25 Epic Milestones in Fountainhead MKTG's 25 Years Legendary Journey

by EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | February 28, 2020 | Feature

Fountainhead MKTG of the Dentsu Aegis Network, one of India’s leading experiential marketing agencies, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. A journey that began 26 years ago when three boys dreamed a dream. Without any formal education back then pertaining to the experiential industry or any relevant corporate experience, the boys set out with hearts filled with passion, ambition, and guts to produce some of the finest experiences that this country has ever seen. EVENTFAQS counts down 25 amazing Milestones with the FH team on the occasion of their 25th Anniversary… Excerpts below...

1: What’s in a Name?
Everything. The founders were looking for a word that served as an inspiration to build the company perfectly. Fountainhead came up in one of those conversations and just fit. Stemming from a fountain or a source of ideas, ideas that built communities. Ayn Rand’s book titled the same was just a happy coincidence.

2: Great Stories Start Small
10th February 1995 - The date went down in their history books when the fountainhead of ideas found a workspace in a 10x12 rented room in Juhu - in the family home of one of the partners. The company phone, back then, was an extension line of the house phone! That became the first office space for an organization that was poised for unimaginable growth.

3: Building IPs when IPs weren’t a thing!
The first project that Fountainhead designed and managed was Sunday Night Live - a weekly concert held at Razzberry Rhinoceros. An IP when IPs were not a thing! Rockmachine had just rechristened themselves as Indus Creed and for the first time, they were seen in a unique acoustic musical show in the city. Indus Creed Unplugged opened Week One to a full house that was mirrored week on the week ahead. Fountainhead had created a musical movement in the city, one that was better than any visiting card they could have carried.

4: On the Map & No Looking Back!
Clientele grew in numbers and across genres. This was followed by other iconic shows like the India Launch of BMG Crescendo, the MTV 15 city launch and the launch of Tanishq. This put Fountainhead on the map.

5: The Business of Going Places
1996 - Identified a need gap in the industry and started a new strategic business offering, Insignia Tourism Marketing to cater to the growing aspirations of the corporate and travel communities.

6: The Village People

1998 - Fountainhead found its first office space in the heart of Bandra, a quaint bungalow at 52 Pali Village called Tommy Villa.

7: Another Promising Production
1998 - In a strategic business move, another ancillary business offering in the form of fabrication and production services was launched with the creation of The Production Terminus.

8: Celebrating Communities
2003 - Fountainhead started Celebrate Bandra - the pathbreaking community festival that, to borrow a phrase, is of, for and by the people. This festival celebrated who they are and was their way of giving back to the community and the place where they started their journey. Today, it has grown & is supported by the Times of India, a brand with whom Fountainhead shares a cherished, long-standing relationship right from its inception.

9: Always Fresh. Always Entertaining
2003 - Oranjuice Entertainment was founded with the aim of creating cultural movements that aggregated communities and ensured meaningful engagement quality for brands and consumers. This was done with a clear focus on extensive research to work backward to the brand’s benefits.

10: There’s no place like Home
2005 - Clientele, business, and the team grew and so did their office space. They moved into 38, Pali Village & christened the bungalow, ‘The Fountainhead’.

11: Flying South
2005 - Fountainhead started expanding across the country. The Bangalore office became their first office outside Mumbai.

12: Fountainhead goes International!
2006: Fountainhead sent its crew out to Russia for its first international show for Goa Tourism, opening the floodgates for countless shows on foreign shores thereon, making them specialists in international events today.

13: Taking on the Capital
2007 - After Bangalore, they took on Delhi and started their third office in New Delhi.

14: Tough times don’t last, Tough people do!

2008 - Saw the unfortunate times of a global meltdown. The industry saw many agencies issue multiple pink slips. At Fountainhead, the leadership believed that braving this together was more important than anything else. In a strategic move, the leadership took a cut but they ensured the team stayed intact. The tough times passed & the Fountainhead family emerged stronger than ever.

15: Engaging Generation Next
2010 - Identified the urgency, importance & longevity of focusing on the youth for B2C brands and started the Youth Engagement and Activations wing. Community Engagement ideas were designed and produced for brands like Virgin Mobile, Cartoon Network, Pogo, Diageo, Nestle amongst others and today Fountainhead MKTG is the specialist running some of the largest youth campaigns in the country such as the Junior NBA amongst others.

16: The Blues Live Here Now!
2010 - Birth of Asia’s largest blues festival in India - the Mahindra Blues Festival and with it the birth of a very special deep-rooted relationship with Mahindra & Mahindra. Over the years, MBF has hosted legends like Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Walter Trout, Robert Randolf, Jonny Lang, Matt Scohfield, Popa Chubby, Shemekia Copeland, Ana Popovich, Dana Fuchs, John Lee Hooker Jr. and Jimmy Thackery. The festival recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

17: Upping the Game
2012 - Fountainhead combined its experiential marketing skills with the collective strength of experienced travel professionals and introduced Fountainhead Corporate Journeys to the world.

18: Creating Texperiential!
2012 - Acquired a digital company to create Fountainhead Digital. At a time, where the lines between the physical and digital worlds were being blurred and business realities were being disrupted, Fountainhead Digital MKTG brought together cutting-edge technology and compelling storytelling for impactful business results.

19: Consolidating under one roof
2015 - From 5 offices across Bandra and Santacruz, Fountainhead moved to a really cool 17,000 sq.ft. space spread on one floor in Matunga West. The five specialized business divisions - Events, Activation, MICE, Digital and Intellectual Properties - supported by the business enabling functions of Creative, HR, Finance, Administration, and IT, now came together under one roof.

20: Fountainhead becomes Fountainhead MKTG - A Dentsu Aegis Network Company
2015 - Fountainhead Entertainment was acquired by the advertising giant, Dentsu Aegis Network and Fountainhead MKTG was born.

21: Launched Aadyam Theatre
2015 - Marked a landmark moment in the 22-year-old treasured relationship with the Aditya Birla Group as they created Aadyam to change the face of theatre and the performing arts in the country. Aadyam has associated 15 Production Houses, staged 200+ shows so far, had over 120000 attendees till date, aggregated the largest active community of theatre enthusiasts in India today and continues to grow at a rapid pace.

22: In-House Event Technology Division Set Up
2017: Continuing its streak of being ahead of its time, Fountainhead MKTG launched its Event Technology division. Another early move armed with the understanding that Digital & Production technology had started to and would continue to redefine the effectiveness of experiences. Today, they are the only agency to have an in-house event technology team and expertise.

23: Launch of Awakeful Experiences
2019: The Corporate Journeys Vertical launched a specialized offering called Awakeful Experiences that has redefined travel experiences to move away from the predictable and normal and create not just customized but personalized experiences that become meaningful & therefore unforgettable to the traveler.

24: Raking In The Awards
2019 - Won 50 awards across various categories for a diverse portfolio of work becoming the highest awarded agency for the year. This year also saw them as the highest awarded agency for the 2nd time at WOW Awards Asia 2019

25: Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.
2020: What started as literally a handful of focused & passionate people in a rented room has today become a happy, incredibly focused and driven family of almost 300 people that reflect the same cultural values that make Fountainhead MKTG what it is today.

Fountainhead MKTG of the Dentsu Aegis Network, one of India’s leading experiential marketing agencies, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Here are the 25 Milestones they covered in 25 years!