Established 15 years ago, experiential agency Showtime Group has now diversified with an arm dedicated exclusively towards wedding and social events. Having been recognized for his 35 years of experience in the world of advertising and events, Founder and Managing Director, Michael Menezes, is truly a pioneer in this industry. In an interview with EE, he elaborates a little on the recent development.

EE: After so many years of being in the industry why has the decision of expanding into weddings and social events come NOW? What has been the driving force behind this expansion?

We have so far concentrated primarily on corporate events but we operate at a very large format altogether and over the years we have realized that there is a commonality between the large format corporate events and the wedding and social events in terms of not just size but technology, in terms of décor and various other elements that go into a wedding. So we thought it was only natural for us to dive into weddings as well.”

EE: Who do you feel are your competitors in the existing wedding and social events space?

I feel that the wedding space has more designers than agencies like us. We have designers like Suman Jaikrishna who is probably the best wedding designer in the country, but he doesn’t execute… So here we provide a ‘one stop shop’ and that is a great advantage for the clients. Well at some level I feel Backstage and Efactor could be competition but certainly not something that we are worried about.”

 EE: What do you have to say about the business of weddings in the country?

There are two very important things about weddings in this country.

A)  It is a business that is completely recession proof which is a great advantage when market sentiments are concerned.

B)   There is still a room for improvement and setting standards for weddings in this country in terms of execution and planning.

EE: In order to reach out to various clients, what new and different strategies has Showtime adopted?

We have recruited people who have contributed in the luxury space for a significant number of years and therefore know the kind of clientele that we are reaching out to. Having the best production team in the country, we are not worried about giving our clients a new level of quality.

EE: What are some of the major challenges you came across while branching out?

I would say that the difference between the clients that we get for a corporate event compared to that of a wedding event is the biggest challenge to overcome. Dealing with brides and grooms and their extended families is not an easy task. We deliver a great product but at the same time we would always need the right approach with clients and an ability to satisfy their needs.

EE: Tell us one thing about Showtime that will make it different from the existing wedding planners in the country?

At this point of time, I feel the answer would be technology. There are very few wedding designers who have been able to successfully integrate technology into weddings...

EE: When it comes to spends, who do you think can afford a wedding by Showtime Group?

So we here at Showtime basically do a very niche kind of product. So it’s only the top 1% of the market who would be able to work with us and vice versa.