When the Offline is Back, It Will be Bigger Than Before, Says Rajan Anandan at EEMA Digital Day

by  Mugdha Gaonkar Business Events | November 25, 2020 | News

EEMA EEMA Digital Day Roshan Abbas

EEMA Digital Day, a day to decode virtual live experiences, was organised by the industry body Event & Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) on November 24, where insights and solutions were discussed to help the experience-makers of today and tomorrow.

A daylong conference, the event showcased the most creative synergy of ideas, innovation and integration of businesses and service providers in the Events, Entertainment and Technology space. It also showcased thought leaders and myth busters, immersive technology, and ideas helping brands to level up their digital live investment.

The event with its extensive portfolio of speakers and topics helped to bridge the gap between virtual and live events. It kickstarted with a welcome note and addresses by Deepak Pawar, Secretary, EEMA, Roshan Abbas, President, EEMA and Partha Sinha, President, Response, Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL).

Keynote address by Rajan Anandan of Sequoia Capital

Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital & Surge delivered the keynote address on ‘Beyond 20/20: The Future’. In this session, Anandan shared insights on how quickly people have adapted to the digital/ virtual life which started like a trend. He also discussed how virtual events, along with technology, have enhanced the brand experience over time and how this will lead to innovation of even bigger on-ground events in future.

“As a brand, the ability to engage consumers will be dramatically high where they can experience everything virtually, which is why I feel when the offline is back, it will be bigger than before. Brands will try to leverage offline and online together as new kind of experience for consumers. Embracing change, understanding the real power of virtual reality and finally being creative by combining it with the best of technology is what the companies should do,” said Anandan.

Concluding his session, Anandan said one should have the skillset of learning constantly to keep up with the change along with creativity to survive during these times.

Need power of live experience plus reach of digital: Roshan Abbas

In other sessions, panelists discussed intricate aspects of the virtual events space. The speakers included Arjoon Bose from Haagen Dazs; Hitu Chawla, CMO, Microsoft India; Santosh Desai, MD & CEO, Futurebrands; Evelyn Mora, Founder of the Helsinki Fashion Week; Rahul Dutta, Head of Marketing, HP India; Gaurav Gupta, CCO, MG Motor India; Deepali Nair, CMO, IBM India & South Asia; Ruchira Jaitly, CMO India at HMD Global; Santosh Iyer, CMO Daimler; Shreyas Srinivasan, Founder & CEO, Paytm Insider; Soumini Paul, Vice President, Hungama; Khushboo Benani, Content, Influencer Engagement & Brand Advocacy Head, Diageo, among others.

Adding to this list, popular faces from the sports and entertainment industry including actor Boman Irani; singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan; former cricketer Kapil Dev and actor-comedian Vir Das were also part of the event.

Speaking about the conclave, Roshan Abbas, President, EEMA said, “The need of the hour is to find the hybrid amalgamation of physical and digital events. Clients are asking for innovative solutions that can have the power of the live experience and the efficiency and reach of digital. EEMA has multiple agencies that have done pioneering digital event work during the pandemic. This is the perfect platform to showcase it and to discuss the future.”

“D-Day is here to influence and inspire people’s minds and perceptions towards exploring endless possibilities in the digital world. Virtual events are not a substitute for on-ground events, but are here to stay for good and do good to the experiential industry while connecting brands to their TG,” added Deepak Pawar, Secretary, EEMA.

Technology met engagement, content met call-to-action

One of the panelists at EEMA D-Day, Vinod Janardhan, Founder and Director, Team Rustic, Shooting Stars, Bill Me said, “D-Day exemplified the resurgence of the events industry through a collaborative spirit of event agencies, marketing gurus, technology experts and content creators. The convergence of brilliant minds and ideas promises to pave the way for D-Day to be a strong platform enabling brands to fortify their equity in the new normal. D-Day also unravelled the ‘C’ quotient - reaffirming the faith of celebrities and the entertainment industry at large.”

EEMA D-Day’s digital engagement crossed 14,000+ views and site visits. The virtual event was attended by over 5000+ people including the top 100 industry stakeholders in the business of event management, corporate C-suite executives, brand heads, marketing agencies and more. It was a space where technology met engagement, content met call-to-action and provided an open platform to visitors who could easily interact with panelists and enlighten their digital event expertise and experience to build brand awareness and loyalty.