India’s platform for Events and Experiential Marketing

Print Newsletter January 2009 17Print Newsletter January 2009

In an effort to build on Religare’s brand promise of being the ‘Investment Gateway of India’, Arts.i was created as a platform committed to the business of arts. Art as an alternate investment option is increasingly gaining popularity, and the brand seeks to be a ‘corporate champion for the cause of art’. The Religare Arts.i gallery in Delhi, which opened in October 2008, is the first physical manifestation of this initiative.

EVENTFAQS caught up with Mukesh Panika, who heads the Religare Arts.i initiative, to get an insight in to the art market in India and know more on the Arts.i platform.Excerpts:

How big is the art market in India? What is the growth seen in the space?It is difficult to assess the size of the industry in India. Internationally, it is approximated to be a 400 million dollar market.

The buzz and excitement in the industry in the last six years has been great. I think it’s just the beginning of the excitement. The curiosity in the space will increase. I think it will grow to 5 million dollars in the next 4 to 5 years.

Which is the segment of people looking at art as an investment?Hight Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) would be the standard answer to this question. But we intend on being a custodian of art and make things more accessible by offering art in the range of Rs.20,000 to 30,000 as well. Only then will Indian Art truly arrive. We’re looking at penetrating the market and not only targeting HNIs.

Beyond exhibitions and art-related events, how does Religare intend to promote art in the country?Religare arts.i is a 360-degrees platform, which will include advisory services, documentation and archiving, amongst other services. We intend to identify and maximize the potential of art in the country. For example, we have our own journal on art; we conduct projects in schools and in the public realm to increase awareness about art. We believe the onus is on us to create as many innovative products as possible and evoke curiosity amongst the people about art.

What is the frequency of events planned under Arts.i? In how many Indian cities will we see such events happening?We have shows in the first arts.i exhibition centre which is a 12,000 square feet space including a cafe, art store and resource centre. Nature of the City is one of the events we’re having at the venue and will provide a good yardstick to position ourselves. We’re having artists travel from different parts of the world for the exhibition. French Graphiti Artists will be a part of the exhibition and will be displaying their art on a terrace wall of the exhibition centre, as a tribute to the episodes of 26/11 in Mumbai.

The idea is to be on top of things and capture people’s imagination. To that extent, we continue to have some activity or the other on an ongoing basis.

The arts.i gallery in Delhi is the first physical space we have. Beyond this we have partnerships and associations across the country. The initiative is on a global level, but right now we’re focusing on Delhi and want to create an art hub in the city. How do you view properties such as the recently created India Art Summit? Do you propose to create / associate with such properties?

I think the India Art Summit is the equivalent to art forums abroad. It is wonderful for viewers, and is also representative of the India’s position in the world of Art. More such properties will come and anything that adds value to

our initiative is welcome, whether it be created directly by us or not.

Which are the markets with maximum potential for art? Would you agree that the Indian art market is fragmented?Yes and no, because many things have happened in the last few years in India to contribute to a changing scenario.

The western market is very evolved, but since the market melt down, the dynamics are about to shift. You will see potential emerging from the most unconventional places and in the most unconventional ways. I view Religare’s arts.i initiative as one that will surprise the world by developing Delhi as an art hub.

Does the Arts.i platform manifest itself in any other media besides the gallery? How are activities under the banner promoted?But of course, we promote each of our initiatives through various media. When you are showcasing the best, you must promote it in an adequate manner. I’m a great believer in both conventional and unconventional mediums. People themselves become ambassadors of this initiative and promotion happens through word of mouth as well.

‘Potential will emerge from the most unconventional places’

French Graphiti art on terrace wall of Arts.i Gallery

India’s platform for Events and Experiential Marketing

Print Newsletter January 2009 19Print Newsletter January 2009

On the Ramayan trail... A rebranding exercise has been un-dertaken by Sri Lanka to promote its tourism industry, which has taken a hit due to myriad problems includ-ing the global meltdown. According to news reports, tourist arrivals in the country fell by 11.2 percent in 2008 from a year ago, to 4,38,475 visitors.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) appointed Bee-hive Priority Consultants to handle promotional activities in India. Sri Lankan tourism authorities were in the country at the ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit’ in January, to promote the country as a tour-ist destination for Indian travelers, and facilitate investments for Sri Lankans in India through an MoU with the state of Gujarat. Jagadeesh Krishnamurthy caught up with Prabuddh Banerjee, National Head - Client Services, Beehive Priority Consultants. Excerpts:

What is the nature of the association between Beehive and Sri Lanka Tourism? Currently Beehive Communications are dealing with two major agen-cies in Sri Lanka. We have already been appointed by Sri Lanka Tourism and Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). The second agency that we are work-ing with is the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB), which is essen-tially for MICE. They also work very closely with Destination Market-ing Companies (DMCs) which is a conglomerate of several travel and tourism agencies and operators in Sri Lanka.

Please explain the association between the State Govern-ment of Gujarat and Sri Lanka. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Sri Lanka delegation headed by Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda with the Gujarat Government at the end of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit is for developing the coastlines of Gujarat.

The experience of Sri Lankan authorities in developing coastal destina-tions in their country, and also in developing Maldives’ coastline in the past, has prompted this association. Moreover, in Maldives, close to 10 per cent of the infrastructural development is done by Sri Lankan busi-nessmen. We are expecting a similar scenario here.

Could you elaborate on the initiatives to be undertaken in this regard?A working committee comprising of destination developers, Sri Lankan tourism and development authorities, along with their counterparts in Gujarat, will undertake a three-month study for identifying the coastal area for future development. Post the identification process, these areas will be developed and promoted in a phased manner.

Post Tsunami, Sri Lanka has been trying to build up its MICE portfolio by announcing a slew of festivals which are scheduled round the year. What is the status on that? Last year, they did pretty decent numbers. I think they did close to about 800 conventions. It’s not a mean number at all. But this year, we want to develop this and create an interesting alternative for Indian MICE mov-ers. Sri Lanka is an affordable destination. Don’t forget that Sri Lanka has very high value properties, and even the CEO of a company would be happy to go there provided it is packaged well. So, it’s a matter of packaging it well and selling it at the right price.

What are your plans for promoting Sri Lanka as a destina-tion, in India?Now, what we are trying to do in India is focus on two major areas. We believe that the numbers can go up. Our first objective in 2009-’10 would be to arrest the slide, which has been observed over the past two

years. Once we arrest the slide, we would start building on it. We all know that the times are little difficult and the sector of travel and tourism will not be unaffected by it.

Is there a specific strategy to arrest this slide? We realized that we need to work very closely with the travel and trade fraternity, because they are the ones who will bring in the money. Num-bers will come from the trade. So we need to work very closely with them.

In fact, in January during the Vibrant Gujarat conference, the Sri Lanka tourism ministry and DMCs was well represented. That is where we relaunched the ‘Ramayan trail’ package. This package has been there since early 2008, but has not given the numbers. In fact, lot of television networks has also covered the trail, but it has not increased the numbers. The real reason was that it was not actively pushed and marketed by the travel trade industry. The epic of Ramayana is entrenched in the Indian psyche, and I am very enthusiastic about this and the fact that people would react and definitely go to places like Ashok Vatika, among oth-ers.

Post Vibrant Gujarat, what are the future plans for promot-ing Sri Lanka as a destination?In February, we will start our rounds with the Indian travel trade. We have selected a few players to interact with, and will make presenta-tions to them. Primarily, it will be done to make them interested in the Ramayan package, to capture the summer vacation crowd. If you are familiar with India, from middle class to upper middle class, people would definitely want to go for this package. For the super rich of India, we are looking at the Colonial Heritage package.

Also, one cannot promote a destination without advertising because public relations just doesn’t give you that kind of exposure - as much as you try. The new branding and campaign of Sri Lanka will be ready by February. This campaign has been developed by Ogilvy Sri Lanka. Along with the on-ground activities, the campaign will also look at tele-vision, radio and print during the launch phase. We, at Beehive, would be handling the creative and media buying decisions for India.

What would be the typical split between the ATL and BTL spends for this account? The ATL spends would be around 60 per cent of the budget, and the BTL which comprises of road shows, workshops, seminars and on-ground activities and other communication packages will take up the rest.

Is Beehive planning to carry out the campaign across the country by itself, or is it looking at outsourcing some of it?We are definitely looking at associates to work with. India is a very large country and cover all geographies is tough. Hence, off and on, we will definitely outsource those things which are slightly beyond our striking distance. Sometimes, in certain cities, there will be pitching processes to identify the agency.