Event Entrepreneurship in India

India has witnessed an alarming growth in the events industry over the past decade. An ever-increasing number of individuals and companies are building brands around events.

The metropolitan cities, of course, are witness to this large-scale expansion of the industry. The Events and Entertainment industry includes fashion shows, celebrity and movie promotions, concerts, road shows, and of course, the sporting events.

Percept, India’s event management giant, is one of the biggest companies in the field. They’re responsible for some of the most popular events in the country- from music concerts to beauty pageants, celebrity weddings to brand launches. Sunburn, India’s first dance music festival, which revolutionized the EDM scene in India, is also a Percept creation. The festival is held in the best party destination in the country, the beaches of Goa.

Sunburn brings over 10,000 visitors a day to Goa for the three-day festival. They are one of the main reasons for the music tourism boom in India and are generally benefitting Goa’s economy. The festival also creates over 3000 jobs every year, employing local talent. Sunburn generated over 530 crores in 2010 alone!

Another popular annual Percept production is the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (now Amazon India Fashion Week). The event showcases the talents of some of the country’s finest designers, as well as provides a platform for young talent. The India Fashion Week is a huge event which brings is a revenue in terms of crores.

DNA Entertainment Networks is another events giant that is headquartered in Bangalore. DNA boasts of hosting some of the largest events in terms of scale, including sporting events like the Indian Premier League (IPL), Premier Badminton League, Pro Kabbadi, and Indian Super League.

Apart from the sporting events, DNA is also responsible for almost every international music concert India has witnessed. They brought down legendary band Iron Maiden to perform in India, not once, but twice. Iron Maiden’s tour to Bangalore created a frenzy never seen before. Over 40,000 people attended the concert, with revenues generated crossing over crores of rupees. DNA also promotes international acts including The Rolling Stones, Roger Walter, Mark Knopfler, and Shakira, to name a few.

Another leading company in India that leads to Events and Entertainment is Wizcraft. Awards ceremonies like IIFA and GiMA awards are both Wizcraft brands that have an awe-inspiring scale. Many large-scale government associated events have been handled by Wizcraft– the Pradhan Mantri Yojna Launch, and the recent Make in India Week.

Wizcraft also does brand activation by creating interesting experiential marketing campaigns for brands that approach them. Cosmetic brands such as Lakme and Dove have received overwhelming responses for their activation campaigns in malls across the country.

Today, a lot of brands that are unrelated to events are also building event brands to impact their revenue, as well as add weight to their authority and reputation. Events are a fantastic way to build your brand image and gain larger visibility for your company. For example, YourStory is primarily a platform for startups and entrepreneurs but then handle upwards of 20 events a year. Their events are relevant, large, and well-publicized, and are creating waves of popularity for the company itself. The impact of just one well-planned event is monumental for a company, not to mention the number of people the brand can reach out to. Development Dialogue is a YourStory event for Social Entrepreneurship, the first of its kind in India.

The events and entertainment industry in India have been steadily growing in rate and was approximated to about 5000 crores in 2015 only. Managed events take up a huge chunk of this, but digital events are not far behind. There is a growing interest in the population for events of this nature. Apart from creating several blue and white-collar job opportunities, events are also boosting local economies and professional engagement with communities.