Excerpts from an interview with Roshan Abbas, Founder of Encompass

What's driving growth in experiential marketing? How do you see the industry growing in the next two to three years?
The industry will continue to grow at an exponential rate because of the evolution of various touch points that populate the consumer’s world. Digital is a new frontier in experiential marketing, where marketers are looking beyond Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and social media to create pure user experiences.

Other traditional spaces such as retail are also becoming hubs of experiential marketing. As touch points evolve, so will the need for enhanced experiences at these touch points. Additionally, we have sub-sectors emerging. Celebration events (weddings, etc.) are becoming an industry by themselves.

Bollywood is an overexploited category, but is finding more buyers abroad. Sports’ marketing, although nascent, is a new area for experiential marketing as well. These subsectors are almost eco systems in themselves.

Your thoughts on the spread of events to smaller cities and rural areas?
If consumption is going to be driven by smaller cities and rural areas, it is only natural that events and experiences extend to these markets. Moreover, such locations have largely under-exposed markets, while fatigue has set in as far as large cities are concerned. Smaller city dwellers have more time on their hands and are also more accessible as consumers. Metro audiences have now built up too many defenses. Experiences require time. And the smaller city consumer is willing to invest a lot more of it.

Do you feel activations are getting commoditized?
The struggle still continues in the cost per contact. A unique idea has no value, since the approach after the recession (as far as many companies are concerned) is to treat an experience as any other procurement tender.

Yes, there is a constant struggle to demonstrate the strategic value, in the absence of strategy and creativity, and all work becomes a commodity.

Is there a need to demonstrate RoI to sponsors? Is it being done in India?
Absolutely essential — people do make an attempt to quantify the results, but there is no benchmarking that is standardized, which makes the return on investment (ROI) a much debatable subject. Most studies take place at the client’s end or at the media-buying agencies end.

The Event and Entertainment Management Association has been trying to put a system in place, but in the absence of standards, we get all kinds of measurement thrown at us.

Is there a scope for Indian event companies to go global?
There most certainly is. Even today, large companies such as Wizcraft, Showtime and Encompass work across geographies. In the past, we have extensively consulted on activation projects across the APAC region. While many event managers are clients of Indian corporate organizations on their dealer programs, some have carved a niche for themselves.

Wizcraft has made IIFA a brand, the Davos world summit and CII events are other examples. Where we have tried to be different is to try and create a creative process for experiential marketing that makes us explore the hub-and-spoke model of centrally creating an idea and then executing it in various geographies with partners.

The advantage is that the experiential marketer in the evolved market commands a lot more respect. Below the line, numbers are far higher and digital and on ground synergies are brilliantly being used.

What are the key issues facing the Indian events industry?
The bitter truth is that we are not considered an industry, even by ourselves. The industry bodies are fledgling ones and the trust factor between agencies very low. There is a total lack of collaboration. Taxation structures are killing us.

In addition, commoditization is making it all about the price, not quality. Licensing is another big issue and the terms are often adios. Talent is also becoming an issue — earlier we were the best place to be in, but now digital and social media is the “in thing.”

People born with the internet prefer it as their tool of work — we were the physical generation and preferred the real experience.

What are your thoughts on reality TV and TV game shows? Do you think they are here to stay?
Someone once said while reality TV is trying to break every social stereotype soaps are only getting more regressive! Reality TV scandalizes the viewer by its lack of morality while soaps seduce by propagating the most regressive morality they can find. The confused viewer switches between one and the other.

Gameshows are tentpoles which need a superstar to propagate them. They are expensive tentpole programs undertaken by channels to increase viewership. But their expenses make them unviable often enough. Margin wise both have the same revenue potential which must come from other sources and are shared by programmer channel and network. They are both definitely needed by channels. Smart channels sandwich them between soaps. So you have a draw to the gameshow and then develop appointment viewing with the soaps. Star did this brilliantly with KBC and the K series.

What's next for Encompass? And for you?
Personally, I am a creative animal. Ideas excite me and I go where the next big idea takes me. At Encompass, working closer with the WPP group, we are growing a portfolio of services, both organically and inorganically. Sports and marketing for shoppers are exciting new areas we are working on!