TravTalk India Online Magazine
This pandemic has threatened our very existence and our best survival strategy is togetherness. If we are able to come together as one, we will have the strength of many. Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment, shares his view on things that can help us get by during such tumultuous times.
I believe that it is the time of the small and medium enterprises like ourselves – who comprise the bulk of the industry – to make a difference. We are businessmen with our feet firmly planted on the ground. We are the most challenged at this time and need to look for solutions. The focus has to be on action that will make a difference in these times. The focus can’t be on good-looking strategic presentations.
Technology slowly taking over?
Technology, like it does for everything, will help here, too. However, let us consider that the human being has five senses – sight, sound, smell, touch, taste – tell me, which of these is virtual? Humans like meeting other humans, they like the physical ‘experience’. That’s why our business is called ‘experiential’ and that’s why it can never go out of fashion. Ten thousand fans in a stadium can cheer the music of a popular artist, swinging with the beats – will you get the same experience in front of a screen with a fizzy drink and popcorn?
Technology has its own place. It is a great value addition but it can never substitute the ‘real thing’. A Zoom call versus shaking hands and taking a selfie with Alia Bhatt? Tell me, which would you choose?
Of course, it is happening now, but these are substitutes. Don’t worry, keep the faith – the ‘real thing’ will be back. Yes, with safety measures in place and yes, with some changes, but the real thing will be back! Even if it is small in the beginning, we need to execute our events with maximum sanitization and build confidence. With every passing day, the audience numbers will increase and the economy will open up slowly.
I believe simplicity cuts through the clutter and provides the best solutions. I see positivity bringing profit. I see us all associated in a congenial atmosphere. I see us united to create a difference, beat these bad times, focused on profit and creating entrepreneurial solutions to usher in happiness. Our ‘Togetherness is Taakat’ – it is our strength. It will help us conquer adversities. Our collaboration will help us draw upon each other’s strengths and negate our weaknesses. This will have to be gender and age agnostic simply because the focus on profit cannot afford to discriminate. This is my vision. And I see it without any rose-tinted glasses. Because I have the cold, hard clarity that comes from being a small business owner who has worked for more than a decade in the trenches for our association and who represents the realities that confront every small and medium-sized enterprise today.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Any team is only as strong as its weakest member. Therefore, everyone is as important as the other. I believe the maximum growth is going to come from cities beyond metros.
Future forward
I have spent more than two decades in this industry and what I have learnt is that ‘The Show Must Go On’. There is no denying that the Indian experiential and wedding industry is currently suffering and agencies are struggling to stay afloat. But, I believe our industry will enjoy a revival soon. With creativity, innovation and technology, our industry will create new engagement models.
Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment
(Views expressed are the author’s own. The publication may or may not subscribe to the same.)
