Harish Bijoor Brand Expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc at the 7^th EEMA annual convention outlined the specifics of business, the changing aspirations of the consumers and, in light of that, the need for event companies to modify. He stressed that event agencies need to play an integral role and can no longer remain a subset of the advertising industry; the importance of research and understanding client psyche is indispensible in this process. “Are you the biryani or the tejpatta?” is the question he unabashedly posed to the full house of event and experiential agencies.

Business and its essentials: Planning, Implementation and Evaluation.

“The real value of the future is packed in the planning bit”, said Harish Bijoor. It is essential for an agency to modify with changing markets, needs and demands of the consumers. In an ever changing industry it is a curse to remain static. Every business can get redefined. In this digital age, for instance Titan can provide Nokia users an e watch and why not! Wouldn’t it be great to redefine business and service? Everything in the present scenario can go virtual and considering extremes even death can, a fitting example being shraad.com. It is unbelievable to see how one can be in any part of the world and can connect to the other corner with the aid of digital media.”

Being digitally active is not enough. To stand out in this space one also needs to get social. “Word of mouth is replaced by Word of Digital”, said Bijoor. Social networking is what the client’s desire these days.

Going on to other salient features, he spoke about the importance of innovation in the strategies adopted by the event companies. To move from contemporary practices to those spiked with digital innovation is the need of the hour. The event industry should aim at providing experiences that is a cusp of both physical and virtual to enhance engagement from the consumers end.

He stressed that agencies must comprehend the consumer’s minds and, as it evolves, calibrate the business according to the future. It is not necessary to be heard and join the showing match all the time. But what is more important is to leverage on the idea of customer ecstasy. To develop a bond and emotionally connect should be the prime goal for all event managers.

“To have a cutting edge over other and make an identity in such stiff competition it is significant to add value on the building blocks mentioned above. Research is an important aspect of hosting great events. Going deep in the chosen theme of the event and embracing research as an essential aspect of storytelling is also what the event agencies should pay attention to”, he concluded.