It’s time to say ‘WOW’ again! - EVENTFAQS Media · home accolades, others continue to lament...

EVENTFAQS Newsletter

October 2009

India’s Platform for Events and Experiential Marketingwww.eventfaqs.com

It’s time to say ‘WOW’ again!

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October 2009

Issues:As there is no regularity concerning the entertainment tax structure across India, a multi-city tour is not exactly viable for any event manager. The initial accounting can go haywire because of the disparity in the rates. As one has to pay advance tax as per the capacity of the venue and the proposed audience plan, there is a huge lock-down on the working capital.

Proposed solutions:Ideally, there should be a flat entertainment tax across the country. Moreover, EEMA is in a position to take this forward. Since the slowdown hit our country, the live entertainment scenario has not been too good. I don’t think it is easy to recover that much money, with sponsorships amount coming down, and any company would be worried about entertainment tax as it has to be paid in advance.

Hotels have approached the state government for a respite from taxes for the ticketed New Year parties that they organise. As event managers, I believe we should join hands with venues that are getting these respites. Moreover, there is no proper entertainment policy or stringent format in place. These are some of the major issues that we need to address collectively, and resolve as early as possible.

EEMA’s primary concern is with PPL, which I too believe is a very important issue. And once that is sorted, they should take this up as a major issue and try to find a solution. With the market slowly beginning to look brighter now, we should not let go of this opportunity and collectively resolve such issues.

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F irst they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

The Mahatma’s words on ‘triumph of will’ befit every one, every battle, every journey, every experience. The ultimate win, after trials and tribulations, then compares to none. Ask the seven Indian agencies who have done our country proud at this year’s MAA Globes. With one Globe, a Silver, four Bronze and certificates of Order of Merit, their journey is worth a dekko.

After all, the MAA Globes has been cited to be the only platform which is dedicated to brand activation and interactive marketing. So while some agencies have leapt miles and have brought home accolades, others continue to lament on the home turf about the need to get organised and elevate it to render a formal industry status. But aren’t such wins the lever that could provide the much-needed thrust to usher in the growth of the industry?

The current noise and banter, in effect, reduce to the mere “grapes are too sour” psyche. After all, the participation of individual players at international award programmes has been poorer than meagre -- reasons attributed are ignorance about such properties, or lack of confidence in execution standards, or even the award entry rates!

However, at the end of the day, akin to life and all that encompasses it in myriad forms, award properties in this space are about the celebration of experiential marketing. And this celebration is slowly becoming the focus of the MICE industry in the country, with companies emphasising on the need to build rich experiences as part of their incentives programmes. It is believed now that enriched experience will translate into a motivated work force, an thereby achieve the sole objective -- high sales and thus higher revenues.

This celebration of diverse experiences is what EVENTFAQS’ MaxiMICE aims to deliver to its participants, where the ardent need for innovations in the MICE industry will be deliberated upon, besides addressing the apparent drawbacks that budgets of a company’s MICE programme claim to pose.

Furthering this glorification of experiences within the gamut of the experiential campaigns will be the WOW Awards, in its second edition, to be held in March 2010. The unpretentious jury from the inaugural edition of the WOW Awards has shared their recipes with agencies, about tailoring their entries the right way, to stand a chance to take home the sleek trophy.

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In the September 2009 issue of EVENTFAQS, views put forth by Gagan Takyar, Head, Big Events, in the feature titled ‘Ax-ing entertainment with tax’, were misplaced. Please find the opinions of Takyar below. The error is regretted.

Gagan Takyar, Head, Big Events

Corrigendum

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October 2009�

Event Briefs

Promo Power 08, 09Radio Active 10 Sport Rush 11 Industry Watch 12, 13

Corporate Olympics goes global with desi avatar

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F1 racing gives Red Bull the wings in India

Glimpses

Contents

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It’s time to say ‘WOW’ again!

Marketers stress on experiential innovations to best enhance MICE Programmes

India at international awards: why the austerity?

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52

A peep into the rural markets Ajay Sundaram, Country Head, Mudra Terra

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33, 3�

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� October 2009

The Red Bull Racing Car was showcased at the paddock constructed before the toll plaza of the Bandra-Worli Sealink, on October 11. Former F1 race driver and consultant to the Red Bull racing team, David Coulthard, drove the racing car on the sealink as part of the ‘Speed Link’ initiative.

International F1 Jet Ski Race in India managed by R-One Events and Media

Organised by India Jet Sports Academy (IJSA) and Jet Raid, the series of races kicked off with the inaugural race in Mumbai on October 24-25 at the water sports complex H2O, featuring nine countries. This will be followed by a race scheduled in January featuring 25 countries in Goa. The event is being managed by R-One Events and Media.

Kingfisher partners Common Colors for ‘The Great Indian Octoberfest’

‘The Great Indian Octoberfest’ made a comeback this year with the event being held in Bangalore from October 23-25. The fest showcased the best of music, games, art, food, shopping and much more. Common Colors managed various events and activities which were a part of the property this year.

FDCI’s Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

The 14th edition of fashion trade event, The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010, was held from October 24-28 in Delhi. This edition of the event strived to usher a new era of a unified fashion week represented by some of the best names in India’s fashion industry.

Seventy EMG manages Kala Ghoda Festival

The Kala Ghoda Festival of India took place from October 30-November 2, and drew a crown of over 20,000 people during the four-day event that comprised dance and music performances, street plays and stalls. Seventy EMG has been managing the event since 2002.

Red Bull rides on ‘Speed Link’; Wizcraft manages events

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Manish Arora at Paris Fashion Week with Aamby ValleyAmby Valley City partnered fashion designer Manish Arora to present his collection at The Paris Fashion Week Extrava-ganza this year. The show took place on October 1 and the collection was inspired by geometric shapes in varying perspec-tives with optical art. This initiative is the first among the destination’s effort to create a presence in the luxury lifestyle segment in India and internationally.

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Axiom Gen Nxt rolled out an on-

ground campaign for TVS Flame SR 125, which is aimed at get-ting its target audience to test drive the re-launched bike.

The agency had target-ted 10,000 test drives by

the end of the month-long campaign, and managed to get 6,000 people to test the powerful bike. At the same time, a “substantial” sales conversion was visible.

A Arun Kumar, MD, Axiom Gen Nxt, said, “The bike was relaunched in July, but the retail footfall was not in good numbers. So, in order to cash-in on the festive spirit, we decided to have an on-ground activation with the help of eight of the nine existing TVS dealers in the city.”

Candid Marketing delivers Asian Paints’ new line of products in 7 cities

To bank on the festive mood of brightening homes with new colours, Asian Paints had developed two activities to promote its Royale Shyne Range of products. The month-

long activities commenced in mid-September in Indore, Delhi, Faridabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Raipur and Guwahati, and was handled by Candid Marketing. The first was a ‘Call for Action’ shade card sampling activity that was driven by telephonic conversation.

Devika Sharma, VP-Client Servicing, Candid Marketing, said that the agency had to be the channel to facilitate between the consumers and Asian Paints. “We had set up a tele-calling team that would call the customer and fix up a time for the meet. The collaterals

would then be delivered to the consumer, which included the Royale shade card, glitter shade card, interior colour combination guide and a reference letter,” she said.

The kiosk activity, on the other hand, was done only in Indore, Faridabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Raipur, across around 130 outlets.

Cherry Blossom Shining League, a ‘fun cricket’

league organised by the shoe polish brand Cherry Blossom, was underway in its pilot phase in Delhi. Targetted at engaging school children, the activity had been initiated by PDM and could be replicated in other cities based on the learnings from this schedule.

Sanjay Shukla, National Head-Activation, PDM, said, “We came up with the concept of ‘fun-cricket’ for school kids, which was presented to Cherry Blossom. They liked the concept and have commissioned it in Delhi as a pilot. Following the response for this activity, we might take it to more cities in the coming months.”

Over 50 schools were contacted by PDM in the city, and ‘fun cricket’ matches were organised between them at various school grounds.

PDM engages school kids in Delhi for Cherry Blossom Shining League

The Indian Dental Association (IDA)

partnered with Wrigley’s Orbit sugar-free chewing gum to organise an oral care marathon titled ‘Mumbai Smiles’, held on October 9 at MMRDA Grounds. The initiative was part of the World Dental Show 2009, which was

attended be over 600 dentists from across the country. The event was managed by Mudra Max, which used the resources of its units Celsius and Kidstuff to manage and promote the event, respectively.

Gautam Sharma, MD, Wrigley India, said, “Through this initiative, Wrigley’s Orbit and IDA hopes to generate mass awareness about the importance of oral hygiene. ‘Mumbai Smiles’ is an initiative that will further strengthen our endeavour towards promoting oral health care in India.”

Mudra Max handles oral care marathon ‘Mumbai Smiles’ for Wrigley’s Orbit

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Promo Power

Dhanalakshmi Bank has taken the on-ground route to launch its new brand re-positioning. Although the brand has awarded

the creative duties to Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), it embarked on an activation campaign titled ‘Bandhan’ from October 7.

The localised activations were targetted at attracting customers to the 66 new branches that will be opened over the coming months. Solutions Digitas, PDM and Radio Mirchi are handling these activities across various cities.

Sheran Mehra, Head-Marketing and Corporate Communications, Dhanalakshmi Bank, said, “Creating a brand imagery and an association with the consumer is an important step in our journey to transform Dhanalakshmi Bank into a next generation private sector bank. The new communication strategy will help the Bank establish an association with a larger audience spread across geographies and age groups.”

Dhanalakshmi Bank embraces on-ground route as part of brand re-positioning

Axiom targets 10,000 test rides for TVS Flame SR125 in Bangalore

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

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October 200909

Wizcraft helps create ‘Yahoo! yodel’ in Mumbai as part of new brand campaign

As part of the launch of its global ‘it’s You’ brand campaign, Yahoo! invited its users to participate in the creation of the Yahoo! Yodel. the campaign

was taken on-ground by the US-based Spark Events across Mumbai, London and new York. Wizcraft international was appointed following a pitch process to manage the Mumbai event on October 14 at High Street Phoenix.

Elisa Steele, Executive vP and CMO, Yahoo! said, “the foundation of the ‘it’s You’ campaign is about making the web more personally relevant to each of our consumers. So it was important that we engaged the world in the creation of our new yodel.”

At High Street Phoenix, a live recording studio was set up where people could record their tune, while singer Shankar Mahadevan and DJ nikhil Chinnappa were roped in to engage participants. Around 101 participants registered, which the company claims to be higher than the numbers registered in the other two cities.

SAB Miller launched a 13-city campaign across

Maharashtra to sample its new Knock Out beer. the aim of the campaign was to engage those who buy the Knock Out beer, and thus demonstrate their strength through games that demanded a test of might. Mantra Events and Promotion was handling the

campaign. the agency has been handling the activations for SAB Miller since four years.

the ‘Maharashtra Ka Shaktimaan’ campaign was activated through bars, which were set up in outlets in each city. According to Gaurav thakkar, Head-Sales, Mantra Events and Promotion, a total of 355 outlets in the state participated in the activation. “Along with the bars set up in three separate outlets each evening in each place, we also had a stage for hammer games and arm wrestling,” he said.

Mantra Events helps Knock Out beer to hunt for ‘Maharashtra Ka Shaktimaan’

to celebrate a decade of its high-value PetroBo-

nus cards, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) had developed a 10-week activa-tion for its customers across the country. following cultur-al functions organised at its

50 different territories on September 29, the company rewarded its oldest customers and those who made higher transactions until the first week of November. Except in Delhi, the entire activation was managed by the individual territory offices in the country. Thyme Advertising and Services handled the activation in Delhi.

the idea behind the activation was to appreciate the loyal customers in a way that resonates with them. the prizes for each week included couple tickets for a film, free dinner at a fine dining restaurant, a free trip in an amusement park, a free holiday at a weekend getaway spot or even cash back for the last amount of petrol purchased.

BPCL celebrates 10 years of PetroBonus card with 10-week activation

Bud Unwind tour’, an activa-tion focussed at corporate

houses, was initiated by E18 last month for beer brand Bud-weiser. Commencing from the last week of September, the activity was taken to around 15 companies across Mumbai, Gurgaon and noida. following the response received, organis-

ers are planning to take it to other markets soon.

Shankar B, national Head-Sales, E18, said that the agency developed the idea of engaging participants at the venue through games, after a hectic day’s work. More than 250 people had participated in the activity at each company. Shankar added, “We primarily focussed on companies like media houses, advertising agencies and internet companies. following the response, we are in talks with the client to take it forward to other markets after Diwali.”

‘Bud Unwind Tour’ may travel to other cities soon

in its third year, the Canon PhotoMarathon Asia, considered as one of Asia’s most-recognised photo competitions, was held across

three cities in October. PDM managed the activity in india, in Delhi on October 24, and Mumbai and Bangalore on October 25. the competition is open to amateur and professional photographers.

Sanjay Shukla, national Head-Activations, PDM, said, “We have been working with Canon for quite some time now. the Photo-Marathon engaged existing Canon customers as only they were allowed to participate.”

the two grand prize winners from india won a trip to Japan for an eight-day photo clinic set across the country by professional photographer triston Yeo. Across Asia, the event will also be held at vietnam, indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and thailand.

PDM brings Canon PhotoMarathon Asia to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore


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October 2009

radio City joined hands with inorbit Mall to station itself for an entire day and

broadcast itself through the live studio created within the mall premises. this is a 12-month long association between the two brands, and will have the radio station broadcast from Malad on special days, aimed at generating funds for a social cause. DreamWorks Unlimited has been appointed by inorbit Mall to manage this monthly activation, following a multi-agency pitch.

Christened as radio Studio Shift@ inorbit Mall, the initiation kicked

off on October 10 whereby around eight rJs from the radio station took forward their regular shows from within the mall complex. the activation also raised quite a good sum for the Akanksha foundation, which works for street children.

According to nishank Joshi, AGM-Corporate Communciations, inorbit Malls, “We wanted to bring in Diwali by celebrating the joy of giving, and Akanksha foundation is happy with the collections generated. We will continue a

similar fund-raising day on november 14.”

radio One announced a new musical

property ‘Music ka Shahenshah’ across its seven-city network. the format of the contest tests listeners’ passion for music by quizzing them about songs, music, singers and composers.

it also tested a music lover’s understanding of the overall music space, leading to a national quiz round, where the title of ‘Music ka Shahenshah’ will be bestowed upon the ultimate winner.

the on-air quiz was held during the month of October and the city winners were flown down to Mumbai for the live grand finale event held at an open-air venue. Shyju varkey, national Head of Marketing, radio One, observed that the radio station managed all events and activations through an internal team.

Paras Pharma and Big FM gets on ground to ‘Moov’ people

Paras Pharmaceuticals took the on-ground route to engage its audiences in Bengaluru at their workplaces, as an extension

to its on-air campaign by Big fM. the campaign was targetted mainly at working professionals beyond the age of 25 years, and went on from October 8-16. Big fM ideated the campaign, and managed the on-ground activation as well.

Ajay rawal, General Manager, Paras Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said, “Moov neck and Shoulder is mainly targetted at working professionals who work for long hours before the computer, and constant strain results in swelling and inflammation of the neck and shoulder muscles. Since it’s an insightful fact that our target audience is always on the move and rides high on radio throughout the day, we partnered with Big fM for this endeavour.”

Commenting on the activity, Sunil Kumaran, Station Head-Bengaluru, Big fM, said, “Our plan for Moov neck and Shoulder promises to engage audiences as they relate to what the rJs enact on air. The contact programme at offices also promised a relaxing experience and we are confident that the people of Bengaluru will come forward in large numbers for the team to come over for the Moov experience.”

rabe t iyer, who headed the OOH division of Big fM – Big

Street – has been re-assigned as Business Head-Allied Businesses for Big fM. the division comprises small business units (SBUs) of Big reach, Big Live, Big Digital, Big Events and Big rural. in his new position, iyer will be responsible for the growth and P&L of these businesses. He will report to tarun Katial, COO, Big fM.

iyer explained that his focus was to bring in synergy to the entire division, and thus enhance the quality of the deliverables for clients. “Primarily, we are focussed on creating synergies between existing verticals, and offer a holistic package to our clients,” he said.

iyer’s experience has spanned from agencies like Enterprise, Saatchi & Saatchi, ZenithOptimedia vietnam and Starcom Mediavest vietnam, among others.

Rabe T Iyer re-assigned as Business Head-Allied Businesses at Big FM

DreamWorks Unlimited brings Radio City to Inorbit Mall; raises funds for charity

Radio One hunts for ‘Music ka Shahenshah’ across seven cities

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11th Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya kicked off on Oct 6 from Shimla

the 11th edition of the Maruti Suzuki raid-de-Himalaya -- billed as india’s longest, highest and most strenuous motorsport

event -- flagged off on October 6 from Shimla.

this year, the motorsport event was organised under the aegis of Himalayan Motorsport Association, which will also managed the event. The event was co-sponsored by SBI Auto Loans, and supported by JK tourism, Himachal Pradesh tourism Development Corporation and the Indian Army. The rally will cover a total distance of over 2,000 kms.

Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager, Maruti Suzuki, said, “to popularise action sport, Maruti Suzuki has been organising professional rallies such as Maruti Suzuki raid-de-Himalaya and Maruti Suzuki rally Desert Storm along with motoring events such as Women’s Power Drive, Autocross, treasure Hunt and others. These events provide rallying thrills as well as promote safe driving habits.”

Sports management firm SportzConsult

has joined hands with the Kerala State volleyball Association to launch Kerala volleyball League (KVL). The event, scheduled from february 20-28, 2010, will feature six franchised teams. Malayalam film actor Mamooty has been roped in as the brand ambassador for the tournament.

According to Jitendra Joshi, CEO, SportzConsult, “KVL will become the most popular entertainment property in Kerala in the coming years. All the top volleyball players of India will take part in KVL. Live telecast of the league will take place at prime time on a top general entertainment channel.”

SportzConsult launches Kerala Volleyball League on the lines of IPL

international Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)

has conferred a ‘Gold Label’ each for all the forthcoming road races within the country to be organised by Procam international, beginning with the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in October 2009.

the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon will be followed by Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

and Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore to be held in 2010.

vivek B Singh, Joint MD, Procam international, said, “We are extremely proud to have received this honour for India. This is great news for India, and especially athletics. It is heartening to see that india has received the honours within just six years of a marathon tradition, as compared to the UK and the US, where the marathons have been taking place for over five decades.”

IAAF confers ‘Gold Label’ to Procam’s three marathon properties in India

the Queen’s Baton relay, curtain-raiser to the XiX

Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi from October 3, 2010, was launched by Queen Elizabeth ii when she handed over the baton to President of india Pratibha Patil, at Buckingham Palace in London on October 29. Australia-based Maxxam international, which handled the Beijing Olympic torch event, managed the relay as well the commencement event in London.

Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman, Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, said, “the launch of the Queen’s Baton relay marks a significant milestone for Delhi 2010. As the Baton begins its journey of 1,90,000 km across member nations and territories of the Commonwealth Games federation over 340 days, it will touch the lives of millions of people.”

Queen’s Baton Relay for CWG 2010 kicked off in London on Oct 29

transStadia, which is focussed on sports

and entertainment, has announced the launch of its first initiative, ‘india international Sports Summit 2010’, which is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on March 24 and 25, 2010. fountainhead Events

and Promotions has been appointed to manage the event. The theme of the debut year’s summit is ‘india, Get Set, Go!’

Udit Sheth, CEO, TransStadia, said, “This summit is a first step towards propelling India ahead as a sporting nation. Sport needs to be scalable, sustainable, and profitable, and access to training, coaching and sporting facilities for the common man is important. the need is to professionalise sport, incorporating in the system managers who can market sports initiatives, and potential sponsors who believe in the long-term benefits of investing in this arena.”

Fountainhead to manage TransStadia’s ‘India International Sports Summit 2010’


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Over 50,000 visitors expected at 3-day Relio Quick Auto Mall 2009 in Bengaluru

following exhibitions in Chandigarh and Delhi earlier this year, relio Quick india is focussed on the Bengaluru edition of Auto

Mall 2009. the three-day event, to be held at tripura vasini at Palace Grounds in the city, will feature over 50 companies showcasing their auto products and services. the event is scheduled to be held from november 13-15, and a footfall of over 50,000 is expected. relio Quick india is a Delhi-based integrated marketing solutions company.

“On the basis of feedback received from the auto industry and enthusiasts in this field in Bengaluru, we realised that the other auto

shows held in the city were not engaging and involving the end-consumers. Our shows in Chandigarh and Delhi had something for everyone – from a kid to an elderly person. We intend to replicate

such an experience in Bengaluru too,” explained Sandeep Kapoor, MD, relio Quick india Pvt. Ltd.

Abhedya Mumbai’, a musical tribute for unity and

integrity, has been announced by the Mumbai Police. the 14-hour long musical event is a part of the campaign by Lintas to commemorate and honour the many lives lost during the 26/11 last year. Big Events has been mandated to manage the event scheduled to be held on november 26 at the Gateway

of india. Proceeds from the event comprising corporate sponsorships and donations will be given to the Mumbai Police Welfare fund.

A campaign for peace and harmony will be flagged off on November 6 through an outdoor campaign carrying messages emphasising on integrity and how we made a difference by standing united. Gagan takyar, Director, Big Events, said, “the non-stop event on november 26, slated to be held from 6 am to 10 pm, is an open-for-all event, with performances ranging from classical to film music. Performances by school children have also been planned during the day, which will be attended by Bollywood celebrities.”

Big Events to manage musical on 26/11 ‘Abhedya Mumbai’ at Gateway of India

Singapore-based Conference and Exhibition Management Services Pvt. Ltd (CEMS), which is organising the Mumbai

international tourism Expo (MitE) from January 7-9, 2010, is keen to set shop in India, and is scouting for an office space and associates in Mumbai. MitE was originally scheduled to be held in 2009, but will instead see the light of the day only early next year. “We will be setting up an office in India, and will be focussing on developing our international properties for the indian market over the years. We also aim to explore bringing our other expos to india. We think that this is the right time for us to launch in india, notwithstanding the global economic downturn,” informed Edward Liu, MD, CEMS.

Commenting on MitE 2010, Liu, said, “With travel and tourism being one of the largest industries globally, india has emerged as a key player in this sector. With MitE, we will explore the number of targetted influential segments to maximise and draw in the interests of local and international buyers and sellers.”

CEMS to launch operations in India; to handle MITE in Jan 2010

the 13th annual edition of the Great indian rock festival began on October 23 in Pune, and subsequently travelled to three other

cities in the next few days including, Kolkata on October 24, Delhi on October 24 and 25, and Bengaluru on October 25. Organised by the rock Street Journal (rSJ), the event had Seagram’s fuel and nokia as its sponsors. rSJ’s own events division called rSJ Events managed the four-city event.

Amit Saigal of RSJ said, “The first edition of the Great Indian Rock festival was held in Kolkata in 1997 and had about 1,500 people. the festival has grown steadily and has a strong loyal following. With Seagram’s fuel stepping in as sponsors, the festival became truly national, as opposed to being restricted to only Delhi and Bengaluru all these years.”

RSJ’s Great Indian Rock XIII tours across four Indian cities

religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), the financial services group, intends to scout for an event and activation through the agency on

record (Aor) model soon.

“We consider events and activations as a good engagement medium for our audiences, and we intend to do more events and activations going forward too. But we are now exploring the Aor model for event and activation agencies. We are very active in the events space through sponsorship-led activities. We also have other activations and major events; this includes client engagement programmes, which are a key area of focus for the group,” informed Shubrangshu neogi, Director-Brand and Corporate Communications, rEL.

rEL spends around rs 3 crore for its activation programmes.

Religare Enterprises explores AoR route for event and activation agencies



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R-One Events and Media launch operations with IJSA Champions Race

R-One Events and Media formally announced the launch of its operations

with the IJSA Champions Race held in Mumbai on October 24. The agency, set up by Riyaz Khambati, will focus on building the brand in the first couple of years, before diversifying into specialised services. The agency has tied up with multiple vendor partners across the country to provide a pan-India service. Anuradha Gopal from TIC has joined the agency as VP-Activation.

Speaking to EVENTFAQS, Riyaz Khambati, President, R-One

Events and Media, said, “Our agency is a group of like-minded people who want to make each event a unique experience for the person attending it and not just focus at putting up a backdrop. For the same, we will partner only with high-end vendors, and we will not look at reducing costs which could bring down the quality of an event experience.”

Prior to starting his own venture, Khambati was working with Seventy Seven

Entertainment as VP-Operations.

Continuing with its tryst to get international musicians to

India as part of the Global Music Xpress property, entertainment channel Vh1 joined hands with Rayban to bring rock solo artiste Jayce Lewis to tour India. The property was conceptualised by Viacom Brand Solutions.

Lewis toured Mumbai on October 21, Delhi on October 22, Bangalore on October 23 and Pune on October 25, and performed in the Hard Rock Café of each of these cities. The event in all four cities was managed by Fountainhead Promotion and Events.

Ferzad Palia, Associate General Manager, Vh1 India, said, “Bringing new music to India is the aim of ‘Rayban Vh1 Global Music Express’ and I am certain this visit by Lewis is a winner.”

Rayban Vh1 Global Music Xpress brings Jayce Lewis to 4 Indian cities

The Ahmedabad Fashion Week aims

to feature Gujarat-based jewellery and garment designers at the event. The Fashion Week will be held

from November 27-29 at Court Yard Marriott in the city.

The event will be organised under the aegis of the Gujarat Tourism Board and will be managed by Akshar Events. Manish Sharma from Akshar Events said, “We want to take Ahmedabad on the international map for its designs, and the Fashion Week is a step forward in this process. We are expecting around 3,000 buyers on each day, as well as many NRIs and local buyers.”

Sponsors and partners for the inaugural edition include Shashi Kunj, Clear 0.8, Akshar Travels, Kingfisher, Gujarat Tourism Development Society, Emirates and Red FM.

Akshar Events gives Ahmedabad its own Fashion Week; to be held from Nov 27-29

Resorts World Sentosa, slated to be Asia’s

largest family destination on Singapore’s Sentosa

island and endorsed by Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg, is scheduled to open doors for visitors by early 2010. RWS expects to receive 13 million visitors by 2015.

RWS boasts of a Universal Studios Singapore theme-park, the world’s largest marine life park, six hotels, a luxury spa, a casino, and much more. In India, the company plans to promote the destination through travel agents, post a series of interactions with the media and travel trade in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. The company is also planning to tie-up with the airlines to promote the destination, apart from promotions at membership clubs and golf courses. “We are open to the idea of roping in an agency for innovative ideas for on-ground engagement in India,” Ajay Sharma, General Manager-India, Genting India Travel Services, said.

The company is also planning to attract the MICE industry by promoting the large ballroom spaces available in the hotels.

‘Resorts World Sentosa open to innovative ideas for on-ground engagement in India’

DNA Networks, which managed the entertainment aspects at the

ongoing Airtel Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament, was slapped with a police complaint by PPL authorities.

PPL filed police complaints in Delhi and Hyderabad on October 16, and was planning to do the same in Bangalore against DNA Networks, for the matches being organised at the respective cities.

The complaint was registered for “infringement of Copyright Act” under Section 2FF number 51 and 63.

However, Sowmya Choudhary, Country Head-Events, PPL, informed that the complaint would be withdrawn as the issue was being sorted out. “Following the complaint filed by PPL on October 16, the agency has made a part-payment of the license fee. Considering this as an indication of sorting the matter by the agency, we have decided to withdraw the complaints,” he said.

PPL files police complaint against DNA Networks for Airtel CLT20 music copyright violation division

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IEFIndustry Watch

October 200913



It’s time to say ‘WOW’ again! - EVENTFAQS Media · home accolades, others continue to lament...

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