Vin Diesel's India Visit Sees Fountainhead MKTG Create History with 6 Back-to-Back Events

by  Shantanu Jain Marketing | January 25, 2017 | News

Fountainhead MKTG Viacom 18 Motion Pictures High Street Phoenix Deepika Padukone Vin Diesel

Fountainhead MKTG, the experiential marketing agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network, created history by fabulously managing the entire two-day visit of Hollywood superstar Vin Diesel to Mumbai for the Indian leg of Global Domination Tour. Having successfully created multiple experiences in the past, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures partnered Fountainhead MKTG to pull off 6 back-to-back events on January 12 and 13, including the world’s first premiere of ‘xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage’ in Mumbai.

Matching the tough style of the Hollywood action star with our Bollywood leading lady Deepika Padukone, the agency gave them the most stunning welcome. “Even before the stars arrived in India, there was plenty of buzz around the airport since the wee hours of the morning. This hype around the welcome went so viral that a number of brands approached us to be a part of this experience,” said Allan Mathew, Group Account Manager – Client Servicing and Business Development, Fountainhead MKTG. Along with their director DJ Caruso, the stars received a traditional Arti tikka welcome with Dhol-tutari players at the Corporate Aviation Terminal, Kalina. Their procession to the St. Regis Mumbai was led by a convoy of women clad in nauvari saris and biker boots riding Royal Enfield Bullets.

The press conference at the St. Regis encapsulated the movie’s most vital attribute ‘EXTREME SPORTS’ with a dramatic content-driven entry for Vin and Deepika. Attended by over 200 media persons, the press conference looked absolutely splendid with an end-to-end 270 degree LED setup. Exclusively designed content flew seamlessly from one corner to the other adding to the dynamic ambience of the entire conference. An awestruck experience was created where the different characters of the movie were brought alive on each screen dedicated to their movie posters, exclusively designed for the event.  

Simultaneously, a huge fan event was hosted by Malishka in the Courtyard area of Palladium Mall, Lower Parel. More than 8000 people thronged the courtyard area. Revolving around the movie’s theme, the audience was spoilt for choice with back-to-back power-packed entertainment. The event kicked off with some daring performances by BMX riders, skateboarders and Power Bockers who kept the spectators on their toes. In their first-ever live performance, Piyush and the Finetuners left the audience astonsihed  by creating vibrant and pulsating beats on day-to-day instruments like car parts, kitchen utensils, etc. while being suspended mid-air. The latest music sensation DJ Nucleya, then took over the entire crowd and had them grooving to his electrifying beats. His performance concluded with the fans doing a countdown for superstars Vin and Deepika as they made a dramatic entry. Three lucky winners who dared to get a ‘XXX’ tattoo on their arm as well as a stencil of ‘XXX’ with their haircut, got a golden chance to meet their favorite stars on the stage. The fans went crazy when Deepika stepped up to teach her international co-star Vin a few moves from her famous song Lungi Dance.

The stars then proceeded to the Grand Premiere of the movie held across all the 7 screens of PVR, High Street Phoenix which was attended by over 2000 invitees. From Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor to Kalki Koechlin and Karan Johar, amongst others, the who’s who of Bollywood descended on the red carpet to watch the movie and meet Vin.

Check out a small glimpse from the event below.

The first day of Vin Diesel’s much-awaited tour culminated with after parties at Astor ballroom and then at the Zenith Club in St. Regis which went on till the wee hours of the morning.

The second day was full of one-on-one interactions with select media persons. The agency also came up with a traditional “Indian Photo-Op” for the stars which consisted of an artistically decked up auto-rickshaw. The vehicle even had Rajasthani kathputli puppets attached in the front, making it the most desi auto ever. Vin and Deepika’s photo with the auto-rickshaw and the one where they hold a cup of cutting chai went massively viral.

Commenting upon the success of the event, Rohan Salvi, VP – Client Servicing and Business Development, Fountainhead MKTG added, “We are glad to have partnered with Viacom 18 for yet another humongous project. This was the first time that ‘xXx’ movie premiered in India before the rest of the world, so our focus was on promoting and creating immense buzz about the movie and its key attributes. Also, this being Vin Diesel’s first visit to India that already created hype amongst the media, we were determined to launch this India premiere with a bang and we did it tirelessly to achieve the client’s vision.”

Rudrarup Datta, Head of Marketing, Viacom18 Motion Pictures said, “The India leg of the Global Domination Tour for XXX Return of Xander Cage has many firsts to it. Rarely has a main league Hollywood star been in India to promote his film. Vin Diesel's visit to India had to have the unique mix of connecting with the Indian masses as well as being ‘badass’ in XXX style. The team at Fountainhead MKTG helped us co-create the entire tour. Their ability to come up with ideas on brief and execute the multiple activities and events with perfection has been the backbone of the astounding success of the tour.”