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Branded Entertainment Summit and Awards 2006 sets pace with a humdinger

Mumbai, 20th September, 2006

Stimulating presentations, searing insights from industry leaders, thought provoking case studies, lively debates, and some honest knowledge sharing. All this followed by the razzmatazz of the long awaited branded entertainment awards, marking the premier conference on branded entertainment.

Atul Phadnis, Chief Evangelist, MediaE2E & Dr. Kalim Khan, Director, Rizvi Management Institutes, shared the stage to launch the momentous occasion. In his welcome note, Atul Phadnis reiterated MediaE2E′s commitment to bring branded entertainment into the mainstream and standardize the evaluation of brand integration.

The summit opener, ′Brand, Content & Global Learning′ was presented by Neelo Faruqi, Senior Vice President, Entertainment & Research, IAG, New York. Best practice examples from the US were used to demonstrate the evolution of branded entertainment in the US market with obvious parallels and opportunities to transpose these ideas into the Indian milieu.

The following panel discussion was equally stimulating. ′Brass Tacks: Accountability in Branded Entertainment′ was moderated by media veteran Meenakshi Madhvani, founder of Spatial Access. Panelists Navin Shah, CEO, P9 Integrated, Sanjay Bhutiani, General Manager, Marketing, BR Films, Darshana Bhalla, CEO, Mates & Pawan Chawla, Editor, Impact, traded experiences, and shared thoughts & ideas. This thought provoking session also included Neelo Faruqi who was able to add an international viewpoint.

Julie Petersen, MediaE2E CEO for South East Asia & Greater China initiated the much awaited session on ′Interruption to Engagement: The implications of branded entertainment′ by looking at some recent definitions of audience engagement in the context of branded entertainment.

Pradeep Guha, CEO, Zee Telefilms delivered an excellent keynote presentation for the session which explored branded entertainment from interruption to engagement. A consummate presenter, he skillfully turned the focus lights on the responsibilities of content owners as entertainers & brand custodians.

Paritosh Joshi, President, Advertising Sales & Distribution, Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World, Rahul Welde, GM, Media, Hindustan Lever, Hemant Malik, Head, Marketing, ITC & Julie Petersen, CEO, South East Asia & Greater China, MediaE2E were able to put a perspective on the use of branded entertainment as en effective brand building tool and how it can deliver beyond exposure quotients and recall measures.

And then came the moment of reckoning. The time to honor our finest achievements in brand placement, integration & sponsorship, hand picked from a collection of the best practices in India. Anand Halve, Co-Founder, Chlorophyll brand communications & consultancy introduced the session. The psychedelic lights took over.

The Gold for ′Best Product Placement in a TV programme′ was bagged by Madison Media for the integration of Kaya Skin Clinic in ′Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin′. P9 Integrated pocketed the Silver for their work on ′Corporate′ and CNN-IBN. There was a tie for the ′Best Product Placement in an Indian language feature film′ Award, between Mates, Mumbai for Tanishq with ′Paheli′ and Domino′s with ′Phir Hera Pheri′. The Silver went to Lodestar Media for the placement of Sandoz in ′Virudhh′.

′Best Product Placement in a Sports Category′ saw Mindshare ATG, Delhi picking up both Gold and Silver for their Pepsi and cricket combination. Their Pepsi Anthem during the Indo-Pak series won the Gold, while the Pepsi Drink Break during the Tri-Series took Silver. Lintas, Bangalore got the Gold for Sunfeast open 2005 in the ′Best Sponsorship in a Sports Category′ and Creatigies for ING Vysya Premier Hockey League.

The Gold and Silver Awards in ′Best Sponsorship in Other Categories′ was bagged by Insight, Mumbai for Idea and Mediaedge, Mumbai for Colgate, respectively. The final awards for the night, ′Best Sponsorship for a Feature Film′ went to Mates, Mumbai and P9 Integrated. Mates won the Gold for ′Paheli′ and Tanishq association, while P9 got Silver for ′Krrish′ and Lifebuoy.