MxMIndia

Tag: Shailendra Singh

  • To revolutionise Indian influencer marketing

    Humanz Partners with Boss Entertainment

    By Our Staff

    Humanz announces partnership with Boss Entertainment. This will allow optimisation of  collaborations between local marketers and influencers across India, thereby ensuring the sustainable growth of the country’s influencer marketing sector.

    Said Liav Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Humanz: “In India, local influencers inspire young adults to make decisions at rates far greater than celebrities,” “The influencer marketing arena is growing rapidly in the region, and it is crucial for collaborations between marketers and influencers to be as optimal and impactful as possible. Our values align with that of Boss Entertainment, and we’re excited to see what unfolds.”

    Added Shailendra Singh of Boss Entertainment: “The tech venture with Humanz in India is a massive opportunity for us to unlock the positive power that our influencers possess to strengthen a brand’s reputation, improve audience engagement, and increase conversions,” “It is high time marketers and business owners in India recognize the importance of influencer marketing and use it to their advantage.”

     

     

  • Other than Yadav, Ajey Gore has joined as Operating Partner, Technology and former journalist-turned public affairs specialist Shweta Rajpal Kohli (better known as SRK to her colleagues in NDTV) as Head of Public Policy

    Gayatri Yadav joins Sequoia as CMO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gayatri Yadav

    Gayatri Yadav has joined Sequoia Capital as Chief Marketing Officer – India and SEA. She was until recently with Star India where she led marketing and worked as President, Consumer Strategy & Innovation. She will be based in Bengaluru, which we learn she will relocate to once the Work-from-Home regime ends at Sequoia and the rest of corporate India.

     

    This is what Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia Capital, wrote in a statement on LinkedIn: “During her time at Star, Gayatri led a series of high impact marketing moves, including the network’s launch of Star Sports, Hotstar and the ‘Nayi Soch’ brand plan on Star Plus, which aimed to drive women’s empowerment. She started her career in Procter & Gamble in Brand Management and later joined General Mills India where, as Chief Marketing Officer, she was responsible for launching the Pillsbury brand and for creating multiple categories in the then nascent packaged foods market. In addition to her role as CMO for Sequoia Capital India, Gayatri will also work closely with our portfolio CMOs to help them launch and grow brands.”

     

    And this is how Yadav responded to the statement, again on LinkedIn: “I am honoured to join Sequoia Capital India and help daring founders build legendary companies and brands. This is a seminal point of time in the development of the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem and there is a massive opportunity to create global brands out of the region. I am excited to join this amazing team and partner with an incredibly talented set of founders in achieving this mission.”

     

    Other than Yadav, Ajey Gore has joined as Operating Partner, Technology and former journalist-turned public affairs specialist Shweta Rajpal Kohli (better known as SRK to her former colleagues at NDTV) as Head of Public Policy.

     

    An MBA from IIM Calcutta, Yadav has worked at P&G (four years), General Mills (14 years) and Star India (nearly nine years) where she worked till October 2019.

     

     

  • We revive our series of our indepth interviews where the Percept joint MD talks about Sunburn, the music gigs biz & his relations with brother Harindra

    Up, Close & Personal… Shailendra Singh interview

     

    Shailendra Singh is colourful and flamboyant in more ways than one. He founded Sunburn and wears it on his sleeve. He has produced and even directed films and is now contemplating new things in life. Excerpts from a freewheeling interview with Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    The tenth edition of Sunburn is a significant milestone

    Yes, 10 years…

     

    Do you remember the time you started it?

    Of course, 2007, Carl Cox at Candolim Beach, I was waiting at 2pm when the box-office opened and no one came. At 4.45, there were just a hundred people. But at 5.45, we had 1200 and I realised this is something that’s going to work.

     

    The trials and tribulations you had then, and what you have now… any difference between then and now?

    Everybody now wants a share in Sunburn, wants to use the name of Sunburn and wants to do something with Sunburn. But I also take pride that it’s become such a big entity with the third largest in the world festival circuit. We are Asia’s #1 festival, and it gave me Asia’s #1 Music Promoter status. I am also the first Indian to be ranked in the Top 50 Indian people in the whole world [in music gigs]. So all that’s cool stuff, but, yes, I think that is the trouble part now. Like Sunburn is a name that it could come up in Parliament tomorrow for debate that this should not be there or that this should be there. It is madness.

     

    So, what were the stresses then and now? Are they of a similar nature?

    Well, it beats me that a country of 1.4 billion people which is the world’s largest democracy and has the youngest population does not understand the power of Music Tourism and Sports Tourism! So we don’t believe that the World Cup finals — when India is playing in it — is worth tourism. Countries are built on music and sports tourism. South Africa, Australia… all of Europe is built on music tourism. We don’t understand this that where will our young population go. It wants sports, it wants music, and we have created the world’s biggest festival, and even now we beg for permission for ‘Let us do. Let us do’. And they’ve been incident-free. In 10 years, we have done 926 events in 78 cities – Guwahati, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Noida not only Goa.

     

    And 170-odd licences for each? 

    Yes, 170-odd licences for every event.

     

    And that is not just Goa. It can be anywhere across the country.

    Everywhere. Goa is where we started with, so we stuck to Goa. We did Martin Garrix two weeks ago [in Mumbai] and there were 60,000 people, more than Goa. So we do events on a daily basis.

     

    But, if you were to do the same event elsewhere in the world, how many licences would you need?

    Much lesser. See, each country has its own complexities. We are a pretty young nation compared to the United Kingdom and America. So our level of maturity and level of priority in understanding that this is the existing business model may be low. It is an existing event that is required for society at large. I am doing Electronic Dance Music, but with the success of Sunburn, so many other festivals have emerged – Sufi festival, rock festival, Bollywood festival, everything is running but we are the fire-starters. At least give the respect.

     

    Do you think the Global Citizens festival starring Cold Play would’ve helped changed the mindset at all?

    No. Global Citizen is an international charity organisation wanting to make a difference in India. We did an event on December 13, 2015. On ground, Global Citizens had 62,000 people with 30 artists or performers, 50 Bollywood artists, and 50 politicians on ground with Colors and The Times of India networks behind them. Plus Chris Martin and Bill Gates also gave a speech. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modiji made an address.

     

    We are fire-starters. On December 13 last year at D Y Patil, we had one lakh people on ground, we raised money for Magic Bus for education. We educated 18,200 children. We were the largest attended event of the Facebook history globally. We had 15 million views in the first 10 minutes.

     

    But it did not have a Cold Play.

    Yes, but we had 100,000 versus 60,000 on ground.

     

    Hmmm…

    We were the largest attended event of Facebook history globally. It’s a case of Ghar ki Murgi, Daal Barabar. Till today our Gora British fetish has not gone.

    I am tired of calling the media ‘Please come and support this’.  Anyway, these things don’t matter. Look, Global Citizen is a fantastic initiative just like what we are doing. Our event is called Guestlist events. So we do events for charity through Guestlist. This is my initiative. We just did Martin Garrix in Bombay, it was for free.

    We educated 10,000 children through the earning, we are doing quietly a lot of social difference initiatives, but we are doing in our fun way. That is not my issue. The question that you asked that if you do a Global Citizen with the blessings of Chief Minister Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi then you can run a concert till 11 p.m. I can’t run a concert beyond 9.59. You didn’t ask a question as a journalist, no front page story came out that their concert ran till 11 pm full loudspeaker… what happened to that. We get FIRs. If 1 minute beyond 10 o’clock we get an FIR.

     

    Same ground? Given that it’s an office area…

    Sir, it is a law… 9.59 is a cut-off time for any live entertainment event in a public spot including IPL. IPL public commentary stops at that time.

    So-

    So, it means that if you do it along with politicians then it’s fine, but if you don’t do, you will be dead in this country. We shouldn’t be doing this. What will the next generation say? The youngest population is there in India… what are you teaching them?

     

    You obviously have a host of sponsors backing you?

    Yes, a lot of support.

     

    And they sponsor a slew of events that you do…

    Yes, they sponsor a season.

     

    10, 20, 30 crore rupees in sponsorships?

    Depends actually. Sometimes it’s decent money, sometimes it is not. It depends on the trends. So Electronic Dance Music was not a top priority for sponsorships till about three years ago. In the last three years, we have seen an influx of sponsors, who feel that this is part of their strategy. Please understand the ROI model for Sunburn is different from other events. 99% of media gurus work on ROI in terms of reach TRPs, GRPs. We are not broadcast, we are a ground-only event.

    Now the sponsors are matured to the point to understand that you are known by the company that you keep. They understand the power of Brand Sunburn and they feel that Sunburn-goers are influencers of society.

     

    So you are covered by gate money and sponsors?

    Yes, 60:40. 60 sponsors, 40 gate is the ratio we have reached now. Max it will go is 50:50.

     

    And what is the international norm?

    Internationally it’s 90% gate and 10% sponsors… they don’t like sponsorships.

     

    And when do you think it will happen that way?

    I don’t think it will ever happen in this country.

     

    No?

    Because the consumer is different here. When you have a sponsor in India, a consumer thinks it’s a respected and celebrated event that is why there are big sponsors on it. Abroad, if you have a sponsor, then a consumer feels that it’s not a pure experience and will be a branded experience… so I don’t want to go.

    The overseas customer is far more matured, and wants an unplugged pure experience versus India. They are still living in the world of credibility.

     

    Therefore, if Pepsi is sponsoring your event, it’s good?

    It’s good, yes, that’s the Indian psyche.

     

    What about Patanjali? 

    No comment.

     

    Coming back to the story from then to now, you have enough people coming in, the concept is known, sponsors are there, and you really didn’t have to hunt for sponsors as much as you had to once upon a time. 

    True

     

    But the success of Sunburn has also created clones…

    It is something like Khans versus someone else in the industry. It is like Varun Dhawan trying to compete with a Shah Rukh Khan. I don’t think there is a comparison, to be honest. Varun Dhawan is doing well but he can never be Shah Rukh Khan…And similarly Hrithik Roshan cannot be Amitabh Bachchan, so on and so forth. But having said that what is to be seen for competition; I have always said this bluntly and not politely, but just f*** **f. Get the runs on the board and then talk to me.

    We do events in Noida with 40,000 people incident free. You say Noida is the rape capital and learn from us how to do it. No one asks us how we arrange events in Noida. How do we do it? Learn from us. No one invites me and I am always free… Having said that you should judge this not with perception or competition but by the box-office.

    BookMyShow is your straight example. We sell 82% of the tickets in this country in EDM. The balance 18% is divided with the other idiots whoever they are, God bless them. Why are you wasting your time with 18% and asking me who is my competition? I have no competition.

     

    Others are not necessarily idiots, right?

    82:18 is the ratio in India. 82% tickets sold in India are only Sunburn. 18% is collectively the competition. This is the data by Ashish Hemrajani [founder and CEO, BookMyShow]. Call and talk to him. Don’t talk to me about who the others are. I have worked really hard for this. I deserve the respect and not compare to others.

     

    Well, we speaking about how your success has created clones, people who have broken away.

    I wouldn’t say clones. I would say industry. My success has created an industry. I feel damn proud with that. I have produced 75 feature films in the industry. I have launched half a million that is 500,000 debutants in Bollywood. It is fun when I go Andheri, Infiniti Mall. Every café has somebody of mine – Vishal, Shekhar, Salim Suleman, Vishal Bharadwaj, Shoojit Sarkar are saw their debut with me. It feels good. Similarly when we talk about our industry, when I meet Warren [Dsouza], the sound guy, Nikhal Chinappa, DJ Lost Stories, Arjun Vagale or production people that I work with, it is so cool to see where we have evolved from where we started.

     

    Are you happy with what Nikhil is doing?

    I don’t know what he is doing actually. It happens when things go wrong. So Nikhil used to work for us but that perception was created otherwise. So it went wrong and also a lot of conflict issues happened technically on ground. He is a person who loves the music, has worked relentlessly to grow the same. I respect him as a talent who has actually nurtured the seed and nurtured a lot of talent and grown the seed. So whatever he does, I am supportive of it.

    We disconnected on business values and transactional issues. I don’t think strategically I ever disregard him or disrespect him.  When the split was happening, you can please check on internet any public statement, for two-and-a-half years, you won’t find a single reaction from me at all while he has lobbied against; But I felt so much respect that I didn’t want to react.

     

    Both of you did fight fiercely

    No, nothing. It was one-sided. He felt emotionally disturbed. We felt technically disturbed. So whatever we did we did technically as per the books and as per the law. We never reacted emotionally. I also met him during that time. We were together in Amsterdam, we had a big hugging session and all. He said ‘What you are killing me’ I said ‘Bro, this is business and this is friendship. Let’s have beer’. We are friends. He is also proud of what I have done…

     

    You have done a lot on the EDM front and with Bollywood. Why not concerts with Hindi music?

    I love Hindi music. The biggest drawback of Hindi music is that playback singers cannot be superstars until the heroes keep lipsyncing them on the stage. Except Arijit and AR Rahman… but no one can become Chris Martin from our country because Salman Khan still forcibly dances on someone else’s song at Filmfare [awards night]. I am a huge lover of Bollywood. I feel Bollywood has more genres than EDM…

     

    What about Daler Mehndi, Mika …

    They are not pop icons. They are not Taylor Swift, and not Micheal Jackson.

     

    Of course.

    Why not? It is a population of 1.5 billion.  So many Indians. Why not? Why is Adnan Sami not Elton John? He has got the skills. What a performer on the piano, what a singer, why is he not Elton John?

     

    People like yourself who are pioneers, why haven’t you’ll tried…? 

    I tried. I signed Adnan exclusively. What happens is what I had realised and that happened because I was running one of the top talent management companies in Bollywood and now my all my ex-employees have their own talent agencies – Reshma Shetty, Matrix, Bunty Walia, Bunty Behl,  Vinita Bangad, all are my ex. All of them have opened [talent agencies]. So all opened and I closed down. What I realised is that with an artist like Daler Mehndi;  there is a famous dialogue in Bollywood which I like a lot: The kettle is hotter than tea. Our artists, they don’t realise their true potential.

    Daler Mehendi has not understood that the No 1 viral video in the entire world watched is Tunak Tunak. He did not know this till today. Daler Mehndi’s comeback should be Tunak Tunak. 80 million is not a joke. The Whites are doing Tunak Tunak but he doesn’t understand.

    So I met Daler, he came to my Deadmau5 concert. He performed. I called him. He loves me and I love him too. But boss, he came with an entourage of 80 people at the time when his career is f****. So the packaging is so big with these guys that they are not able to break through. The time taken is too much.

    If I go to Salim Sulaiman and say let me design you a show. Let’s make it a show. See Sonu Nigam show, the orchestra is very simple. They wear simple clothes and chappals. They don’t have an LED behind. Sonu is singing – Tujhe Dekha – and then you need a  Shah Rukh behind in an LED… only then you will enjoy.

    Then I tell Sonu – Sonu you are taking Rs 25 lakh for the show, you could have given me 12 lakh and I would have put an LED. He said ‘25 is mine and then you put whatever you want to.’  I said, ‘You will sing without LED?’ And he said, ‘I will sing… I need my 25 lacs’

    I gave up. I tried very hard. I felt Sunidhi Chauhan had the potential to be a superstar. Salim Suleman are great performers and live artists. Sonu Nigam has a fantastic voice. Shaan is a brilliant player. These are before Arijit. But I gave up. I was tired. I asked to reduce their fee to half so that I can put the other half on production. Let the orchestra wear clothes.

     

    But you are paying a very high fee compared to the international artists.

    To match the international trends. If we don’t pay them they won’t come here. They will go to Los Angeles, South Africa, Japan or China.

     

    So if you are okay in paying Rs 25 lakh to an international artist, why not pay the Indian artists too as much plus LED.

    They are selling tickets. Indians are not selling tickets.

     

    Indians are not selling tickets?

    No, no. All sponsored shows. Other than Arijit and Rahman, no one has broken through.

     

    But tell me aren’t the risks too many in this business – just in case there’s a law and order issue, you could well see a cancellation of the event.

    Live entertainment globally is an edgy business. Ditto with all sports events. We have seen football events cashing out in Germany. Live entertainment has its drawbacks like Live TV has its drawbacks. But the excitement that you get from Live entertainment is phenomenal. I had said at a press conference in 2007 that someone has the power to make a social difference in the society. So if I am getting 60,000 people to unite through music, it is far more powerful than leaving 60,000 people in bars to drink or be jobless in the evenings.

     

    The fear of cancellations isn’t that much and you have had them.

    If Paytm is making a loss of Rs 200 crore and the stocks are coming down no one can control that.

     

    Paytm has Alibaba, but you use your own money, right?

    Yes, hard-earned but I am saying any business per se as we are seeing has its own risks. Even Sunil Mittal in Airtel today is still fighting Mukesh Ambani. It keeps going on.

     

    But the difference is that Sunil Mittal has public money. But here it is all your money or you may have some sponsors. 

    Yes, you are right. But my brother and I have been partners for three decades and how we see life – I used to be a waiter in Shamiana at the Taj Mahal hotel. My salary was Rs 1280, I used to get a cheque of State Bank of India.

     

    That was huge money that time.

    I couldn’t afford a taxi. I used to take a 82 bus from Sachivalaya because I couldn’t afford 87 and 89 because there were limited bus tickets. At Rs 3 per day I used to eat my meals. Having said that, we have come up the hard way in the same city which we love a lot. I used to drink water from Azad Maidan and drink even today. I am not embarrassed with that. I drink water from anywhere and eat my Pav Bhaji from VT. It was four bucks that time, now I don’t know what the price is maybe Rs. 16 or Rs. 20-24. We are used to that lifestyle. So we feel that we had fun reaching till here.  Are you getting my point?

     

    There are rumours that sometime last year you were going through rough financial patch.

    We are going through a tough time since 2009. We had a terrific 25-year run. We have been flying.  Twenty-three companies in 23 years I launched and startups without funding. All killed it. PPC, PM, PDM rocking. It was like ‘Wow’ and then my brother went through a rough patch of around six months. But we didn’t lose any staff or clients to be honest. Nothing happened. Some shift happened in the Karma. Something happened. Stars went down. It’s all downhill from 2009.

     

    How is it now?

    It is a tough time, financially. We are very honest people. We have tried our best. It is always said – it will be delayed but you will always get your money. We are very honest people because we came from nothing. So we don’t like to…

     

    You are doing very well. You have an office as large as this. You had a garage.

    I also have an office in a garage in Worli. I like it a lot.

     

    There are rumours that your brother and you have split.

    Trying to split. It is a very conscious effort. We have had a fantastic run and we are trying to go through a family separation which is what we call it in India. And it has taken a long time. We are both trying to do it amicably because I think it is crucial that  I do strategically what I feel is correct in my journey because I have been a creator all my life and I am not saying he is a trader but he is more financially inclined and my job is to create. I feel my destiny is to create things. And I have created these 23 businesses in 23 years; they are all my start-ups. My brother himself gives a speech saying, Shailendra started all these business and he flourished them. So I feel my destiny; because imagine if I didn’t go into Bollywood – 5 lakh people I wouldn’t have  launched,  Vishal Bhardwaj  wouldn’t have debuted…

     

    So, what happens once you’ll have split and all happens as you’ll desire. What happens to Sunburn?

    Yes, so at that point of time, I feel that whenever it does, the family separation takes place, like I said to you that I am a creator, so I personally believe even to take Sunburn or Percept or whatever it is, I have a line sometimes: it’s  a pretty radical line, I don’t know if they want to use it but it’s good for a conversation piece… ‘Sometimes you have to destroy what you have built to rebuild’ and also Einstein’s formula of madness. You know that, right? Definition of madness- ‘To do the same thing every day and expect a new result’ People keep doing the same thing day after day- they will go to Sidhivinayak Temple for result. Why are you bothering the Lord Ganesh. Turn your day upside down, work during the night instead of the day, do something new. So that is my way of thinking

    That is why I have launched so many different businesses….

     

    So are you saying that when you do have….

    When we have a separation, we’ll see what comes in whose kitty. But I am fine with anything in life. I am a floor.

     

    When do you think this will happen?

    I don’t know. We are hoping for a long time. It’s got a lot of technicalities in it. It’s like a divorce; imagine a divorce after 20-30 years of marriage.

     

    But you are still buddies?

    We do our best to be buddies, I would say because Dad passed away six years ago and for me I feel our father was the glue. And that same time Harinder went through the tough patch and father had lung cancer and was in the fourth stage. So it was parallel. Very intense moment for the family. So father passing away for me was a turning point for me  in my opinion in our joint family.

     

    And Sunburn Pune?

    Sunburn Pune is his decision, entirely

     

    Are you involved with Sunburn Pune?

    Yes I am involved but, I would say I am not involved, Pune Sunburn is the first edition of a Sunburn event that my brother is running.

     

    So it’s Sunburn Harry?

    Sunburn Harry is running in the hills

     

    Are you going to go for it?

    I don’t know, I am not sure about it because I feel that I am not convinced for the safety of the fans with regard to the location…

     

    Where and when will Sunburn Shailendra happen?

    No idea. Right now I am praying and hoping that Sunburn Pune goes smoothly because it is in the larger interest of…

     

    And of the franchise.

    Franchise and everything. I am 50 percent holder of the business and so I want it to succeed and also I am seeing it as a blessing because I have really worked hard these 10 years. I have done 900-odd events. I am exhausted now. I have done the biggest tours in the world Tours in India.

     

    What’s next for you?

    Understand the tradition that I m trying to tell you. I have not celebrated Dec 31 in the last 10 years.  I have not had Christmas in the last 10 years and just for your knowledge I am a very intense worker. At 4 am, I am on site. I am the first in and last out man. I entertain everybody who comes to Sunburn and I work round the clock. So having said this and I have a tradition that every January 1, I go to Babulnath Temple at 6 am. aarti. Nobody understands this, and I do Hanuman Chalisa before every Sunburn starts.

     

    Tell me, I know you are doing another show. Now all energy is on that, you are doing something right?

    Yes, it’s going to be very big.

     

    I repeat my question: what’s next for you?

    Lots of stuff. 2017 is a very big year for me. I am also directing feature films. I have gone into the creative space, so I did short films. I have got 25 million views for my short films… the Sexaholic series.

    Yes.

    I went on the topic of sex. They are killing it. I am enjoying it 25 million is not a small number to get. I did a feature film Sunshine Music Tours and Travels, this is based on Sunburn great fun enjoyed the journey of shooting – three-and-a-half thousand kms. Life is good. I am going to direct movies, I have got lot of intellectual properties that I propose to launch in times to come, because I am an ideator, I am a fire starter I won’t give up that, just 51 years long way to go, fully charged.

     

    And Sunburn will continue the way?

    Sunburn, IPL these are legacies yaar whether Lalit Modi dies, Shailendra Singh may drown what difference does it make? Times Now did not die when Arnab went away.

    Hmmm.

    The beauty is that Arnab set the tone, I set the tone. I made the No 1 festival of Asia, the third largest in the world. What more does one want? I feel that I have 15 years more.

     

  • Tomorrowland has always been a bridge to connect fans across the globe

    Percept Live to host Tomorrowland in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Tomorrowland is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. Held in association with Percept Live, the Live Entertainment division of Percept Limited, fans will get an opportunity to catch the likes of music legends Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike live, albeit on a big screen.

     

    Tomorrowland has always been a bridge to connect fans across the globe. The festival tickets sell out in record time, and this means that a lot of folks get left out each time. This prompted the organizers to facilitate a satellite link up from Boom in Belgium (where the festival is being held) to reach the fans in India. With a healthy dose of Tomorrowland magic, an indoor event will be organised by Percept Live, offering Indians a chance to experience the festival firsthand, from this end of the world, along with additional local DJs and plenty of showmanship and fireworks thrown in to enhance the experience. The livestream and the timing of the fireworks and lights will adhere to a a very strict follow-up so that an exact same “activation” is created across Belgium, India and Mexico.

     

    Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Limited said, “Dance Music has the power to socially unite people around the world. It is a music of pure energy, without language and without borders. Tomorrowland has connected the entire world through the language of dance music, and has been a great source of inspiration for us. The Tomorrowland live stream experience will help take our mission statement to ‘Unite the World’ one step closer.”

     

    Unite will be held on Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 11.00 pm onwards at the Dome, NSCI in Worli, Mumbai. Percept Live will be creating a Fan Park concept and elevate the experience on ground technologically. The Special Effects, Lights, CO2, Lasers, Pyrotechnics and Sound will be in sync with what is happening live at Tomorrowland.

     

  • Percept Live businesses will include all the IPs created and owned by the Percept Group, including IPs in the live entertainment, sports, celebrity management, digital and media space

    Percept Live takes flight with Rs 200cr investment

    By A Correspondent

     

    There’s no denying the endless opportunities that live events manage to throw up. Ask the owners of Percept who’ve organised some memorable – and of course profitable – events in the recent past. With the number of properties seeing an upward spike, the media and communications powerhouse has decided to house all its event properties under a newly instituted division, Percept Live.

     

    Percept Live businesses will include all the IPs created and owned by the Percept Group, including IPs in the live entertainment, sports, celebrity management, digital and media space. Some of the renowned IPs currently owned by Percept Limited includes Sunburn, Fight Nights, Bollywood Live, Lost Music Festival, Fan Football Championship, Champions of the World and Windsong Music Festival.

     

    The group would be pumping in close to Rs200 crore to execute its plans over the next three years. While Rs100 crore will be raised through equity, Rs50 crore will be raised through debt and the remaining Rs50 crore will be through internal accruals. Of this amount, Rs50 crore has already been raised and will be used in creating innovative IPs with global appeal as well as scaling up existing IPs.

     

    To take their plans in the space forward, the group has bought back former head Manuj Agarwal who has been appointed CEO of Percept Live and will be responsible for providing strategic direction to Percept’s IP business.

     

    Prior to coming back to Percept, Mr Agarwal was CEO-Television at Balaji Telefilms Ltd.  Mr Agarwal said: “I am delighted to take on this new and challenging role. This new initiative is designed to consolidate our efforts in the area of IP creation and management, and will ensure that we take ownership of our ideas and convert them into assets that would benefit our clients and Percept in the long run.”

     

    Elaborating on the prominence being laid on the new venture, Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Limited said that for long Indian companies have been dependent on ideas from outside and failed to produce something spectacular from their own home ground. But all that is changing now and Indian ideas are now finding acceptance with the outside world. It was therefore essential to come up with ideas that are ‘glocal’ in nature.

     

    “We have been in the ‘Ideas’ business for the past 28 years and have been instrumental in creating many legendary Intellectual Properties in the past for our clients. The launch of a dedicated IP vertical is but a further extension to our existing knowledge and expertise in the Entertainment, Media and Communications domain and is in keeping with the growth plans of Percept in the coming years. Our vision is to convert path breaking innovative ideas into assets in order to create long term value for brand Percept as well as our clients and investors,” said Mr Singh.

     

    Of the several properties, Sunburn has been Asia’s biggest and most desired electronic dance music festival. It has completed five years and in its 6th year the brand is going truly global with Sunburn already finalized for SL, Singapore, Jakarta and Dubai, besides a big domestic calendar. Other events include Fight Nights – India’s first ever indoor boxing bouts between leading Indian and International boxers; Bollywood Live – the first ever multi-city Bollywood Dance Music Festival; Champions of the World – bringing together under one roof celebrated super-icons in the arena of Sports, Cinema, Business, Entertainment & Entrepreneurship; and Lost – a music festival extravaganza featuring International and domestic talent across various live music genres such as Pop, Rock, Dubstep, House, Reggae, Metal and R&B. Lost will be India’s largest Live Music Festival.

     

  • Inspired by the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket, almost every sport with some following in India is launching a city-based, professional league

    Life beyond cricket: 5 new leagues in 1.5yrs

    By Bhanu Pande

     

    If Pepsi’s latest commercial, ‘change the game’, prods people to switch from cricket to football, it hints at a fundamental shift in the way the cola major plans to use sports as a brand-building platform. It feeds off – and feeds into – a fundamental change happening in the Indian sporting landscape.

     

    Inspired by the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket, almost every sport with some following in India is launching a city-based, professional league. Five new professional leagues have been announced in the last 18 months and, word is, two others are being revived. “The Indian sports consumer is looking for entertainment, diversion, passion and emotion,” said Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept India, which is behind the Indian Boxing League (IBL). “League sport will ensure that.”

     

    But for leagues to become a permanent fixture, something only the IPL has managed so far, paramount is drawing sponsors and advertisers. If the initial response is any indication, sponsors of many hues are warming to them. Hero Motocorp is making big investments in hockey, the Mahindra Group in basketball, and the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH) has Bridgestone and Vodafone among its sponsors.

     

    “Those chasing cricket will have to move to a life beyond it,” said Sanjay Sharma, head of JK Motorsport. “The canvas has to enlarge for brand marketers as cricket won’t continue to enjoy the status it does.” Besides cricket fatigue and the gathering momentum of other sports, there are three reasons why marketers and sponsors are gravitating towards these new leagues.

     

    Low-risk investment

    The new leagues offer a low-cost proposition. Unlike cricket, they don’t have to put a lot at stake. CVL Srinivas, chairman of Starcom MediaVest India, a global communication & media services group, said while sports is a good medium for brands to connect to the youth, the most popular of them, cricket, poses an entry barrier for many advertisers. “Many advertisers today see cricket as overpriced,” he said. “Emerging new leagues could give them an opportunity to enter sports in some way at a much lower cost.”

     

    Four years ago, when Bridgestone considered IPL as a medium for brand communication, it was put off by the price tags for premium rights. For example, DLF pays 40 crore per year to be the title sponsor of IPL. So, Bridgestone made a modest entry into cricket as a co-sponsor of IPL team Mumbai Indians. The decision to become the title sponsor for the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH) came easy.

     

    The investment was low: Bridgestone is paying 2 crore per year in a three-year deal. And it gives the tyre company an opportunity to target North India, a market where hockey is popular and where Bridgestone was weak. “South India has always been our strong market and our association with Mumbai Indians is good enough to deliver there,” explained Vaibhav Saraf, GM (sales & marketing), Bridgestone India.

     

    Similarly, a 10-second spot on IPL cost 4-5 lakh, but just one-tenth on WSH. “Returns in non-cricket sports would be much lower,” Mr Srinivas qualified. Even then, the cost value equation works just fine for Bridgestone. “Even if our return on investment (RoI) from WSH is 10 crore worth of media mileage, we are happy,” said Mr Saraf.

     

    Besides Bridgestone, the other principal sponsors of WSH are Vodafone and Imperial Blue (Pernod Ricard India). “We evaluate all sponsorship proposals on a cost per reach and level of consumer engagement possible,” said Anuradha Aggarwal, senior vice-president-consumer insights & communications, Vodafone. “The WSH was efficient on both.” The early days of WSH have seen modest to half-filled stadiums.

     

    “Hockey is still not a proven sport, we are building it,” said Yannick Colaco, chief operating officer of Nimbus Sports, the promoter of WSH. “Some leagues in the past haven’t delivered, which is likely to make sponsors and advertiser sceptical for any new league.” Mr Colaco claimed the league has booked 15 brands on-air in the first week.

     

    He expects this number to increase to 40-50 by the time the tournament ends on April 2, yielding 50-60 crore from sponsorship and advertising revenues. “WSH is not here to topple cricket, but we hope to make it a strong number two property before we enter the second season,” he said, adding that marketers will have to have “realistic expectations” during early days and come in with a “long-term vision.”

     

    Proof of Concept

    One factor that gives the new leagues a greater chance is how they are structured. They follow the IPL model, which is city-based and essentially pays for itself by riding on a big TV rights sale. “IPL has proven that city loyalties exist, which has prepared the ground for other professional sporting leagues to take off,” said Darshan M, CEO of Machdar Motorsports, promoters of i1Super Car Race Series.

     

    In Premier League Soccer, Uro Infra Realty, a Kolkata-based real estate company, was the highest bidder for a franchise – 25 crore for Team Barasat over 10 years, or a franchisee fee of 2.5 crore per year. Each team can spend up to Rs 12.5 crore on players, which means Barasat (Uno Infra) will spend a total of 15 crore a year.

     

    Now, 50 per cent of the central revenues – essentially, the sale of TV rights and central sponsorships – would be equally divided among the six franchisees. In return, each team gets 2.5 crore as match rights fee for its five home matches. Then, each team can have eight sponsors, apart from ticketing and hospitality rights in home matches. “Considering the league will be broadcast in 50 countries other than India, it won’t be a problem for franchisees to recover their investment,” predicted Bhaswar Goswami, executive director, CMG, the promoter of PLS.

     

    The new leagues have learnt from the failure of the past. For example, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), promoted by Zee, died because it did not have a buy in from the Indian board that runs cricket in India and so could not draw the best of the current players. The new leagues are either taking the boards of their respective sports along (soccer, boxing and basketball) or are working towards it (hockey).

     

    Another learning is spreading it out. Premier Hockey League (PHL) – India’s first sporting league event launched in 2005 and WSH’s predecessor – was discontinued in 2008. “Any successful league the world over has had two fundamental elements: multiple ownership and multiple match locations,” said Mr Colaco of Nimbus. “PHL ignored both.” PHL teams were all owned by ESPN and all matches were held in Chandigarh. By comparison, WSH has eight franchisee teams playing in eight cities.

     

    When Fragmentation Works

    Sports promoters and marketers say sports like soccer and wrestling have a significant regional following, and brands can tap that. “For instance, a brand that wants to target audience in soccer-crazy West Bengal may want to ride the PLS,” said Indranil Das Blah, chief operating officer, Kwan Entertainment & Sport Solutions.

     

    Mr Aggarwal of Vodafone sees a fragmented market as more of an opportunity rather than a threat. “Marketing investments are fixed and need to deliver maximum RoI,” she said. “If local fragmentation delivers a higher RoI, marketers like us will not have any problem going regional.”

     

    Similarly, Mr Colaco points to how motor sports can target auto brands, be it cars, tyres, lubes or accessories. However, eventually, feels Mr Srinivas, leagues will have to make a national impact. “To sustain, they’ll have to become pan-India properties,” he said.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved