Betting big on Sports & Cinema: Percept Business Conclave 2012

The Percept Business Conclave 2012 was held in Mumbai recently. The event witnessed a number of interesting sessions.

 

One of the most sought after sessions was “Building a Sports Property”. The panel discussion focused on the aspects that were needed to build a successful sports property like cricket. Cricket has always been an accepted sport in India. So what is it that cricket and cricketers do that revoke brand interest in them and can these efforts be leveraged to build up another sports property was the question for the day.

 

The discussion included panelists like Ayaz Memon- Consulting Editor, NewsX and sports columnist; Atul Wassan-former cricketer, columnist and CEO; Dhanraj Pillai- national hockey player; Mohita Arora- Strategic consultant and Ex- Director Pepsi and Rajiv Raja- NCD- DDB Mudra, Founder and Soundsmith-BrandMusiq. Sanjay Jha- Executive Director, Dale Carnegie Training India served as the moderator.

 

Throwing light on the plight of India’s national sport hockey, Dhanraj Pillai expressed concern over the lack of facilities , infrastructure and capital investment  in the sport. He also maintained that other sports needed to learn from cricket.

 

Giving a brand perspective on the whole issue, Mohita said, “ Brands are trying to give equal stature to sports, other than cricket. Pepsi launched ‘Change the game’. Many others are adopting a similar stance. Corporates are looking up to alternative sports.”

 

“Investments happen only when returns are expected.” stated Atul Wassan.

 

Ayaz maintained, “ The focus essentially lies on what the people want. Cricket as a sport has been able to develop an emotional connect with people.”

 

The conclusion that emerged certainly stated that there was a hope in the horizon in the long term to build a sports property other than cricket.

 

Entertainment Next: The Writing on the Wall was a session that explored the current and future trends in Bollywood and the entertainment industry. The panelists included Akash Chawla-VP Marketing, Zee Network; Ananth Mahadevan-media personality and actor; Carlton D’Silva-ECD, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Rohit Dhawan- Bollywood director. Vikram Malhotra-CEO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures was the moderator for the session.

 

Divulging on the kind of cinema that sells and that cuts through audiences, the discussion further enlightened the audiences about what kind of cinema needs to be explored.

 

Ananth Mahadevan exclaimed, “Today, in Hindi cinema, we are trying to cater to a large set of audiences. There are some great directors who are producing master-pieces.”

 

Rohit Dhawan who directed Desi Boys exclaimed, “The typical formula masala film has always worked for Indian audiences. This genre needs to be re-invented. Writing needs to get fresher. “

 

He also drew attention to the fact that today smaller films with bigger concepts equally co-exist in Bollywood.

 

Providing a digital perspective, Carlton said, “On the online space, there is a lot more diversity in content. Niche content has its own audience and is growing. Online marketing needs to be done in a smarter way.”

 

Akash said,“ The so called mindless entertainment gives more revenues. The segmentation depends on content consumption. Research and consumer feedback plays a significant role in assessing consumer preferences.”

 

Indian cinema is certainly in a great position right now and the future of entertainment lies in balance was what all the panelists agreed to.