Events | Entertainment | Promot ions | MICE | BTL | Sponsorship | Sports

Going the distanceHow accurate are destinations’ MICE strategy?

Event in Focus: Panasonic ‘Sound for India’ p 28 Delhi Airport- T3 launch p 34Conventions India 2010: Curtain raiser p 38

Also Featured:On-ground goes On-line p 24 PwC Report on Indian E&M industry p 41 Thailand: Making the right connection p 52

Experiential Destination: Jordan: Poised for MICE p 19Market Pulse:Graeme Barnett, Exhibition Director, EIBTM 2010 p 54

Event management is characterized by the creation of an experience, no matter what the given space. It is no wonder then, that experience creators have leveraged their expertise to spaces across geographical borders. The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events or MICE industry in India is gaining momentum, and the event management industry is well equipped to grab a share.

While conventional travel operators would seek details from the destination, on creating the right ‘package’, the new-age MICE manager seeks details on creating the right ‘experience’. The client on the other end simply seeks the most value in the given budget. But are destinations customizing their communication and adequately targeting each of these groups?

International destinations are evolving their marketing strategies to gain from the Indian MICE segment. At the same time, India is gearing up with its effort to promote itself as a promising MICE destination as well. The India Convention Promotion Bureau will host its 6th Conventions India Conclave on August 27 - 28, for this purpose.

While promotional efforts continue, the quantum of activities in the country is on a steady rise. Highlights from the month gone by included the study of an interesting trend in integration, of on-ground and on-line promotion platforms. Prominent activities in July also included the Panasonic ‘Sound for India’ campaign and the launch of the new terminal at the Delhi International Airport.

The discovery of newer niches and specializations has contributed immensely to the ever-growing experiential marketing pie. But how much this industry contributes to the overall marketing spends is still undiscovered. For now, we can keep up the optimism basis the recent PwC report on the ‘Entertainment and Media’ industry which informs that public performance is emerging as India’s promising industry. Estimated at Rs. 130 billion in 2008, this segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23 percent till 2014.

Although this projects growth of just one aspect of live entertainment within the experiential marketing industry, one can clearly indicate from this, what other parts of this whole entail.

karishma@eventfaqs.com

It’s all happening here

ExM is a monthly magazine from EMDIWeb Solutions Pvt Ltd, publishers ofIndia’s only platform for events and

experiential marketing -www.eventfaqs.com.

Editorial team:

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Jagadeesh Krishnamurthy jagadeesh@eventfaqs.com

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 03

Printed by Vishal Vashulal Nagdev 202, Brooke Ville, Near Magnet Super Market, Mogul Lane, Matunga (West), Mumbai – 400 016, Maharashtra, India. Published by Vishal Vashulal Nagdev on behalf of (or owned by) EMDI Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd. And printed at VSSU Graphics, Unit # 36, Ideal Industrial Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai – 400 013 Maharashtra, India and published at EMDI Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 4th Floor, IES College Campus, Opp. Lilavati Hospital, Bandra Reclamation., Bandra – West Mumbai – 400 050, Maharashtra, India. Editor Karishma Jammu Hundalani.

Cover illustration: Udit Bhambri

Cover_Edit_Content_August.indd 13 8/6/2010 9:37:10 PM

Event Briefs Promo Power | MICE | Live Sports Rush | Media Active 07-13

59 6156

Panasonic makes noise with ‘Sound for India’ 28

Exploring new dimensionsEncompass manages T3 launch of Delhi Airport 34

August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 04

57 62

CONTENTS

GLIMPSES

On-ground goes On-line

Industry WatchAgency | Destination Venue | Events 14-17

24

A curtain raiser to ICPB’s 6th Conventions India Conclave 38

Going the distance How accurate are destinations’ MICE strategy? 45

ThailandMaking the right Connections 52

60

Jordan Poised for MICE 19

“India has been billed as a star emerging market”Graeme Barnett, Exhibition Director, EIBTM 2010 54

Promo Power

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 07

MTS flags off ‘MTS on Wheels’ to address customers needs

MTS, has flagged off the ‘MTS on Wheels’, an initiative in West Bengal aimed at taking telephony services to the door of the customer. This is a month long activity from

Kolkata and will complete its journey at Burdwan by August 2010. During the period, the bus will travel through various cities and towns of West and North Bengal and will address all customer needs related to voice and data services. Keshhav Tiwary, COO, Kolkata and West Bengal, Sistema Shyam TeleServices, said, “This unique initiative was conceived to ensure MTS reached out to more and more people in the state of West Bengal.”

Diageo hosts Ketel One ‘Brand Passion’ session in Mumbai

Ketel One, in order to share its rich heritage with the trade fraternity, organized a ‘Brand Passion’ session, in which bar tenders were explained about the product. The

objective of this activity is for the brand to become the most recommended vodka by the trade (in this case bar tenders). The ‘Brand Passion’ session, which took place in Mumbai on July 8 at the ITC Grand Central, involved Joe Milner, Regional Brand Ambassador, Ketel One taking bartenders and other members of the trade through the unique qualities of the vodka. Milner explained, “We position Ketel One to the Indian consumer within the ultra premium vodka competitive set. Our objective is to be the most recommended vodka by the trade, within the Indian market and showcase the real liquid superiority of the brand.”

Kidstuff manages mall activations across 11 cities for Micromax

Kidstuff, a part of Mudra Max, managed mall activations for Micromax mobiles across 11 Indian cities. The activity commenced in June and culminated around the third week of July. The objective of

the activity was to provide demonstrations to customers about Micromax phones giving them a touch and feel experience of the product through Micromax gaming zones.

Shivneet Singh, Head- North and East, Kidstuff said, “This is our first time associating with Micromax. The pitch process involved three other agencies. We managed the entire execution and logistics for the activations.”

Uninor engages consumers with a game of Monopoly

Uninor recently launched its offering in Mumbai with an elaborate on-ground activity spread across seven locations. Mudra Max handled the activity to inform and

educate consumers about the arrival of Uninor Global GSM Service in Mumbai with a unique dynamic pricing plan. The agency created a Monopoly game localized to the city of Mumbai, and communicated the different rates in different parts of the city to the consumers.

Olav Sande, EVP - Mumbai Hub, Uninor, said, “While analysing the Mumbai market we understood that we need to be strikingly different - in both the campaign and the kinds of medium we use. Second, we need to be visible at the right place, at the right time by the right people.”

Pogo visits 500 schools with the initiative ‘Bheem Ki Team’

Pogo, Kids’ television channel, is offering children an opportunity to be a part of the show Chhota Bheem. Pogo announced ‘Bheem Ki Team’, a nationwide contest that will give five children an opportunity to star as an animated avatar with their

favourite hero Chhota Bheem and his friends. The contest commenced on July 19 and will continue until August 31. Monica Tata, Vice President and Deputy General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia, Turner International India said, “Seeing the immense popularity that Chhota Bheem enjoys amongst kids, we decided to create this innovative initiative where ‘real-life’ fans meet and star with their favourite ‘animated’ hero. ‘Bheem Ki Team’ contest is all about rendering an experience.”

Haywards 5000 partners Jagran Solutions to promote new brand message

Haywards 5000, has initiated an activation campaign as part of its new communication-‘Haywards Hai Toh Hausla Buland’. The brand has set out to spread this message to its target audience through a series of street plays held in various cities and towns, across India.

Jagran Solutions has partnered the brand for this activation. The street play introduces a character called “Haywardian” who is the quintessential Haywards personality. Commenting on this initiative, Derek Jones, Director Marketing, SABMiller India, said, “We believe these street plays reflect the character of the brand and were a good learning for the people of India.”

Briefs.indd 19 8/6/2010 8:07:10 PM

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 08MICE

Shell Lubricants for the third consecutive year gives an opportunity to its consumers to visit Maranello (Italy), the home of Ferrari with Shell Helix Motor Oils. The select customers will have an opportunity to work with Ferrari mechanics on a genuine Ferrari Formula OneTM car

and experience a passenger ride in a Ferrari GT. The entire event is being managed by Shell Lubricants internally. The activity in Italy is a two-day activity, from November 18-19. Donald Anderson, Country Head - Lubricants, Shell India Markets, said, “The Shell Helix Ultra Ferrari Adventure really will be the adventure of a lifetime and no one should miss the opportunity to join us in Italy”.

Confetti 9, a lifestyle and luxury event organising company, organized a three-day extravagant exhibition from July 16 - 18 at the World Trade

Centre in Mumbai titled The Royale Wedding Show. The event comprises of an interactive exhibition as well as live shows on grooming by renowned professionals. The event is a property conceptualized and managed by Confetti 9.

Sanghamitra Sahay, Organiser, Confetti 9 said, “This was the first season of The Royale Wedding Show. We will be organinsing and managing three seasons each year. It is an event targeted towards the affluent A+ segment. The exhibition aims to be a one-stop shop for a wedding event through over 100 stalls.”

GHIAL (GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited) hosted ‘Pan India Security Summit 2010’ from 19 - 20 July 2010. The event serves as a forum for professionals

and experts in security, asset protection and risk mitigation to discuss and shape strategies to combat emerging challenges in ‘Security and Disaster Management’. The Honorable Governor of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated the event. ECIL Rapiscan, Godrej, Dell and Magal have tied in as sponsors to the event. Novotel Hyderabad is the hospitality partner while GMR Aviation Academy has tied in as the knowledge partner to the initiative.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand led a Thai travel industry delegation to India from 7 - 8 July, 2010. The 41-member delegation traveled to

the cities of Mumbai and Bangalore in order to foster and develop a closer working relationship with key members of the Indian travel trade. The visiting delegation included a mix of travel sector organizations like hotels / resorts, attractions and destination management companies. In Mumbai the event took place at the Regal Ballroom, Trident on July 7 and in Bangalore next, on July 8.

Shell takes select consumers to Ferrari Town, Maranello in Italy

Confetti 9 manages The Royale Wed-ding Show- Season 1

GMR Hyderabad to host Pan India Se-curity Summit – 2010’

Tourism Authority of Thailand organ-ize roadshow on 7-8 July

Seventy Seven bagged the mandate to handle the on-ground employee engagement activity for TCS in Mumbai. The activity, held in June 2010

at various locations, engaged TCS employees. For the program, employees were allowed to invite two family members to their respective work places for an evening of celebration where various activities were planned for the entire day.

Referring to the employee engagement activity as ‘Fun @ work with Family’, Daryl Sheldon, Director, Seventy Seven Entertainment, said, “The activities were held at over 12 locations across Mumbai, and we engaged over 20,000 employees during the course of the program. The activity is an HR initiative and is held annually.”

Seventy Seven engages over 20,000 employees for TCS

South Africa-based Kinetic Events is bringing down the IT Leaders Summit 2010 to India in November. The two-

day exclusive conference for the IT industry will be held on November 25 and 26 at the Hyatt Regency in Mumbai. The agency has partnered Indian media publications, including Businesswire India, to promote the event in India.

Shannon Mackrill, Managing Partner, Kinetic Events stated that the property was brought to India following the request from a sponsor to tap the Indian IT industry. Elaborating on the conference, he explained, “The two-day conference is very focused and has an exclusive audience, individually chosen after they register. The unique interactive conference also features workshops by sponsoring brands.”

Kinetic Events brings IT Leaders Sum-mit 2010 to India

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 09LIVE

Pidilite’s tile adhesive brand, Roff and IIID organised VersaTILE

Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) and Roff presented VersaTILE, a confluence of an unusual art installation by international artistes in Mumbai. The event

was a three-city event held in Ahmedabad on July 16, Mumbai on July 20 and Bengaluru on July 23.

Roff tile fixing solutions, a tile adhesive brand from the house of Pidilite industries, is promoting its new range of products by means of art. Sushil Luniya, President - Construction Chemicals Business, Pidilite Industries said, “We believe that architects and applicators create work of art and we ensure that the art created is able to withstand the test of time. Architects require tools to bring alive their designs and Roff actually makes their ideas work.”

Filmfare Awards South 2009 to be held on August 7

The Filmfare Awards South 2009 will be held at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on August 7. The event will be managed by 360 Degree Experience, the activation division of Times Group. The Filmfare South Awards is a property owned by Worldwide Media, the publishers of Filmfare magazine. The awards will recognise excellence in South Indian cinema.

Samir Deshmukh, Group Manager - Client Servicing, 360 Degree Experience said, “This is the 57th Filmfare Awards South. 360 Degree Experience has been associated with the event for over 10 years. For the event this year, we will be designing a set keeping in mind the taste of South Indian audiences. There will be several entertainment acts during the course of the awards as well.”

E18 manage ‘Black Dog Comedy Evenings’ across five cities

E18 brought down Colin Mochrie and Bradley Ramone “Brad” Sherwood of ‘Whose line is it anyway?’ for the first time in India as part of the Black Dog Comedy Evenings. Cast members of British comedy visited Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

Speaking about the property and association of Black Dog, Arjun Rao, GM and Head - South, E18, said, “Comedy is a genre that the brand has been focusing on, and is an ideal fit for the core value of relaxation. With the comedy evenings, the brand engaged audiences in the right frame of mind where they could experience Black Dog in the right ambience.”

Indian Ocean goes on tour to promote new album

Music band Indian Ocean is going on a countrywide tour to promote its new album, ‘16/330 Khajoor Road’, which released on July 25. In keeping with their tradition, the band plans to give away all seven songs of the album

free of cost, and aims to generate revenue through the live shows. UTV World Movies has come on board as one of the sponsors for the five-city tour organised at Hard Rock Cafes in the seven cities.

As a part of the band’s India tour, Indian Ocean will be performing live in their hometown Delhi at the Hard Rock Café on July 22, the group will perform in Bangalore on July 29, in Pune on August 5, in Mumbai on August 6 and in Hyderabad on August 12.

Touchwood Activa handled launch events for Wynncom Mobiles

Touchwood Activa managed the press launch events for Wynncom Mobile in 24 cities across India to unveil a range of dual SIM mobile phones and announce actors Saif Ali

Khan and Bipasha Basu as its brand ambassadors. The launch events in each city was followed by distributor meets and were held between May 21 and July 21.

Sanjay Kacker, Director, Touchwood Activa, said, “We bagged Wynncom as our client subsequent to a four-agency pitch process. Thus our duties were to manage a 24-city press launch event and distributors meet. The challenge was to reach out to the dealers and make them experience the technology that Wynncom had on offer.”

Percept and Shiamak Davar join hands for two on-ground initiatives

Shiamak Davar and Percept Limited have joined forces to create a movement through the

medium of Dance and Entertainment. The objective of this association between Shiamak and Percept would be to launch four entertainment and dance based initiatives with the ultimate goal of making a social difference. Of the four, two will be primarily on-ground properties. Commenting on the initiative, Shailendra Singh, Jt. Managing Director, Percept Limited, said, “Percept has been experimenting with talent from untapped genres such as music, boxing, etc. Dance entertainment is a growing genre and we are ready to explore this space by launching few interesting properties.”

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 11Sports Rush

Polo Cup India 2010 culminates its second race in Coimbatore

In October of last year, Volkswagen India firmed up its plans to enter Indian motor sports with the announcement of the signing of the ‘letter of intent’ with JK Tyre and Industries to bring the globally acclaimed

Volkswagen Polo Cup to India in 2010. The property has six races in total; the first race of the season was held on May 30, the second race followed on July 17 and 18, both in Coimbatore. The third race is scheduled to be held in Coimbatore from August 28 - 29 which will be followed by the final three races in Chennai on September 25 - 26, November 27 - 28 and finally December 18 -19.

Prize money increased by USD 15,000 for SCMM 2011

Touted as Asia’s largest and richest marathon, Procam International’s annual event-- Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) will be run on January 16, 2011. In its

eighth edition now, registrations for the marathon will be open from July 22. Standard Chartered, title sponsor for the event since its inception, along with associate sponsor Tata Consultancy Services have upped the stakes at this year’s marathon by increasing the prize money by USD 15,000 from the 2010 levels. Vivek B Singh, Jt. MD, Procam International claims, charity raised has been close to Rs 43 crores over the seven years.

Gitanjali Tour De Delhi – Cyclothon 2010 to be held on August 29

Gitanjali Tour De Delhi - Cyclathon 2010 is being organized by ID Sports, at Barakhamba Road on August 29, under the aegis of International Cycling Union (UCI) and Cycling Federation of India (CFI). After the success of Being

Human Tour de Mumbai - Mumbai Cyclothon 2010, with the participation of 10 to 15 professional cycling teams in the world, ID Sports has initiated this international cycling event in India.

The international race will feature the world’s best cyclists, who will be the run-up to the Commonwealth Games scheduled for later this year.

YAI to manage India International Regatta from Oct 3 – 10

Yachting Association India (YAI) announced the dates for the second edition of India International Regatta

(IIR) 2010. The event will be held from October 3 - 10 in Chennai and the regatta is for participants below 19 years. The objective of the IIR is three fold; to promote sailing amongst the youth, to promote a natural environment and also to promote India as a sailing destination globally. Ajay Narang, Joint Secretary General, YAI said, “Last year we had 79 participants from six countries. This year we are expecting to have 125 participants from over 18 countries. This year, we are looking forward to being associated with an event agency that will be able to engage an international crowd and manage the event with international standards.”

Sunfeast World 10k Bangalore 2010 raises over Rs 1.4 crores for charity

The citizens of Bangalore raised in excess of Rs. 1.40 crores through the third edition of the Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore 2010, which was run in the city on May 23, 2010.

The amounts raised for charity through the world’s premier 10K run have increased from Rs. 41.35 lacs in the first year, to Rs. 1.31 crores in 2009 and according to the latest figures received this year stand at Rs. 1.40 crores. The third edition of the Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore 2010 saw in excess of 23,000 people participate in the run.

Coca-Cola India partners with AIFF for under-16 football tournament

Coca-Cola India in partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced the launch of 33rd sub-junior National Football Championship being played under the aegis of Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (MIHT). The under-16 tournament is being organised across 75 cities tapping over 40,000 young

footballers from 1500 schools. Atul Singh, President and CEO, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said, “Our partnership with AIFF is an extension of the Company’s worldwide focus on football. The Coca-Cola Company has been the official sponsor of the FIFA World CupTM since 1978. In India, this year we are scaling up the Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy tournament to 75 cities, tapping over 40,000 young footballers from 1500 schools.”

NaiDunia engages readers on-ground, to enhance brand loyalty

NaiDunia, a hindi daily circulated in north India, has been engaging its readers with various on-ground initiatives over the past couple of months. Cities like Indore, Bhopal, Raipur, Gwalior, and Delhi-NCR have

been covered with activities undertaken by the publication. All the activities have been managed by the internal team at the company with the help of local vendors. On the rationale behind these initiatives, Debu Mishra, Vice President - Sales & Development, NaiDunia Media, said, “Consumer engagement is the keyword for any newspaper to survive today. We cannot ignore the fact that every person is being literally bombarded with news and information. This is where such consumer engagement activities become imperative.”

UTV Motion Pictures promotes Udaan on-ground

In order to promote the movie Udaan, UTV Motion Pictures organised a unique initiative at Phoenix Mills in Mumbai on July 14. The activity was held to engage young people and

creating a buzz around the film. Participants at the venue were engaged on-ground by giving them an opportunity to smash cars at the venue as done by the lead actor in a scene in the film.

Commenting on the on-ground activity, Shikha Kapoor, Senior Vice President- Marketing, UTV Motion Pictures, said, “The event was conceptualised by us and executed by a local agency. We wanted to promote the movie in an innovative manner. Over 500 people were part of the initiative. In the future too, we plan to organise such innovative events for promoting our movies.”

Mirchi Music Awards 2009 South and Idea Big Bangla Music Awards 2010Radio stations seem to be riding the wave of regional music appreciation, by creating their own award platforms for the same. After felicitating the Hindi music industry for two years, Radio Mirchi organised the first edition of Mirchi Music Awards South 2009 on July 17 in Chennai. The event was organized by 360 Degrees Experience.

Reliance Broadcast Network’s radio arm Big FM and Idea Cellular, on the other hand are organizing the ‘Idea Big Bangla Music Awards 2010’. The property has been conceptualised and marketed by Big Live, the experiential marketing arm of Reliance Broadcast Network. The grand finale of the event is scheduled to be held on August 13.

PTC Punjabi announces auditions for Vivel Miss PTC Punjabi 2010

PTC Punjabi has announced its plans for Beauty and Talent Pageant ‘Miss PTC Punjabi 2010’. The auditions will be conducted for 12 cities of Punjab, followed by studio based episodes, Quarterfinals and semi-finals. The

crowning will be conducted in a star-studded grand finale outdoor event. The in-house events team of the PTC Network will manage the auditions and events. Rajiee M. Shinde, COO, PTC Network, said, “This is the third year that PTC is conducting this pageant, which has, over the years become the most coveted Title for a Punjabi Woman.”

Radio One launches new campaign for new positioning

Radio One has announced its new campaign to position the station in the ‘music radio’ space. The radio station has recently roped in music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy as their brand ambassadors, and the trio launched the

‘Play your music’ day initiative. The launch event for the new campaign was held at JW Marriot in Mumbai on July 7, and was managed by Archers Entertainment. Commenting on the initiative and the positioning, Vineet Singh Hukmani, MD, Radio One, said, “This is what a specialist does versus a generalist. We will continue to involve listeners and artistes at a scale that has never been achieved before.”

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August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 13Media Active

Business Standard takes Brand Derby 2010 on-ground

Business Standard organized a conference called Brand Derby 2010 on July 16 at the Leela Kempinski Hotel in Gurgaon. The event was

managed by Business Standard Conferences. The main objective of the event was to help marketers and business professionals understand how brands achieve success for their products.

S Arun Natesh, Head Marketing, Business Standard, said, “The event is a property of Business Standard. For the past 13 years the Brand Derby initiative has been a print property. This is the first time we have taken the event on-ground and organised a conference. The main objective of the conference was to enable interaction and provide a platform wherein the audiences can learn how winning brands have grown and achieved remarkable success.”

Industry Watch Agency

Manuj Agarwal joins Balaji Telefilms as CEOFollowing his exit from the Percept Group, it is understood that Manuj Agarwal is taking over as the CEO of Balaji Telefilms. Industry sources intimated that in his position as the CEO-Television, he will head the television business of the group and will be reporting to Puneet Kinra, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms.

Agarwal joined PDM in 2002 and has been credited with introducing various innovative concepts and streams of businesses like ‘Incentive Activation’. Prior to his stint at the Percept Group, he kick-started his career at Marico and had stints with Sahara TV, Zee Channel bouquet and Disney TV.

Common Colors expect 25 pc revenue from new activation divisionCommon Colors has started a new activation division to manage on-ground promotions, mall activations and road shows. The division is expected to contribute around 25 per cent revenue to the top line of the company in the first financial year, starting April 2010. The company is also in the process of hiring a team to work under Mamta Venkatachal, who will be heading the new division in her capacity as Head - Events and Activation, Common Colors Entertainment.

Relio Quick launches IIMCMRelio Quick an integrated marketing services company has launched the Institute of Integrated Marketing Communication and Management, through the RQ Foundation. The objective of the institute is to cater to the growing recognition and importance of integrated marketing solutions by brands.

Commenting on the company’s extension into education, Dr. Gunjeet Kaur, Deputy Director, IIMCM, explained, “We (Relio Quick) pioneered Integrated Marketing Communication services in India in 2002 by combining advertising, product and sales promotions, events and exhibitions, direct and database marketing along with complete human resource solutions. We realized that today more companies are recognizing the importance of IMC, but are unable to find good agencies for executing their plans. Being the pioneers, we took the challenge and ventured in to IIMCM to offer formal PG Program in IMCM. It will help the corporate and the communication industry in getting professionally trained manpower.” IIMCM offers two programs; a Post Graduation in Integrated Marketing Communications and a Post Graduation Program in Global Finance.

Rajnish Sahay appointed CEO at Percept Talent ManagementRajnish Sahay has been appointed as the CEO of Percept Talent Management (PTM), effective July 2010. Sahay was previously the CEO of Globosport Digital where he was responsible for providing a 360-degree approach to celebrity management which included the new media business portfolio as well. Sahay will be in charge of all the three new business verticals in PTM viz. creating intellectual properties (IPs) for talents; client servicing, which involves creating a customized talent pool based on the client base; and the traditional model of acquiring and managing talents across all genres.

Sheetal Dasgupta joins Xpanse Asia as Business DirectorXpanse Asia, the small town and rural marketing unit of Starcom MediaVest Group, announced the appointment of Sheetal Dasgupta as Business Director. Dasgupta will be based in Mumbai and report to Sandip Bansal, Country Head, Xpanse Asia. In this newly created role, Dasgupta, will lead the business development, with a focus on reaching out to new clients.

Dasgupta comes with 15 years of experience, of which 10 years have been spent in rural marketing with RC&M where she headed the marketing function as General Manager. In her most recent assignment she ran her own entrepreneurial venture, prior to which she was with Hungama Digital, Solutions Digitas and Times Innovative Media.

Big Connect appoints Ashish Rathi as City Sales Head, MumbaiReliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) which recently announced its integrated sales team BIG Connect, has announced the appointment of Ashish Rathi as the City Sales Head, Mumbai, Big Connect. Reporting to Pankaj Chandra, VP - National Sales, Rathi will be responsible for growing revenues across the businesses of Big Live, Big Street, Big FM and Big Digital.

Speaking on the appointment Chandra, said, “I am confident that Ashish’s excellent track record and trouble shooting skills will lead the team in the right direction, taking them to newer heights, offering value to marketers across Reliance Broadcast Network Limited’s multiple touch points of radio, out of home, experiential marketing and digital.”

Titled Common Colors Activations, GV Vilas, MD, Common Colors Entertainment, reasoned the launch of the new division, he said, “As an eight year event management company, we decided to branch out in the most natural route of activations as we realised that BTL, and especially on-ground activations and promotions are the way forward in our space. We have been planning a division like this, for a couple of years now, and felt this was the right

time as we have a strong presence in Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai and Bengaluru. We are also planning to start offices in Mumbai and Delhi soon.”

August 2010, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 14

Industry Watch Destination

Casino zone planned near Dholavira in KutchThe Gujarat government is planning a Casino Zone in the state, modeled on Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, which, like Khadir, is situated on the arid desert floor within Clark County. Khadir is lo-cated in the Rann of Kutch near the famous ruins of Dholavira, the Indus Valley civilisation site.

The zone is said to have an 18-hole world-class golf course. There are also plans

to set up a seven star hotel, the area will be embellished with other activities like discotheques, spa, theatre, library, and a modern hos-pital to encourage medical tourism. As corporates vis-iting Kandla-Gandhidham-Mundra zone may come to the area, a corporate and community zone called ‘The Arena’ has been proposed, offering a multitude of large and small venues facilitat-ing business meets and commercial shows.

GTDC and STDC sign MoU to promote tourism productsA Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) has been inked between Sikkim Tourism Development Cor-poration (STDC) and Goa Tourism Development Cor-poration (GTDC) for pro-moting tourism. The agree-ment is valid for a period of two years. Both the STDC and GTDC will be promot-ing each other for attract-ing more tourists from each end.

Besides, both the corpora-tions will mutually market their hotel accommoda-tions, facilities and tourism packages while pocketing a commission of 15 per cent once a booking is done.

Kerala Tourism Department’s ‘Dream Season’ continues in its fourth yearThe aim of the ‘Dream Sea-son’ is to attract as many tourists as possible during the April-October period when there is a slight dip in international tourist ar-rivals.

Last year’s Dream Sea-son saw 116 service pro-viders registering them-

selves with the Kerala Tourism Department. Of this, there were 16 hotels, 44 tour operators, and 29 resorts, plus houseboats and Ayurveda centres. The Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry is also supporting the initiative which is currently in its fourth year.

Gujarat, Egypt to work jointly for tourismTourism Corporation of Gu-jarat and tourism depart-ment of Egypt will work together for the develop-ment of tourism sector in India. Vipul Mitra, tourism secretary, government of Gujarat met with officials of Egypt International Tour-ism Board at the Interna-tional India Tourism Mart (IITM) held in Bangalore.

Tourism Corporation of Gu-jarat had organised a road show in Bangalore to pro-mote tourism in Gujarat and inviting tour opera-tors, travel agents, inves-tors for the development of tourism in Gujarat.

Tourism secretary of the state and the official of Egypt tourism in India also decided to work out a mu-tual plan at IITM for co-op-eration and understanding tourism and hospitality sec-tors.

HKTB clocks 12.1 percent (y-o-y) growth from Indian business travelersThe Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has an-nounced that MICE (meet-ings, incentives, conven-tions and exhibitions) visitor arrivals exceeded 280,000 in the first quarter of 2010, a 30 percent rise compared to the same period last year. In 2009, the overnight MICE visitors from India to Hong Kong were 33,865, which was a 40 percent share among business arrivals and year-on-year growth of over 12.1 percent.

Commenting on the Indian MICE market and its poten-tial, David Leung, Regional Director - South & South East Asia, Hong Kong Tour-ism Board, elaborated, “In-dia is identified by the Hong

Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) as an emerging market with tremendous growth potential for the outbound MICE market. Hong Kong received a total of 366,646 visitor arrivals from In-dia in the year 2009. The MICE segment constitutes approximately 10 percent of the overall Indian visi-tor arrivals to Hong Kong. We are targeting corporate decision-makers, MICE spe-cialists, industry and trade associations, online and media partners to showcase Hong Kong as a preferred incentive and conference destination. This is being done via pro-active efforts through Meetings & Exhi-bitions Hong Kong (MEHK) division of HKTB.”

Celebrations! and Jordan Tourism Board organise seven-city road showCelebrations!, a company specialising in the global mar-keting of tourism and hospitality products and services, including Jourdan Tourism, organised a seven city road show to promote Jordon amongst tour operators in India. The road show commenced in Delhi and further traveled to Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Goa and finally culminated in Mumbai on July 20. The road show was a B2B event catering to tour operators. At the event, several tour operators and eminent individu-als from Jordan Tourism Board were present.

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