had Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix - they were great musicians and they were part of the riding clubs, even owning Harley-Davidson motorcycles. So rock music in itself represents a rebel. To experience a lifestyle brand like Harley-Davidson, you have to really extend yourself and go beyond your own restrictions and experience it. Here, you’re not buying into a product, you’re buying into a lifestyle. So that’s why a lot of this kind of music becomes part of the DNA of the brand. That’s why music is always there at all our events, whether its zonal rallies, dealership events or Harley Rock Riders. Our dealers regularly hold overnight rides because of the HOG chapters. It’s a very integral part of the brand. Also, the potato-potato sound of the V-twin engine can be related to the guitar and drumming in rock music. Our target group really enjoys it, they embrace it.

What about women rider engagement initiatives? Right now, we have 20 female riders in India. At the Pushkar rally, seven female riders joined the drive. Of them, two ladies were from Pune, one from Dehradun and one from Mumbai. And there was a spirit of brotherhood. Also we have Ladies of Harley group during rallies with special parking place for them DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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BRAND ACTIVATION | MARKET PULSE

Upcoming band Mutemath performing on-stage at the Harley Rock Riders season V

and special photo ops, because they are Ladies of Harley group and they are very important to us. Women empowerment is very important in this country and we really focus on giving them that importance when they come to our dealerships.

very authentic to Rajasthan and that’s the kind of local flavours we tend to bring into people’s lives. But we try and keep it as authentic to the brand as possible because that’s why people buy Harley Davidson.

What kind of a market do you have in tier-II cities?

While marketing through music, what are your parameters for assessing the impact?

We’ve got response from places like Indore and Jaipur. Ahmedabad is a great market for us and Pune is an exponentially great market for us - Street 750 is doing very well there. The aspiration of the customer, whether you live in a metro or a semi –metro, remains the same. There is a huge potential here and we just have to tap more into it. Keeping that in mind, we shall be launching a new dealership in Surat in December.

What is your basic marketing approach in India? Is it tailored to suit local requirements? Like I said, the ethos of the brand does not change. The brand represents freedom of expression, regardless of whether you live in the US or India. The brand relates to people who are like that, who know that this is their right to do whatever they want to do. Nevertheless, during zonal rallies, we try to bring in a lot of local flavor, trying to experiment with music in doing some fusion act for the customers. Recently we had a turban tying contest during one of the zonal rallies in Rajasthan. That is

Whoever attends the Harley Rock Riders, will be given a proper form on the site, that records details on the kind of motorcycle they own, are they expecting to buy a Harley Davidson, do they want us to be in touch with them and so on. That not only helps us evaluate on the kind of event we do, but also the kind of people who come to us. And this is the kind of demographic study we can easily do because it’s all on digital, the number of clicks, the kind of PR coverage and so on. The returns are substantial.

Are there any successful initiatives abroad that may be introduced in India soon? Rider Academy may be introduced because it’s got a great response abroad. It’s a great opportunity for people to learn to ride. It also provides a platform for people to come, be part of the brand and ride their favourite motor cycles. Also, we will develop HOG, because the sense of brotherhood and community it evokes lies at the core of our brand and we really want more and more people to be part of our HOG. That’s at

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BRAND ACTIVATION | MARKET PULSE

Vijay Singh of Rajputana Customs on stage with the custom Harley-Davidson Street 750

Jumpstart at the Harley-Davidson India experience zone at the Harley Rock Riders season V

The 3rd northern HOG rally at Pushkar

the core of whatever we do in terms of marketing.

Rather than associating with specific events, Harley-Davidson seems to often come up with its own properties. Do you have trouble finding events that match your brand value? That is a case with some of them, yes. But the country is evolving and we see some great properties and festivals. That’s good because it lets brands like ours come and be part of it. Also, we sponsored India Bike Week. It’s got great culture, encourages leisure riding. Moreover, it’s driven by ridership, biker groups, and riders coming together, sharing their passion, experiences and why they belong to this community. That’s why we sponsor that event. We believe that if there’s something that gives our customer a reason to ride, we want to be part of that event. But till date, we’ve felt that IBW is really true to what we value.

even their wives, girl friends, and sisters want to be part of it. This gives them a feeling of freedom. So at our Pushkar HOG rally recently, we saw many kids, wives attending the event. Often, we see families coming in to our other events too. Most of our events are very welcoming. We want more and more people. It helps people to ride, and families are made to feel comfortable when they come and see our events. We often see during such weekends, that the wife is riding the husband’s bike. That trend is good because ultimately that lady would want her own motorcycle. We also tied up with the Bindi project. Sunil Desai, their MD, approached us and we thought it’s a great opportunity. We marshalled all our HOG chapters. They rode a few kilometres, they signed a pledge, wore t-shirts and brought their daughters along for the ride.

There was some talk earlier of the Harley-Davidson now being taken up by families too… Oh yes, people with families too are buying this product. And lately we see families coming for our HOG rallies, because now DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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BRAND ACTIVATION | PHOTO FEATURE

Grey Goose and Vogue India

celebrate the spirit of Fly Beyond with a star-studded awards night Guests were treated to exclusive Grey Goose cocktails created to retain the essence of Fly Beyond. By Dharm Patel

CHIEVERS FROM ALL WALKS of life came together to celebrate the spirit of Fly Beyond, Grey Goose vodka’s stunning philosophy and identity. Grey Goose, in association with leading fashion publication, Vogue India, awarded noted artists who have defied expectations, pushed boundaries and created new heights of extraordinary achievements in their respective fields on Nov. 16, at Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. The celebration commenced with the addressing of the audience by Vijay Subramaniam, (Managing Director, Bacardi - India & Southeast Asia) and Priya Tanna, Editor, Vogue India. The evening continued with the award ceremony hosted by renowned Bollywood star, Neha Dhupia, as renowned achievers came onto the stage to felicitate the Fly Beyond and Vogue India Award winners. Guests were treated to exclusive Grey Goose cocktails created to retain the essence of Fly Beyond. Audiences were welcomed with the iconic Grey Goose cocktail Le Fizz along with delectable hor d'oeuvres. On this spectacular evening, Grey Goose presented special cocktails French Mule, 3 Good Things and Negroski crafted by the most prominent bartenders of the country. The ‘Fly

Beyond’ bartenders also served special ‘Hero Cocktails’ such as Grey Goose Le Parisien and Grey Goose L’arome. Some of the guests spotted at the event included Vir Sanghvi, Karla & Phirojsha Godrej, Pernia Qureshi, Huma Qureshi, Malaika Arora Khan, Adhuna Akhtar, Farah Khan, Ali Zafar, Peter Negi, Queenie Singh, Kalyani Chawla, Laila Lamba, Manisha Girotra, AD & Sabina Singh, Niamat Bakshi, Masaba, Karan Tacker, Ricky and Laila Lamba,Aditya Hitkari, Divya Palat, Laila Khan, Ramona Narang Rodella, Surily Goel, Sameer Dattani, Parizad Marshall, Niketan Madhok, Tina Tahiliani, Natasha Poonawala,Gaurav Gupta, Fahad Samar, Bikram Saluja and Shauna Chauhan,

Nikhil Thampi, Vivan Bhatena, Nikhil Palat, Nishka Lulla and Narendra Kumar Ahmed, Aishwarya Nair,Lata Patel, Sunita Choraria, Shana Levy, Simone Arora and Simone Singh. Speaking about the campaign, Manish Seth, Director of Marketing & Sales, Bacardi India said, “Fly Beyond is more than a campaign for us. Grey Goose was born out of a passionate pursuit of the extraordinary and our aim tonight was to honour noted artists who have gone beyond the usual and gone onto doing some extraordinary work within their fields. Grey Goose would like to salute the ‘Fly Beyond’ spirit of these achievers.” Commenting on the association, Arjun Mehra, Publishing Director, Conde Nast India said: “Vogue as the most successful fashion and lifestyle magazine and arbiter of all things stylish is well placed to curate a group of super achievers across the fields of acting, food, art, journalism and more. We are delighted to celebrate and felicitate the most successful people who amaze us with breaking barriers and doing the unexpected.”

Vogue's Anaita Shroff Adjania, Karan Johar & Kareena

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BRAND ACTIVATION | PHOTO FEATURE

“Grey Goose was born out of a passionate pursuit of the extraordinary and our aim tonight was to honour noted artists who have gone beyond the usual and gone onto doing some extraordinary work within their fields.” Kareena Kapoor Khan winning Fly Beyond Actress

MANISH SETH

Manish Malhotra, Kareena and KJO

Director of Marketing & Sales, Bacardi India

Farhan Sips From His Fly Beyond Award

Malaika Arora Khan & Karan Johar

“We are delighted to celebrate and felicitate the most successful people who amaze us with breaking barriers and doing the unexpected.” ARJUN MEHRA Publishing Director, Conde Nast India

Lisa Haydon

Huma Qureshi

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BRAND ACTIVATION | BRIEFS

SAUMEN ROY National Head Madison IES

TicTac promotes new ‘Strawberry Fields’ flavour across three cities

Participants were asked to qualify their personalities as either sweet or not so sweet. Depending on responses, the participants were given either the halo or the horn to wear, following which they participated in the ‘The Challenge Booth' activity in a wind-blower booth filled with light and dark pink chits.

ic-Tac mouth-fresheners added yet another flavour called Tic Tac Strawberry Fields, to its kitty. To create awareness for the new flavour amongst the youth across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, the brand mandated Madison Integrated Experiential Solutions to conceptualise and implement an engagement module relevant to this audience.

As the participants entered the Challenge Booth, the wind-blower at the base of the booth was turned on and the participants had to catch either the light or the dark pink chits based on their personality. The light pink strawberry and dark pink strawberry mascots cheered them on all throughout! The activity engaged with more than fifteen thousand people.

The idea was to specifically establish that each of the twin coloured pellets signify the duality of our personalities - the light pink pellet symbolizes the ‘sweet' while the dark pink pellet, the not so sweet. The agency zoned in on 15 colleges and two malls across three cities to create an experience zone.

Saumen Roy, National Head - Madison IES, said, "It can be quite tricky to engage with a TG that is exposed to countless brands and products at every other touch point. We had to walk the fine line between keeping it simple yet entertaining, in terms of the activities."

SHUBHAM SHUKLA Assistant Manager - Client Servicing Encompass

ncompass recently managed the ‘Colour Mumbai’ activation on Oct. 11 and 12 at Infiniti (Malad) in Mumbai. Asian Paints conducted the activity because it thinks that paint consumers tend to be a lot more cautious when choosing their wall colour - choosing more whites and pastels than other colours. The activation engaged consumers in various colour challenges that aimed at creating awareness around colours and enabled consumers to make colour choices without any hesitation or doubt. The setup was designed such that consumers could choose the walls basis the different colours on them, put them together to form a corner and then decorate the corner with a look they thought best. Props such as an elegant chair, lamps, rugs, show-pieces etc. were available to them for the same. To make this activation even more interesting for the consumers, Encompass involved the well-known speed painter, Rabin Bar, to create unique art pieces for the consumers around their signatures and also engage the

DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Asian Paints urges Mumbai to try out different styles eyeballs with his skills. Shubham Shukla, Assistant Manager - Client Servicing, Encompass said: “Once again, Encompass was faced with the challenge of conceptualising an innovative activation that would attract the right audience for a service, which by itself, is extremely unique. This concept for the mall activation was not like any regular one and had a fair bit of complexity in terms of design and execution. Looking back, I feel we’ve hit the right nail on the head. We look forward to more innovation with Asian Paints!”

BRAND ACTIVATION | BRIEFS

HEMANT DAHIYA Managing Director Salt Experiential Marketing

alt Experiential Marketing recently executed the ‘Ride Smart’ Activation for Hero MotoCorp’s Splendor iSmart. The three-month long activation took place in 130 malls across 87 cities and amassed 2.5 lakh footfalls, 1.1 lakh leads and 60,000 demos, garnering around 2 crore eyeballs in the process. To bring out the automatic ‘stop and start’ feature of the bike, Salt created a virtual-reality gaming experience for participants. The bike itself was mounted on a ‘dyno-run’ setup which facilitated the actual switching on and off of the bike. Actual simulations of road conditions were played on LED screens and the participants had to respond to them to earn points and redeem rewards. The brand fit with the game content further communicated its high fuel efficiency. Besides the gaming experience, promoters explained in detail, the USPs of the bike to prospective customers. Participants were actively engaged with Hero merchandise, with instant photo-uploads on their Facebook profiles. The bike gained 3% market share and grew by 209% since the start of the

Hero’s ‘Ride Smart’ activation goes to 130 malls in 87 cities activation. All this resulted in massive retail sales of 36,000 for Splendor iSmart in October. Hemant Dahiya, MD, Salt Experiential Marketing, said: “The activation was built around a unique concept which was precisely planned and impeccably executed by Salt. It engaged the youth of India through something they loved and enjoyed - gaming! Despite the crowds and an overwhelming response, the experience was seamless. We are really very happy that the innovative idea worked so well for the brand. This activation is a perfect example of the power of activation and what it can do to make a brand popular.”

DIMPLE MOTWANI Senior Manager - Client Servicing & Business Development Communique Marketing Solutions

screens playing AVs.

Maruti Suzuki advocates all to ‘Chase Life’ with the Alto K10

aruti Suzuki recently rolled out the new Alto K10 to the media on Nov. 3 at the Maruti Brand Centre in Delhi and at The Lalit, Mumbai on the same day. Communique executed the launch. The focus of the launch included a new exterior and interiors along with mechanical upgradations, mainly Auto Gear Shift. Thus the ‘ease of driving’ and the ‘car for the new generation’ became integral thoughts in the conceptualisation. Extending the tagline of ‘Chase Life’, the venue was transformed into a ‘Chase Arena’ - a high energy space with high-tech touchpoints. Guests were given personalised passes and the launch area had a specially designed ‘Chase Walkway’ with large

The event began with a keynote address by the MD and a product presentation. The key AV was produced by Communique, using the latest red cameras and involved a 5-day shoot of the car at multiple locations. The unveiling began with a performance by choreographers Bhavini and Rahul, synced with a contextual AV that mirrored their moves. This seamlessly led into a live performance of ‘ Breathless Chase Mix powered by Alto K10’ crooned by Siddharth Mahadevan - son of Shankar Mahadevan. The concept was extended to digital, radio and on-ground amplification. "We were able to translate the brand thought of ‘Chase Life’ into a multi-layered, event experience that personified the positioning,” said Dimple Motwani , Senior Manager – Client Servicing & Business Development, Communique Marketing Solutions. “With the ‘Breathless Chase Mix’ and multiple technology touch-points, the event was replete with many innovations that wowed the media.” DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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GLIMPSES OLD SPICE ‘MANTASTIC’ EVENT The men’s grooming brand held an event in Mumbai on Oct. 29 with ace marathoner and face of Old Spice in India, Milind Soman and Bollywood multi-faceted actor, award winning swimmer and equestrian, Randeep Hooda. The masculine duo inspired Indian men to explore their manly side with the ‘mantastic’ range of Old Spice deodorants.

MCDOWELL’S NO.1 PLATINUM KARAOKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP In its fourth year, the solo singing affair’s country finale took place at D’Bell Cafe in Mumbai on Oct. 12. The winners, selected by a jury comprising Manasi Scott, Neeraj Shridhar and Harshdeep Kaur, will now travel to Sweden to participate in the global finale.

DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

GLIMPSES ORIFLAME RANGE LAUNCH The cosmetics brand recently launched its new range titled ‘The One’. E- Square Eventz & Promos executed the event on Oct. 15 at the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi. It was held amidst the presence of Herald Sandberg (Ambassador of Sweden to India), Niklas Frisk (VP & Head of South Asia and MD of India, Oriflame) and Oriflame’s brand ambassador Huma Qureshi.

LEE 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS The jeans brand came up with a special celebration on Oct. 11 at SVP Stadium, NSCI, Mumbai. It featured a ‘Lee Archive Tour' along with a free-to-attend music concert across five genres, with performers like Monica Dogra, EZ Riser, Saba Azad, DJ Uri, Reggae Rajahs, Sidd Coutto, Vishwesh K and Nucleya.

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TAG HEUER CAMPAIGN LAUNCH The campaign, ‘Don’t Crack Under Pressure’, was unveiled by its recently announced brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor at the Buddh International Circuit in New Delhi on Nov. 11. The brand’s connect with motorsports was demonstrated on the circuit through various performances.

B-BLUNT LAUNCH The hairdressing salon launched its 18th salon in India. The eleven hundred square feet outlet is now providing local residents trend setting and stylish hair experiences at R City Mall in Mumbai. Bollywood actor Farhan Akhar was invited to inaugurate the salon and congratulate the team on the newest addition to the chain.

DECEMBER - JANUARY 2015 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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SLAM! THE TOUR The seven-city worldwide tour, managed by Cineyug, featured SRK, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Malaika Arora Khan, Boman Irani, Farah Khan, Sonu Sood and Madhuri Dixit among others.

DELTIN ROYALEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS The off-shore casino celebrated with great splendour over three days, from Nov. 7 to 9 and invited various guests from all over the world to be a part of it. The nights were filled with live performances by singers Shalmali Kholgade and Natalie Di Luccio; bands A-26, Tidal Wave, Manthan, Silvia & the Beatroute Band and Emiliano; along with other acts.

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