June 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Smirnoff ......June 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 54 Smirnoff Experience 2010. Life is calling. Be There. From Rotterdam to New York

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June 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 54

Smirnoff Experience 2010. Life is calling. Be There.From Rotterdam to New York to Johannesburg to Mum-bai, the Smirnoff Experience is a unique property created by Diageo, the parent company of Smirnoff. The event en-gages and provides a platform to electronic music lovers to unite worldwide and gain a true experience of the brand Smirnoff. Smirnoff Experience was initiated by Diageo for the first time in the UK in 1997 as an outdoor electronic dance music festival. The property was further made global in 2001. In India, the Smirnoff Experience took place for the first time in the year 2002.

Santosh Kanekar, Executive Director-Marketing and Inno-vation, Diageo India, said, “The Smirnoff Experience is all about creating the most exciting and original dance music parties. It’s all about the experience provided to the audi-ence. The event brings the world’s best DJs, thousands of diehard fans, spectacular sound and lighting, and most importantly, a forum for all those electronica fans to engage in and share their passion under one roof.”

At every touchpoint Smirnoff Experience weaves in the three brand characteristic of Smirnoff - extraordinary, unex-pected and unforgettable.

Seventy EMG and SmirnoffSmirnoff Experience in India has always been managed by Seventy EMG. In these eight years, the event has been held in over 18 Indian cities. Thanush Joseph, Director-Marketing, Seventy EMG, said, “With Smirnoff Experience year after year, our aim has always been to present a unique experience to the people. We have always brought cutting-edge thought, act and technology under one roof for our target audiences. We always ensured that we were on the boil - in the quality, creative and operational sense. Thus, Smirnoff Experience is claimed to be the country’s best dance and electronic music event.”

Starting with just Mumbai initially in 2002, the Smirnoff Experience has now touched every corner of this country. From Goan shacks to banquet halls to outdoor concert venues and everything in between, Smirnoff Experience over the years has been evolving. Joseph added, “We have been improvising constantly with the property and have introduced iterations in the past such as a week-long Smirnoff Goa Sunset Sessions leading to an Experience at night; the Mobile Party concept of Trip2Goa wherein we arranged for buses which carried loads of party animals to Goa via Ganpatipule, with a massive all-night party on the beach and continued in Goa at the Smirnoff Experience.” In the past, events such as the 2007 Bangalore Smirnoff

By Shweta Ramsay

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Experience featuring Ferry Corsten, 2006 John Digweed tour, and the-three day festival at Kamla Mills in Mumbai in 2005 still evoke strong recall and memories among the TG, till date.

The Smirnoff Experience India took a break for two years in 2008 but was back this year. Kanekar said, “The core philosophy of the Smirnoff Experience is to create an original unexpected experience. We haven’t held one for two years because we were trying to refresh the idea and see where we could go. So many venues are bringing in DJs now and so we wanted to see what kind of experience we could create.”

Smirnoff Experience 2010 IndiaThis year, the Smirnoff Experience was held in three cities. The event was held on May 7 at The Grand in Delhi, on May 8 at Renaissance in Mumbai, and on May 9 at E-Zone in Bengaluru. Previously, the Smirnoff Experience parties in India had brought artistes such as Paul van Dyk (PvD), Sasha, John Digweed, Ferry Corsten and John 00 Fleming.

This year, the Smirnoff Experience 2010 presented the German DJ duo Cosmic Gate, which comprises Nic Chagall and Bossi. They rose to fame with their anthem song ‘Body of Conflict’ and the single ‘Not Enough Time’. The duo is also considered as authority remix specialists with their remix for the theme song ‘I See You’ from the 2009 blockbuster movie ‘Avatar’. The duo was brought down to India by Oranjuice Entertainment.

Other artistes performing for the event included Jalebee Cartel DJ set, Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl.

Set, design and live actsCutting-edge technology was used to create the sets to give electronic music lovers the feeling of entering a digital

paradise. The decor was dominated by bright-coloured elements. The venue design was coupled with a bar that came up with customised cocktails, making it a unique drinking experience for people. Every 60 minutes, the bar background was transformed and along with the change in background, a new customised drink was served.

During the Smirnoff Experience, at the respective venues in the three cities, only Smirnoff and Smirnoff-based drinks were served. People could avail Smirnoff in the form of mixers, shots, cocktail, as well as along with soft drinks. Adding to the originality of the Smirnoff Experience, Smirnoff lovers were given an opportunity to taste new and exciting Smirnoff drinks. Smirnoff Mule, Smirnoff Caipirojka and Smirnoff Banta were the names of few drinks that were specially created for the event to give people an original drinking experience. The bar had large format prints that communicated the brand message and specific cocktails being served.

There were several Bohemian stiltwalkers and human statue artistes to entertain the crowd, lighten up the ambience and create a feeling of excitement and frolic. There were also a special troupe of artistes called Light Faktor performing


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PromotionsCommenting on the promotions for the event, Joseph said, “This was the largest digital and social media promotion that had been done till date on any Smirnoff Experience India. It encompassed digital banners, social media, and one month of on-premise promotions and one week of radio promotions across all three cities.”

On-ground promotions were done in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Bengaluru.

Consumers buying Smirnoff tower were awarded a couple pass to the Smirnoff Experience and their friends were given information cards about the event. The Smirnoff Experience was a ticketed event and tickets were made available through Bookmyshow.com. Prior to the event, a lucky draw contest was held online. All participants had to state their most exciting ‘Life is calling moment’, and winners were provided passes to the Smirnoff Experience.

Drink responsiblySmirnoff extensively promoted the message ‘Drink Responsibly’ among all its target audience and party attenders. Packaged water was available at all times to everyone at the chosen venues. A special water tower was created so that people could access water easily. Several non-alcoholic drinks were also available at the bar and people were given special concessions on choosing to consume them. Responsible drinking messages were most visible in restrooms.

The event had tied up with Party Hard Drivers (PHD) in every city to ensure that people do not drink and drive. PHD is a driver service which commissions drivers for the night when people party and drink, and therefore cannot drive. The drivers are checked by police and have official uniform and ID cards. Seventy EMG had arranged for about 30 cab drivers in Delhi, 40 cab drivers in Mumbai, and 50 cab drivers in Bengaluru. Special promoters were informing people and taking bookings for the drivers in each every city. There was also a ‘Do not drink and drive’ counter where people could have the numbers for all the available cab services in the respective cities, like Meru Cabs, Gold Cabs and more.

Thanush added, “After a gap of two years, we received an incredible response and encouragement. The event was attended by 1,500 people in Delhi and Mumbai respectively, and 4,000 people in Bengaluru. We look forward to many more Smirnoff Experiences in future as we feel that the ownership and experience really is stamped in Seventy EMG’s DNA.”

light art and light graffiti. Light art is a form of visual art wherein the main medium of expression is artificial source of light. The artistes were interacting with audience and also encouraged them to get involved light writing.

In Delhi, the sound, lights and AV was managed by Modern Stage and Lights. In Mumbai, the sound was managed by Sound and Lights Professionals, whereas the lights and AV were managed by LGL Designs and Spectrum Audio Visuals, respectively. In Bengaluru, the sound, lights and AV were managed by J Davis.



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Maharashtra attained statehood on May 1, 1960, when the then Bombay state was divided into two states - Maharashtra and Gujarat - on the basis of different languages, Marathi and Gujarati, under the Saurashtra re-organisation act. Maharashtra retained old capital Bombay, and today the renamed Mumbai witnesses a galore of activities to mark this day. The fact is that the history of this day may not be known to the many - even to the several event organisers who try to rub in the Marathi pride on this day. But as long as the cash flows in, and as long as the summer breeze is cooled with some distraction, history is literally a thing of the past. Enter, exorbitant parades of glitter and extravagant shows spanning the geography of Mumbai.

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) had floated tenders inviting event agencies to develop a plan to make May 1, 2010, memorable. The idea was to have a multimedia event by the Queen’s Necklace (Marine Drive) and thus glorify of the state of Maharashtra. About 10 agencies pitched in their ideas; Done Events emerged the winner. However, the triumph was shortlived as the results of the tender were out only on April 23, thus leaving just eight days for the agency to get its act together.

Jai Maharashtra!

By Priyanka BorpujariTalking about the event in retrospect, Girish Bhat, Event Director, Done Events, said that once the materials were in place, the next challenge was to put uo everything in place for the D-day. “In our storyboard, we had presented an event full of colour - with laser lights and fire crackers, and water screens from the Arabian Sea. It was a tall promise to deliver in just eight days, but we delivered nonetheless.”

The event commenced at 8 pm with a laser light show. This was to depict the richness of Maharashtra - be it in its culture, food, heritage, people, etc. This six-minute laser show was projected onto the Air India building, from the terrace of the building’s first floor. Four 25-watt colour laser lights were brought from Vienna, while some lights were also brought from Egypt. In all, the laser show was richly done with the help of four 18-watt green lasers, one 65-watt green lasers, and three 13-watt green lasers.

“The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were really considerate in switching off the street lights of the entire stretch of the Marine Drive. This was to facilitate our 7,000-watt lighting on the pavement. Also, the northward traffic, which is in

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proximity to the sea side, was halted for about half an hour during the period of the entire extravaganza. The show wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the cooperation of the various government authorities,” Bhat said.

Post the laser show, the dark sky was light by several colours of sequins. An elaborate firecracker show was carried out from some of the buildings on Marine Drive. In all, there were 15 series of multi-coloured firecrackers that were lit and brightened the May sky. At the same time, some firecrackers were lit from the barges on the Arabian Sea.

“For the first time in India, we had a digital operation of firecrackers from the barges on the sea, which was managed through wireless connectivity. The entire control was set up at H2O at Chowpatty and that’s how there was a simultaneous firecracker show from either sides of the Marine Drive road - there was some from the buildings, and then from the sea,”

Bhat reminisced.

Along with the barges being the base for the firecrackers on the Arabian Sea, another flamboyant show was that of water screens. There were two water screens, opposite the Intercontinental Hotel which was juxtaposed with music playing. In all, there were nine LED screens on the pavement from H2O to the Air India building.

Talking about the logistical challenges to deliver a show of such magnitude, Bhat said that the right contacts at the right place had helped in ensuring the smooth process of the show’s planning. “We bagged the contract on April 23 and we immediately got rolling with getting the material in place. By April 25, all the material had arrived by air, which saved time. All the permissions needed were facilitated by MTDC itself, so we had no cause of worry with what we were setting up. But then we were working on the sea, and the waters were not really friendly or

Fashion weeks for the fairer sex had hit the headlines more than a decade ago, and from one single event, the number of shows has gone up. From national plat-forms to city-centric fashion showings, most of the fashion shows make headlines for the right reasons.

Hitherto, only Paris, Milan and New York had exclusive ‘men’s week’ fashion events. The year 2009 saw the birth of a new concept and a new challenge, as India was getting its own men’s fashion week.

Shital Kumar Mehta, COO, Van Heusen, heard the storyline on the phone. There was an extended pause, and then in a simple statement that summed it all up, she said, “Can you come over to Bengaluru to discuss this?” Sunil Sethi, President, FDCI, had always dreamt of hosting a full-scale men’s event, and when the three came together - FDCI, Van Heusen and Creatigies - there was no stopping a new idea from being born.

Fashion today is no longer restricted to women. Men have moved beyond decid-ing their favourite tie colours to actually cultivating loyalties to designers and life-style brands. Menswear today generates approximately 80 per cent of the branded sales market in the country. However, there was a complete lack of an all-en-compassing showcase that would target only men, and after a decade of success-ful India Fashion Weeks, FDCI was ready to explore this growing potential of men’s fashion in India in partnership with Van Heusen.

The rst ‘Van Heusen India Men’s Week’ (VHIMW) marked a milestone to give menswear designers a structured impetus and the much-needed platform. With the event, India became the fourth country in the world to host a separate men’s week to tap and channelise the growing potential of fashion for men in India. The week was a world class event showcasing the very best of Indian talent. Held in Delhi at The Grand from September 11-13, this fashion extravaganza comprised 15 shows and designer displays. Designers were invited to cover the widest range of men’s fash-

ion - menswear and accessories - under one roof, affording buyers and consumers the widest possible selection of fashion for men.

The ‘VH Emerging Designer of the Year 2009’, was chosen from hundreds of en-tries, and was felicitated and given a chance

to showcase the de-signs at the fashion week. VHIMW took the rst few steps gingerly, but the moment it gathered momentum, the small steps turned into strides, as Van Heusen used this opportunity to con-nect with couture.

The grand nale of the VHIMW had Sal-man Khan walking the ramp in creations by Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna. The same designs had led to the rst ‘Couture - Van Heusen’ launch just a few days ago.

“People think that designer fashion is not affordable. This is a wrong notion, and with the help of Van Heusen, we are trying to change it. So we are offering you fashion straight from the ramp to the rack,” said Rohit Gandhi, at the launch of the Cou-ture Van Heusen line at the agship Van Heusen store in Connaught Place New Delhi. Fashion from the ramp had seam-lessly moved onto the retail shelves, where hundreds of keen customers would now get their ll of couture at a store.

“The collection is based on the theme ‘Hy-pernature’ that the designer duo had show-cased at the grand nale of VHIFW 2009, and being a Spring/Summer Collection, April 2010 was the best time to launch the line,” said Shital Kumar Mehta.

The manufacturing of the garments has been done at the Van Heusen plants, but the designer duo saw the nal product per-sonally before it hit the racks. “The whole idea of this initiative is to help designers reach out to more people. So, while the grand nale designer will bring out exclusive collections with us, we will rope in more de-signers to churn out seasonal collections,” Mehta added. Once again, this was about making the consumer see, touch, feel and experience couture, just around the corner. After all, it needed the premier readymade brand to break some rules!

MARKET PULSE May 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 43

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predictable. We had to bear in mind the high and low tides and their timings. We needed to ship in the barges, as well as set up the water screens, and the winds were working against us. At the same time, there is not a proper barge or jetty area at Marine Drive, so that was another issue that we faced while setting up the water screen. Nevertheless, we pulled it off really well and on D-day, everything was running smoothly,” Bhat elaborated.

Bhat said that the event had been advertised to a great extent across Mumbai and that had managed to garner in a large crowd, the numbers which Bhat could not provide. But ask him about the difficulties in managing an event for the government, and his reply is like none of those which portray government officers as sloppy and lackadaisical. “In the short time span, and given the plethora of ideas that had to come to fruition, nothing could have been possible had it not been

for the cooperation of MTDC. There was one officer who sat with us for meetings till mid night! My perception of government officers as sloppy has changed after this event. Whatever was needed to get the things done, the officers made way for us without a sigh or grumble,” Bhat said.

Done Events colaborated with Munjal Events for the management and planning of this project. InVision handled the production of the event, Sound.com provided audio solutions, AV Solutions were proved by Vinayak Video Vision while support for the firework show was provided by Morani Fireworks.

Indeed, the hardworking and cooperating people of Maharashtra need to be applauded - be it through events, or just a kind gesture - and that’s how May 1 can be welcomed with a salutation nothing less than ‘Jai Maharashtra!’


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By Shweta Ramsay

SAB Ka Mela


Keeping up with its brand promise of ‘Asli Mazaa Sab Ke Saath Aata Hai’, family entertainment and comedy channel SAB organised a fun and entertainment initiative called ‘SAB Ka Mela’. This Mela is being held in 18 Indian cities, and will be spread for over a period of five days in each city. The initiative is being managed by Timebox Entertainment Services Pvt. Ltd.

Why SAB Ka Mela?Commenting on the initiative, Anooj Kapoor, Business Head, SAB TV, said, “SAB has achieved 300 per cent growth in the past year and half, and thus we decided to organise a unique engagement initiative to celebrate with our viewers. ‘SAB Ka Mela’ is our sincere effort to connect with our audiences across India. We are inviting the country to join the SAB family and be part of this unique initiative. We understand that Melas are a part of the unique Indian culture and we hope that ‘SAB Ka Mela’ too, with its line-up of exciting performers, activities and fun, will strike a chord with our audience. The event is also a platform wherein our viewers would get to meet the artistes from various SAB shows and have fun with their entire family.”

The city to witness the first ‘SAB Ka Mela’ was Ahmedabad, from May 5-9 at the Ahmedabad Education Society grounds. The cities for the Mela have been chosen based on the viewership of SAB audiences. “We have a strong viewership in the Hindi-speaking belt of North India, Madhya

Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Thus the Mela will be held in the cities of these regions,” Kapoor added. The Mela will be held in other cities post the monsoon.

Timebox bags it!In order to conceptualise and execute ‘SAB Ka Mela’, a multi-agency pitch process was conducted. Javed Shaikh, Director and Business Head, Timebox Entertainment Services, said, “Timebox received a brief in December 2009 along with other agencies. Our constant innovation, with respect to concept and profound detailing, won us win the pitch. We won the pitch process against 18 national agencies. The brief given to us was to organise a Mela wherein the entire family would have fun and entertainment. The event was mutually conceptualised by SAB and us.”

Set-up of MelaShaikh said, “The venue we chose in Ahmedabad had a 3.5 lakh square feet area. We had divided it into five major zones - Shopping Zone, Entertainment Zone, Food Zone, Family and Kids Zone, and Gaming Zone. The Mela had a mixture of attractions like games, rides, contests, stalls, art and culture shops, traditional folk dance and song performances. Our aim was to encompass everything in the Mela that would engage kids, youth, parents and even grandparents. But the biggest challenged we faced while managing the Mela was the high temperature and heat, as it was peak summer in Gujarat at that time.”

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InaugurationA colourful procession consisting of shehnai, nasik bazza, kacchi ghodi, stiltwalkers and air joggers marked the beginning of ‘SAB Ka Mela’, and guests were led towards the Entertainment Zone. The opening took place with a lamp-lighting ceremony by Kapoor, along with TV personalities Smriti Irani and Juhi Parmar. The opening ceremony was followed by a classical performance by the Nritya Bharti group.

Some of the highlights of the ‘SAB Ka Mela’ in Ahmedabad included a ‘Hasya Darbar’ by comedians Gopal Barot and Gajab Joshi, special performances by Panghat Group, Gujarati mimicry by Praful Hingu, visit by popular SAB stars Abbas Khan and Priti Amin, performance by child artiste Meet Mitva, and a Bahrupiya sequence.

Venue mapOn entering the ‘SAB Ka Mela’ area, the visitors first arrive into the Shopping Zone which includes several FMCG, fashion and jewellery brands, showcasing their products in over 40 stalls. Some of the brands present included Baby Prince, Usha International, Nova Electrontech, Sewa Kalakruti, Madhur Industries, Bikaner Jewellery, Shyam Marketing, IIHT, Smruti Awards, PK Leather, Gayatri Optical.com, Osim India and TTK Prestige.

Since the mega event was set to attract huge crowds, many brands saw the event as an opportunity to engage visitors through activations. Pepsi conducted sampling activities; Osim created awareness about its massagers and gave away free massages; and Sarover Impex conducted sampling of its fruit juices. Skoda displayed its new car model and allowed people to get a look and feel the product.

The shopping zone also encompassed a social and cultural zone wherein live demos were given on how to make pottery, handicrafts, puppets, rugs, carpets, embroidery and more. This area is set up to initiate an interest amongst the young on local culture and art.

The Gaming Zone had many rides for kids to enjoy. Rides such as Tora Tora, Christopher Columbus, Merry-Go-Round, and games like basketball, roll ball, balloon shooting, feed-the-clown, magic wheel, pyramid tin games and many more kept the children engaged. There were 25 stalls in the Game Zone.

In the Family Zone, there were many more activities to engage kids as well as the entire family. There were Bouncing Castles, Rock Climbing Wall, Catapult Bungee Jumping, Fun Ride Train, set up. Kids could enjoy horse-back and camel-back rides. To create a lively and exciting atmosphere, stiltwalkers, moonwalkers and clowns were engaging and entertaining the crowd.

The Food Zone was inundated with food varieties from north India as well as other delicacies, across 25 stalls. From street food like chaat items and popcorn, to traditional food like kiccha to pizza - everything was made available for the visitors.

The Entertainment Zone had a special stage area wherein many performances were conducted. There was a talent hunt organised for which over 15 schools and colleges from Ahmedabad were invited to participate. Meet and greet sessions with SAB TV stars were also held in this zone. Local and folk artistes were also invited to perform


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traditional dances and songs.

PromotionsPromotions for the ‘SAB Ka Mela’ were done through a mix of ATL and BTL activities. ATL elements like scrollers on SAB TV, regular teaser campaign on SAB channel, hoardings, radio and print were extensively used for to promote the event. Buzz was created in many schools and colleges in Ahmedabad by getting registrations for the talent hunt contest at the Mela. Other BTL promotions included branding rickshaw backs, mall-branding and branding in multiples by showcasing slides during the film intervals.

ResponseCommenting about the response ‘SAB Ka Mela’ received in Ahmedabad, Shaikh said, “SAB Ka Mela was attended by over 45,000 people in Ahmedabad. Being a one-of-its-kind initiative, we found people were very excited about the event. We also observed many

people attended the event for all five days with their families. The event provided us a wonderful learning experience as well. We will be adding a lot more entertainment to make the show larger than life in the other cities lined up for ‘SAB Ka Mela’ We will be conducting the Mela next in the cities of Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Raipur, Nagpur and Surat, post the monsoon season.”



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The quote attributed to American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, holds true for any product or service. Under-

standing the value of an idea and getting it executed is a different ball game. Many instances have been

reported where the idea was great, while the execution could not match up to the ideation

process, and thus delivering a sub-standard product or service.

Over the years in the event management industry, one notices that idea alone cannot ensure an agency the entire project. Unarguably, cost is the major deal-maker for awarding any project. With marketers tightening their purses even further than before, agencies have to ensure that they conceptualise an event or activity which is unique, has the relevant brand-fit, communicates the brand message and yet can also be cus-tomised to fit the client’s budget.

In such a scenario, stealing of con-cepts has been a regular practice which has not been curbed till date. While most of these instances come to light, certain big ones like the IPL

closing ceremony involving Encom-pass and the IPL Committee, have

brought the topic out in the open again, with agency heads talking of finding a

solution for this problem.

EVENTFAQS decided to gauge sentiments from agency heads across the country on the

subject, and received quite similar perspec-tives from all. While some chose to mince no

words, others treaded carefully on the thin line by not pointing fingers at the culprit and just acknowl-

edging the presence of this issue.

By Jagadeesh Krishnamurthy

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Valuing an ideaWhile clients usually value the business sense of an idea through its return on investment, there are cases where an idea is taken forward for the long-term non-monetary benefits of the brand. However, every idea has to be of a certain value and needs to be quan-tifiable for the marketer. Over the years, it has been noticed that very rarely do Indian clients pay only for the concept.

Noting that clients are hesitant about the cost attached to the conceptualisation of an event, Manuj Agarwal, COO, PDM India, maintained, “Yes, unless there is a substantial media multiplier which can be quantified or quantifiable reach numbers like TV audience, live audience, etc. a client is unlikely to pay for purely the concept.”

Roshan Abbas, MD, Encompass, though sharing a similar point of view on the value attached by the cli-ents to concept, strongly criticised the treatment meted out to agencies. He pointed out, “Clients do value the ideas we present but then there is often a procure-ment or purchase department that feels no qualms in showing a concept to other vendors and asking them to quote for it. Our malaise is that we are all treated as vendors!!”

On the other hand, Farhad Wadia, CEO, E18, noted that only a handful of clients value the cost of concep-tualisation and said, “Many clients do opt for executing the ideas from other agencies without giving due credit to the conceptualising agency.”

Execution as an intrinsic part of a conceptIndustry veterans observe that most clients expect the agency to only charge for the event execution, and not for the thought behind it. Mohomed Morani, Director,


Manuj AgarwalCOO, PDM India

Hariharan Subramanian Co-founder and Director,

Nyka Events Pvt. Ltd

Cineyug, pointed out, “Most of the corporate clients have an advertising agency who conceptualise the idea for the brand, which is then given to the event management company for execution. Only if they don’t have an agency on board, are brands generally open to new ideas from event agencies.”

Meanwhile, K Hariharan, Director, Showspace Solu-tions, observed, “if you look at it in terms of the value, the client os willing to pay more for execution than ideation. 95 percent of the time it would be necessary that the event management agency is executing the project, in order to get the desired value for the con-cept. The client tends to tone down the value of the concept when the agency isn’t executing that project as well.”

Sharing a similar sentiment, Hariharan Subramanian, Co-founder and Director, Nyka Events Pvt. Ltd, ob-served, “It is not very often that an event management company gets to quote separately for conceptualisa-tion. The industry is such, as of today, that concepts are a part of event management fees. It is not treated separately.”

Are clients trustworthy?While most event managers agreed that they have been in a situation, where one of their ideas was passed on to another agency for execution, most of them chose to not reveal these campaigns as some of them continue to share a working relationship with the same client.

The most vocal from amongst the agency heads, Ab-bas said, “Even after the experience Encompass had with the IPL closing ceremony and many other such situations that have happened with other agencies in


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the past, no action is taken by anyone. We tried but there was no NDA signed.”

Encompass had initiated efforts to seek clarification from the Indian Premier League (IPL) Committee on the glaring similarities found in the closing ceremony, and the pitch it had presented for the opening cer-emony of IPL 2009. The agency also looked into all the options available to address and resolve this issue amicably. The IPL closing ceremony was managed by DNA Networks, which has been managing all the on-

ground activities for IPL.

“In our case, we were told by IPL that a Belgian firm presented the concept and there were a few variations between the concept on-air and our con-cept. A variation of 20 percent but that is enough to make us fight for years in proving our idea was sto-len, copied, used. I haven’t even been able to lo-cate the Belgian companies website”, added Abbas.

Voicing his displeasure, Nyka’s Subramanian, re-marked, “Most clients insist during a pitch, that they will be fair with agency with the best idea. But that never happens. I understand that every brand in this world works on budgets. These budgets are also gen-erally indicated in the brief. The ideas presented are the ones that can be implemented as per the budgets indicated. Yet, the client, more often than not, decides to be unfair to an agency that has worked a good con-cept.”

Urging the agencies to identify corporates who are not trust-worthy, Hariharan observed, “It all depends on the corporate culture of the organisation. If you look at the culture of a company over a period of time, one realises the sincerity shown by the client towards the agency. It is the agency’s prerogative to decide on whether they want to work with a client who has shared others’ ideas with them or not. Because, there are chances that the Roshan Abbas

MD, Encompass



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is a law which requires us toregister our idea or con-cept, and it protects the idea from duplication. How-ever, the process is not simple and is time consuming. Moreover, no one really wants to get into litigations on these as it could be a waste of time, money and ef-forts. It is all about ethics, and going the legal route is not a viable option all the time.”

“All MNCs value the concept and ideation process from the event agency. All our pitch presentations have an IP clause in it, which states that the intellectual prop-erty of this project rests solely with Alternate Brand Solutions India Limited (ABSIL). Though IP norms are not particularly stringent in India, all MNCs do take a notice of it. It is a practice across the industry. We also have an IP division at ABSIL, where we register every

agency’s ideas might also be shared in the same man-ner with other agencies as well.”

Laws, moral responsibility and pre-cautionsNon Disclosure Agreements (NDA) have been the norm across all industries worldwide, with many companies opting for a standard disclaimer while other even go for elaborate multi-page documents. Denying that it is a norm in India, PDM’s Agarwal, added, “Agencies are only starting to sign NDAs now. Moreover, Copyright laws are vague and it is very difficult to take anybody to task specially in concepts related to an event as slight changes here and there can be presented as a different concept.”

Abbas pointed the double standards observed by cli-ents, and observed, “When a client believes they have a concept, they make us sign an NDA (channels par-ticularly). However, when we present a concept, it is a pitch with five other agencies at the door, all present with our tail between our legs!”

“I do not believe that an agency has to get their idea copyrighted before presenting it to the client. If that happens for all pitches, agencies will need to have a legal department that is as big as their operations or client servicing departments. It is in good faith that we present our ideas today. By law, it is very difficult to prove that a certain idea was only presented by a cer-tain agency,” Balasubramaniam observed.

Sharing a similar thought, Morani said, “Passing on ideas by clients to other agencies for execution hap-pens a lot, which is unethical and needs to be con-demned. It is not necessary that two people cannot have similar ideas, but you feel otherwise after spend-ing a lot of man hours working on the concept. There


Mohomed Morani Director, Cineyug,

Amit Sharma Business Head, 360 Degrees Experience

K Hariharan Director, Showspace Solutions


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Celebrating

idea before we take it to the client,” observed, Amit Sharma, Business Head, 360 Degrees Experience.

“The only way to find out if the client has executed one of your ideas with another agency, is if you have main-

Farhad Wadia CEO, E18

tained some relationship with them. Event agencies are not like advertising agencies who have an AoR model, and the chances of finding out if the activity has happened are slim,” he added.

Why blame the client alone?Pointing out that executing agencies should have a moral responsibility and share credits with the con-ceptualiser, Hariharan remarked, “The word ‘moral re-sponsibility’ is a loose term to be used in a competitive scenario. Agencies find it difficult to refuse a client who provides an idea and asks for execution. This situation can be helped only if agencies start to respect what they do and value a creative concept enough.”

On a similar note, Abbas noted, “Agencies have no qualms in using each others ideas. We have taken a principled stand and not done it ever and can vouch for it. Unfortunately for today’s profit we all sacrifice our collective futures.”

Mincing no words, Wadia, summed up the situation, “Morally, yes agencies have a responsibility! But prac-tically will someone do it? How can you prove if the idea has been subtly changed or adapted? But, in an ideal world this should happen! However, we live in a flawed reality!”



June 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Smirnoff ......June 2010, Mumbai EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 54 Smirnoff Experience 2010. Life is calling. Be There. From Rotterdam to New York

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