Though the events and entertainment industry has been growing exponentially over the last two decades, consolidation of the size and scale has not been done. The power and impact of the live medium has to be communicated to the industry at large.
It is time to usher in change in the events and entertainment industry, is the industry devoting enough time to bring about the changes required? It is this point that Roshan Abbas, Managing Director, Encompass Events, stresses on when he says that clients will not wait.
He also stressed on experiential marketing agencies doing value addition for clients and asking themselves some candid questions like “What do we do for clients – are we playing surrogate mothers to our clients? Are we creating value for our clients or are we merely acting as vendors. It is imperative that you create value.”
Clients respect those agencies that create value for them, and it is this factor that will change the client-agency relationship.
Hence, it becomes important to know what the clients want, because a client could want different things from the organiser. Clients want to have fun and at the same time want to connect with likeminded people. They want to support what they believe in and at the same time they want to get educated and also to get their problems solved. Hence, the industry needs to keep in mind a whole gamut of clients’ needs and wants.
Events and Experiential Marketing Association (EEMA) is an industry body setting the way forward for the industry. Abbas stressed, “EEMA should get some teeth and hire a paid CEO. We need to get an agency on record status, how many pitches will you make and create new places?”
Roshan Abbas was speaking at the fifth annual convention of Events and Experiential Marketing Association (EEMA) – EEMAGINE 2012. The convention is being held in New Delhi over three days – July 28, 29, 30.