[Exclusive Interview] Founder Of Woot Factor Spills The Secret Of This Dynamic Industry (And Tips For Aspiring Entrepreneur!)

Recently we interacted with Amit Relan, co-founder of Woot Factor, and asked him about the event management industry, and their plans for the future.

Here are the interview highlights..

Tell us more about Woot Factor Brand Architects? How did it start?

It’s a 12-year-old organization that started typically as an event management company. Initially, it primarily serviced the retail industry alongside the real estate sector. We transitioned to also servicing the banking and financial sector since 2012 onwards. It was started by 2 individuals –  Amit Relan and Smita Jadhav. The Former founder comes from a background in IT, Sales and Account Management, whereas the latter has a background in the financial services industry. We built and grew over the last 12 years; and now specialise in services focused on the BFSI, Real estate and luxury sectors with a varied and diverse service line to bring experiences to life. 

Please share your take on the evolution of the event industry in India?

I think it’s a very crowded space. The term experiential is a more evolved term wherein people and organizations come into the picture. It entails creating experiences for individuals, and the way we look at events or experiential space is mainly trying to bring the vision of the company to life whether be it a campaign or a brand positioning. Within that space, brands have found a lot of relevance to going to an established organization seeking help. At the same time, the awareness of the skill of events is growing for over a decade as India keeps moving at a fast pace towards a digital first economy.

What are your plans for your company?

We aim to become a relevant extension to the brands we service. We want to be in a space where we are indispensable because of the ROI generated for these brands. We understand the banking, real estate, and luxury segments. These are the three segments that we plan to scale both domestically and internationally.

 The larger purpose of the company is to create happiness and provide a platform for employees to advance in their careers. We are in a process of creating intrapreneurs – a culture where we are breeding entrepreneurs and we hope that these professionals will go out and create magic in the future having embarked on their entrepreneur journey with Woot Factor.

What kind of events does Woot Factor, the curate?

We cater to specific industries. We understand businesses and try to generate ROI in terms of customer satisfaction, delight, regeneration or even brand penetration in certain segments. We do these in form of regional, avenue based events and engagement. We even create MICE engagements for brands and also support product and campaign launches. So be it anything and everything – right from providing services for campaign videos, onboarding brand ambassadors or designing brand communication, and finally taking all of this onto experiential avenues  – Woot Factor plays a role from start to end. 

 What are the services offered by Woot Factor?

We primarily bring brains to the table. We start with the ideation of campaigns and programs. Right from designing entire event collateral to executing the same – we specialise in end-to-end services. If you look at our service line it’s mice, BTL product launches, product promotions and majorly co-created event platforms. Co-created events are a unique segment for us where we bring two or more non competing brands on the same platform to create unforgettable experiences. 

Which are your best clients in the industry?

Godrej properties, Tata asset management, HDFC Bank, Abbot, and ICICI Bank, among others.

What’s your take on the post covid events era? Are hybrid events here to stay?

Within a year, everything will stabilize, and life will entirely resume normalcy. Till the time people are travelling, drinking or enjoying themselves – events will never go out of fashion. Brands are finding new ways to communicate with their audiences. Events are here to stay, they are not going anywhere. Having said that its good to acknowledge that Brands have become far more cautious before spending in geographies. Hybrid events will remain popular in terms of support function, in the post covid era. They will become a strong backbone, elevating the on-ground experiences. Brands are going to use this format as a wonderful plugin to ensure that the experience reaches out to more and more people across the world. From that school of thought, I think hybrid is here to stay. Also, the content-based event hybrid can is emerging as the number 1 choice to disseminate information to the maximum public at a lower cost. 

Any message for young entrepreneurs who aspire to be successful in the events industry?

Don’t look at the glamour, look at the hard work. Don’t look at it from the outside and think everything is nice and floral. There is a lot of hard work because clients are becoming intelligent, and they know what they want. Get into business thinking about actually delivering results rather than delivering an event you will be far more successful.

Scope of event management as a career option?

It has already become a lucrative career option there are lots of institutes that have come up. Education will play a major role for people, guiding them in picking events as a profession. Individuals studying Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM) or Bachelor Management Studies (BMS) are in the grey area whether they want to get into a brand or to events and which side of the table do they belong to. People need to look at their natural abilities before they align their service to an industry like this. It’s an industry meant for extroverts and thinkers. There is enough scope in events. It’s a growing industry. A Lot of sectors have yet not adapted true professional event experiential service providers so the scope within the country is huge; however, the ecosystem at the education level needs to get stronger. Individuals who are currently in BMM, BMS or other institutes of event management are coming out with not too much live knowledge, the bookish knowledge is not going to help you within the industry. The education system can get a little better aligned to give us clarity to resources and output but as in industry, it is a fantastic experience because it is no more just putting things together and delivering an event. It is actually about telling stories. There are various beautiful forms to do that. 

What are your other hobbies and passion?

I am an avid sports lover both watching and playing live sports. As much as I am into cricket I have also picked up on golf besides I have a habit of listening to readings like podcasts and storytelling. These are my go-to options for educating myself. I am an absolute entertainment buff and love to watch movies.