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The panelists on the session included Showtime Events India
MD Michael Menezes, Fountainhead Events chairman Brian Tellis,
Teamworks Films MD Sanjoy Roy, Publicis India Communications
MD Bharat Dabholkar and the session was moderated by DNA Networks
MD T Venkat Vardhan.
The session focused on the issues plaguing the event industry
such as prohibitive entertainment taxes and other regulatory
issues. It also advocated the need for building media brands
through events.
While addressing the gathering, Showtime's Menezes said:
"The government should start off by stepping in and provide
stimulus which could actually help grow the live entertainment
industry. Taxes need to be brought down to a real level. We
also need various incentives to develop and take Indian entertainment
to international levels.
Menezes pointed out that the developed countries such as
the US have more than 180 "live" events every year.
"Live Entertainment is a huge revenue generator globally.
For the marketer it makes sense to back events because entertainment
can be a powerful tool," he added.
Fountainhead's Tellis reasoned: "More brands need to
step out and create experiences. Basically, we may term them
as events, but actually they are experiences. The experience
of a brand is ultimately what the consumer looks for.. that
is what compels a consumer to buy. In a cluttered and saturated
market one thing that a brand needs to do is 'behave differently'."
Tellis said that in marketing terms an event is basically
a "brand bubble". "For event companies to survive
and the market to grow, what needs to be done is working the
other way round. We should create an event for a certain brand
after understanding its communication needs rather than the
conventional way of creating an event and then looking for
brands to back them. Ultimately the basic purpose for doing
an event is to use the event to felicitate strong emotional
relations between the consumer and brand," added Tellis.
Teamworks' Roy who focused on developing the festivals culture
in India said: "Internationally, festivals (whether they
are film festivals or others) symbolise the place, the town
or country they are held in." He cited the example of
the Edinburgh festival which rakes in millions of pounds annually.
"A mixture of tourism, culture, heritage should be used
to develop the festival culture in India," added Roy.
Dabholkar, who is also a well-known theatre personality and
has directed scores of successful plays in the past spoke
on the state of theatre in India. Speaking in his inimitable
style, Dabholkar had the audience in splits as he regaled
the crowds with a couple of humourous anecdotes.
Dabholkar stressed on the need to "know your target
group" before creating any kind of entertainment product.
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