The panel discussion focused on the changing role of events and experiential marketing from the perspective of CMOs. Some key points discussed included: - CMOs expect events to help tell brand stories and create unique experiences for audiences/consumers rather than just focus on sales - Events need to provide conversations, custom content, and entertainment for modern consumers in addition to commerce opportunities - Measurement of events' impact on business objectives like ROI is still a challenge for marketers and agencies - Agencies need to become more entrepreneurial by creating their own intellectual properties and moving beyond just execution

1. Panel Discussion with CMOs on the kind of
change they will like to see in Event
Agencies
with
Lloyd Mathias
Former CMO, Tata Docomo
Founder & Director, GreenBean Ventures Pvt. Ltd.
Neeraj Sanan
Executive Vice President - Marketing & Distribution, MCCS
Ranjivjit Singh
CMO, Hewlett Packard India
Sameer Tobaccowala
CEO, Shobiz
moderated by Annurag Batra
Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media Group

2. What do Event
Management
What do CMOs Professionals &
expect of Event Agencies expect of
Management CMOs?
Professionals &
Agencies?

3. Event Management
Agencies/Professionals have to Think
Different

4. Everything in life is a choice – including
a pitch… Agencies can also decide
whether they want to join the race

5. Using media to make the
proposition come alive
MOBILES
RADIO
INTERNET
TV
ON PREMISE
PRINT
OUTDOORS
OFF
PREMISE The event experience

6. Why Events?

7. every Brand is a
story

8. an Event is a medium
where this story unfolds…

9. therefore…
Event management is
the art of
storytelling…
Most often without a moral
attached ( pun intended!!)

10. To me, Experiential
Marketing & Events, in
context to brands, is
about…

11. Curatio
n

12. Applause

13. Wow/Experienc
e

14. What a leading marketer
believes
Brands are about their consumers
as much as
audiences and what they experience!

15. Brands want to…
Be storytellers. Be story makers.
Create stories that will be Told and
Inspire…
Stories which are unique, Bold ..
which change attitudes…
That change performance…
Each of us. All of us. Just like Events!

16. Events/Experiential
Marketing Agencies
Face the same Questions
as brands face today!

17. Experiential Marketing. Consumer Needs…
 Conversations
 Custom Content
 Convenience
 Search
 Communication
 Entertainment
 Commerce
 Cocktail Ammunition
 Unique Experience

18. An Urban Consumer’s Journey Today
Broadcast TV is
a morning and
evening
phenomenon

19. How are we viewing Events?
 Conversations?
 Custom Content?
 Convenience?
 Search?
 Communication?
 Entertainment?
 Commerce?
 Cocktail Ammunition?
 Unique Experience?

20. The really good leverage
Crafted Innovations
Custom content
Relevant conversations
Great topicality
360
Speed to Reader
Sensation
The difficult leverage
Vibrant Reach
Trending the content
Conversation getting alive

21. Issues Confronting Experiential
Marketing Professionals
 Pitch Fees
 Talent
 Measurability - Currency/impact/ROI
 Creating Intellectual Properties/
Formats/Licensable Assets
 Creating your own brands
 Entrepreneurship
 Fragmentation
 Corporate Governance
 Estimating size of the industry – B2B or
B2C

22. Two questions that I would like to ask
people in the room…
How many event agencies have been approached &
acquired by global communications networks?
Is that good or bad?

23. Two questions that I would like to ask
people in the room…
How many marketers/clients have acquired or deeply
partnered with event management agencies?

24. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 Creating experiences - Marketers end objective
moving from just selling- to creating experiences –
before selling, while selling and post sales – how
have events added to that ‘ experience?’
 Innovations that these brands/ marketers have
done- the best ones
 Event managers are not just execution people- they
are the ideas people-? True or false in your
experience? Integration of an event idea into a
brand communication

25. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 Do you believe that customized and co-owned event
properties are the way to move forward?
 Any products that you have launched first through
an event – and then advertised about it?
 Budgets – you want event managers to be your man
Friday- but you will still expect them to work for
peanuts – when will they start getting a higher pie
of the marketing/ media budget?

26. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 Will they ever get money for ideas?
 ROI on events – how do you as marketers evaluate
how events have contributed to the bottom line?
 Events – a victim of precautionary markets? Or does a
cut in budgets mean good news for events
professionals?

27. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 Biggest & worst fears of dealing with event agencies –
do the same fears of about 10 years ago exist even
now?
 Second hand treatment meted to events professionals
many a time – have we brought this upon ourselves?
 Event agencies – many unorganized, one-person army
making promises that they cannot deliver?

28. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 Agencies – networks – having events divisions + Media
owners – starting their own BTL divisions – all this
indicating convergence – and the fact that events
becoming an essential part of the brand
communication and needs professionals to look into it.
Is that going to change in some manner? Yes or No, in
both cases is there an opportunity for the the people
in the room?

29. Some pointers for this panel
discussion
 One B2C and one B2B event or a concert/expo
that you attended, and would have loved to go
backstage personally to thank the events team,
and felt that the brand’s objectives were met?
 Your 3 suggestions to EEMA and the new
President and his team?
 One book you’d like to recommend to read

30. exchange4media – Face-To-Face Initiatives

31. The last lecture – Randy Pausch

32. Thanks
Annurag Batra abatra@exchange4media.com