iifa@10 - eventfaqs media€¦ · the iifa weekend is a three day affair, packed with events. the...

There have been rumours that the Bachchans own the IIFA. Not true, but what’s the harm in yet another news story on the property? It just adds to the buzz. There have also been reports of film stars choosing to skip the IIFA Awards because of tiffs between each other. Again, so what? When has a little bad publicity ever been an issue? Especially if the good publicity far outweighs the bad! In any case, as they say, any publicity is good publicity. In IIFA’s case, the little bad publicity has not been able to taint its stature. Like the lines of The Brook, by Lord Tennyson, the property seems to say, ‘For men may come and men may go, but I go on forever...’ . The biggest measure of the property’s success is the media mileage it gets.

IIFA has extended itself through platforms far beyond the awards ceremony and the weekend. As a brand representing the Indian cinema industry to the world, it is but natural that its PR value is also high. What’s interesting to know is where the chunk of this publicity is actually coming from.

When asked about IIFA, its custodians, Wizcraft, will always talk about the objective of the property and its vision. Sabbas Joseph commented, “IIFA is about taking Indian Cinema to the world. It’s about building bridges amongst communities.” How far is this positioning getting translated into public perception? The perception is built, in large part, by what the media reports - another reason to focus on the PR efforts around an event property. It is critical that IFFA’s brand message be delivered to media and to audiences at large thereafter. Else, it would imply that IIFA was a clever camouflage to introduce yet another Bollywood film property in an already populated category.

In its tenth year, IIFA claims to have clocked a PR valuation of over 65 million USD (ad value equivalent). Last year’s valuation was 35 million USD (only TV and Print media were measured last year).

How does an event property manage to grab so much media space? Fact is, there is little that IIFA doesn’t offer a media brand. IIFA leverages itself across Bollywood, Business and Lifestyle platforms with

India’s platform for Events and Experiential Marketing

Print Newsletter July 2009 39

the various elements that make up the IIFA Weekend. The three major aspects of the property are its business forum, fashion extravaganza, and the awards ceremony.

The only platform other than cinema that Indian media evinces as much interest in, is sport. More specifically, cricket! So bring on a showcase match of film stars versus cricketers, and there won’t be a media brand (or beat) that skips IIFA!

Beyond its core elements, IIFA also offers its partners the flexibility to publicise their association. Each year, the number of brand associations grows, and promotions by these brands and their readiness to fly the IIFA flag gives back to the popularity of the platform.

It is essential to take into consideration the added advantages the property enjoys. For one, it is media neutral. Unlike most film event properties in India, IIFA is not a product of any media conglomerate. This makes it okay for every media channel to write about it. In fact, it brings in the advantage of having entities from multiple media groups as partners.

Beyond Indian media, IIFA creates a prominent cultural activity where it lands, generating adequate interest amongst foreign media. Here’s where its brand message is clearly realized in a true sense. In its 10 years of existence, to break this perception barrier might have been the toughest for the property. This year, IIFA clocked 45 million USD in PR valuation from foreign media.

Joseph puts this trend of growing international media interest into perspective. He surmised, “You have to view the decade of IIFA in totality with its surroundings. When IIFA began, not many people outside of the country knew about Indian cinema. But over the years with the IT boom and the Indian economy getting stronger, people’s interest in the country has increased. Similarly, IIFA has facilitated international media’s interest in the cinema space, and has contributed to making mark for India on the world map.”

BY KARISHMA HUNDALANI

iifa@10...

and ALL - THAT - BUZZ!

Wizcraft’s three phase PR plan:

Wizcraft chalked out a three phase plan for the promotion of the property, with various press-related activities. Each press event had a clear objective and therefore followed a certain format .

Facilitating Media:

The IIFA Weekend and Awards have been a closely followed story across media channels, and each year special provision is made for media to cover the event. IIFA took special efforts this year to ensure the event was made ‘media friendly’. The venue was equipped and the weekend was especially planned keeping in mind the hundreds of media representatives that would be attending the event from across the world.

Joseph elaborated, “This year, we had special studios built at the venue for media. We had a dedicated radio, online and television studio to facilitate various channels that were reporting. CNN reported three exclusive stories of 10 to 12 minutes each, on the Indian cinema industry, from IIFA this year,”

Pre-IIFA Press Conferences, Buzz Creation:

The IIFA Weekend is made up of several elements. The lead up to the IIFA Weekend is therefore a critical time to engage media and keep them invovled in the development of the property. Each year, as IIFA grows in stature, its elements are improvised and innovated upon to create new, more exciting content. The property at large and also the individual events, therefore, have much to inform and boast about to media. This allows for several press conferences to precede the actual weekend, sustaining media interest.

Though the primary objective of the press conferences and announcements before the property is to keep alive media interest, they also serve as a platform to familiarize the media with the various associations the brand is invovled in.

Each sub-event of IIFA creates an opportunity to tie in relevant professionals, associations and brands, which in turn enhance the credibitlity of the event and hence the IIFA brand. Not to forget, each tie up also adds to the news value of the sub-event and hence IIFA.

These pre-IIFA press conferences also ensure that all associations are announced, with partners receiving adequate leverage through the property in the media.



The Communication Objectives for IIFA 2009:• Create awareness and visibility for a Golden Decade of IIFA Magic

• Highlight Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel as the host for IIFA’s tenth anniversary celebrations

• Showcase IIFA as a Global event and one of Asia’s biggest to be held in Macau, China

• IIFA gets bigger, better and greener in its tenth year

IIFA 2009 Voting Weekend – 6 March 2009Key Messages - IIFA celebrates a Golden Decade of Indian Cinema - Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan casts the first vote- 1500 members of the Indian film fraternity participated in the IIFA voting weekend

IIFA Announcement Press Conference (in Mumbai) – 28 April 2009Key Messages- IIFA 2009 destination announcement: The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel- Announcement of IIFA 2009 sponsors and partners- Announcement of the IIFA Awards 2009 nominations- Announcement of Technical categories award winners

IIFA Announcement Press Conference (in Macao at the Venetian) - 8 May, 2009Key Messages - IIFA 2009 destination announcement: The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel- Announcement of IIFA 2009 sponsors and partners- Announcement of the Golden Decade of IIFA Magic

IIFA 2009 Sub Events Announcement - 2 June, 2009 Key Messages- Announcement of the sub-events at IIFA 2009- Announcing the Green Agenda of IIFA - Announcement of various performances

IIFA Foundation Fashion Extravaganza Press Conference - 4 June Key Messages - Announcement of the IIFA Fashion Extravaganza- Announcement of the hosts and designers

Post IIFA - Buzz:The IIFA 2009 buzz carried on much after the event was over. While the event attendees got to experience the property first hand, the press took back snippets of the event to a larger audience spread across India and the world. The various announcements and happenings from the IIFA weekend were disseminated to the media on the completion of the event as well.

The post IIFA buzz was created mostly by the official television partner for IIFA, Star Plus. The channel that has had exclusive rights to the telecast of the event for five years now, takes on the responsibiltiy to keep the buzz alive till the date of telecast.

Wizcraft also organized an exclusive preview of the IIFA Awards for the film fraternity before the it was broadcast. The event was an exclusive gathering of stars who were a part of IIFA and those who missed it. The agency also sent out a release on the date and time of the Star Plus broadcast to various media as part of the promotions of the televised event.



During IIFA - Press Conferences, Buzz:The IIFA weekend is a three day affair, packed with events. The weekend kick starts with an official opening press conference, and the various entertainment events and activities are hosted over the weekend. During IIFA 2009, there was a highlight entertainment act by the Cirque Du Soleil on the opening night. The gala evening was attended by the entire film fraternity, and therefore an elaborate Green Carpet affair was organized before the show for the press and fans. Zaia, a high end jewelry brand, sponsored this Green Carpet affair.

Each year, IIFA has had film previews, a Fashion Extravanganza, a Global Business Forum and the Awards Ceremony. The events in themselves make for enough opportunity for media to report, however, additional peripheral activites are also organized to increase the hype and provide a formal platform for the media to address the parties invovled. Each of the three film previews this year were part of a formal media briefing, in which first time information about the film is divulged to the media as exclusive bytes. Further, both the Fashion Extravaganza and the Awards Ceremony are preceded by a Green Carpet affairs for the benefit of the media, providing ample photo opportunities.

The Idea IIFA Awards ceremony was telecast on Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) Star Plus on July 5, 2009. The four-hour show on Star Plus added 39 GRPs (Gross Rating Points) to the channel’s total of 287, according to Wizcraft. The total of 287 GRPs (Source: TAM, Week 28, Hindi Speaking Markets, Cable & Satellite Homes, Age 4+) for the week, was the highest by the channel in the preceding 15 weeks.

Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft and IIFA, explained, “Star Plus was in the number three position in the weeks preceding the telecast of the IIFA awards. After the telecast, because of GRPs earned from IIFA, the channel has moved up to the number one position again.” IIFA Awards on Star Plus registered a TVR of 4.93, stated Wizcraft.

On the total viewership of the awards and its increase this year, Joseph added, “Last year the total viewership of the awards on television was around 600 million. This year, we cracked viewership in China and Far Eastern countries, and I would estimate that it should have reached at least 700 million viewers.

PR Impact:380 brands across print, television and online media visited IIFA 2009 from across the globe. According to Wizcraft’s official report of IIFA’s PR impact, there were media representations from India, Hong Kong, Thailand, Shanghai, Biejing, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Dubai, Kenya, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

Wizcraft’s report on the PR evaluation of IIFA 2009 from Indian media, over the months of May and June 2009 alone, is 24 million USD (ad value equivalent). This splits itself approximately into 4.5 million USD from print media and 19.5 million USD from television media.

Coverage in the host country, China, of IIFA 2009 has been evaluated at 5 million USD, while PR value generated fromt the rest of the world has been clocked at 22 million USD.

While IIFA was not tracked online until this year, special attention was placed on the online space for the tenth edition of the property.

Strategic online media tie-ups were forged with popular online platforms. The worldwide online exposure for IIFA 2009 has been clocked at 5 million USD.

*Figures provided by Wizcraft International, and are preliminary figures for coverage generated in the months of May and June 2009 only.



Television Impact:IIFA was covered extensively by several Indian television channels

Print Impact:Glimpses of IIFA 2009 coverage in Indian newspapers

IIFA coverage on some International television channels

CCTV Gafencu carried IIFA extensively, including a 15 min exclusive interview on a special program - Guo Fung Ping Wei, with IIFA brand Anbassador Amitabh Bachchan. The program airs on primetime on Sunday and repeats three times in the week.

Fashion TV carried clips from IIFA 2009 for over 300 minutes in over 12 countries.

CNN International covered IIFA 2009 extensively and did a special feature on IIFA and Amitabh Bachchan for Talk Asia

BBC TV, BBC Asian Network Radio and BBC Online ran daily updates from the Venetian covering IIFA 2009 and the destination on their network across the globe.



Glimpses of IIFA 2009 coverage in international newspapers

People Magazine did an exclusive from the Venetian Macao on the tenth year of IIFA.

The Verve carried an exclusive on IIFA 2009 from the Venetian Macao.

OUTLOOK’s coverage of IIFA.

THE WEEK did a 4 page spread on IIFA 2009.

INDIA TODAY did a 2 page spread on IIFA 2009.

Magazine Impact: IIFA 2009 was carried in major fashion and entertainment magazines like Marie Claire, Vogue, Grazia, Cine Blitz, Society and Harper’s Bazaar,



Some International magazines that covered IIFA

IIFA specials and promos were aired across 35 Indian cities by Big FM. An IIFA 2009 jingle was frequently aired and there were on-air contests too. The station also had two live shows from the Venetian Macao during IIFA Weekend, and a daily IIFA capsule during the duration of the IIFA campaign.

Online Impact:IIFA 2009 received over 5000 clips on international websites including sites in the Gulf region, South East Asia, South Africa and UK.

Radio Impact: Big FM, official radio partner for IIFA in India

An exclusive on Amitabh Bachchan at IIFA, in the Obeserver (UK)

IIFA coverage in the Nairobi Star (Kenya)

7 Magazine carried a story

titled ‘VIP Nights with IIFA in

Macau’

International Radio channels that carried bytes from IIFA

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iifa@10 - eventfaqs media€¦ · the iifa weekend is a three day affair, packed with events. the...

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