Every Step Is A Miracle, A Dream, An Experience, A Joy: Deepak Pawar

29-May-2018

•    You started event management firm 26 years ago. How does this idea strike you during that time?

o    It was quite a natural progression from the ad agency we were running at the time. More of our clients back in the day wanted to create experiences for their consumers. It was the age of pubs and rock shows. We quickly became a leading service provider for brands wanting to do pub promotions, road shows and store launches while we intermittently organized rock shows, jazz concerts and weekend discotheques. It was part entertainment based events and brand’s B2C communication back then.

•    What challenges have you faced in event industry?

o    Bringing technology into the communication mix has always been a slow adoption process with quite a few clients. What’s not previously experienced becomes a concern area that needs a lot of persuading. It’s the age of IoT, AI and a lot more exciting happenings in the software, internet and technology space and more exciting interactive technology experiences will emerge. Clients need to be open to giving the consumers of their communication – be it end users, trade, employees, media or otherwise – a chance to experience what the consumers are already excited to indulge in.

•    What changes do you see in the eco-system of the event industry now and then?

o    Communication is always evolving. What was event management in the 90s gave way to BTL Communication in the 2000s. This decade has seen experiential marketing and interactive technology along with further fragmentation in specializations – across activation, brand events, Channel Partner Marketing, sporting events, IPs, Rural Marketing, Retail Marketing, the massive expositions space, and so on. All this with a rich interlacing of social media and mobile marketing through them. Change is the only constant. Having said that, one can expect this evolution to take one-to-one and one-to-many to newer frontiers in the coming years.

•    How technology has affected event management business?

o    Interactive technology has changed the way communication has emerged in this decade. We see rich usage of VR & AR in branded communication and with innovative hardware tools like surface computing, tilt brush, drones and the like, consumers in developed markets are encountering branded experiences with the use of emerging technology.

•    So many companies have entered in the event industry, we would like to know your view on that?

o    The event management and entertainment market is currently at about Rs.5, 600Cr and is expected to reach the Rs.10, 000Cr mark around 20-21. This is a fertile base for a lot of players to mushroom. What’s more important is if they will be able to sustain with what the market demands and more critically, which vertical of specialization they will adopt to fuel their growth. Look at companies like OML – they have found a niche in the live events model. Now Event companies are opening their own social media and technology divisions to feed the ever growing need of clients and their consumers. 

•    Tell us about your positive and negative side as an entrepreneur?

o    Freedom of expression of one’s creativity and grooming the team to remain consumer focused and to deliver customer delight are definitely a couple of the positives. Seeking perfection in everything one does is sometimes bothersome. It takes constant reminder to tell oneself that there is beauty and grace in tiny imperfections, because that is the cycle of learning reinventing itself. 

•    We would like to know about your journey.

o    A journey of a thousand miles is a series of many steps. Every step is a miracle, a dream, an experience, a joy. I give no credence to the destination. I believe the magic is in the every step. I revel in it. The most important thing to me is driving the industry in my unique way.

How do you describe yourself as an entrepreneur?

o    A creative brain trust for the client. An encouraging colleague for my team. An empowering source of strength to my vendors. An avid commentator and practitioner of emerging forms of communication. A loving husband and a doting father. All these make the man I am. The entrepreneur is just a subset of who I am. 

•    What are the changes would you like to see in event industry?

o    More integration within the community. The leaders need to come together and be the nurturing force for the others to get exposed to what’s happening in the world of communication. We need international industry bodies associating with our group so learnings from other shores come to ours. Employees need to benefit from all of this learning as well. They also need to feel secure when they give so much on their work.

•  Where does Midasnext stands today? Your mission and vision for the future?

o         As an agency we are committed to push the envelope in creativity and the freshness of the experience we propose to deliver, excelling service to our clients, delivering strong partnerships for our vendors and providing security and a sense of pride to our employees. We intend to stay on this path and be open to the surroundings the next step brings us to.  

•    You’re known for the gadgets, does that help you in the business? Or is it just a passion?

o    It’s a personal passion that has translated to creating indelible experiences when we deliver solutions. I believe one follows one’s passion or quest until it is revealed how this passion comes back to benefit the person. This has been my philosophy.

What are some of the ways you measure event success? Let us know the comment box below.

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