Jagran Solutions, India?s leading new age marketing agency that provides solutions for Brand Activation via Consumer Connect Strategies and afaqs! Events organized India?s first-ever Brand Activation Summit (BAS) on March 19 2010. It brought together more than 200 participants from across the country, including marketing veterans, activation specialists and other representatives from various marketing, advertising and branding disciplines. The overwhelming participation made it a grand Success amongst the target audience.

BAS 2010 offered a platform for exchanging ideas and to explore debate and gauge the power of activations with the aim to share the best practices and models for earning much higher returns in the age of neo-consumerism. The theme of the Summit was aptly and timely titled ?Redefining the Return On Investment?.

The Summit began with a welcome address by Prasanna Singh, COO, afaqs! It was followed by a keynote from Arvind Mohan, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Rediffusion YR who shared his views on Changing Lifestyle & Impact on consumer buying behavior.

BAS 2010 witnessed three key sessions as well as a Case-Study presentation and a Live-Brand Activation Activity by a leading news channel.

The first high-level panel on ?Of, by and for consumers? by Amita Karwal, Executive VP (Lintas Media Group), Ambika Sharma, National Head (Jagran Solutions), Suvodeep Das, Marketing Head (Kaya Ltd.) and moderated by Ishan Raina (CEO-OOH Media) deliberated on the emergence of brand activations as an integral part of marketing plans, the reasons behind it and the pitfalls to be wary of.

They discussed the essential ingredients for a successful activation campaign and brand managers can best integrate activation in their outreach campaigns. The speakers suggested that Brand Activation be viewed as a marketing process of bringing a brand live through creating brand experience.

Commenting on the occasion, Ms Ambika Sharma, National-Head, Jagran Solutions said that, ?BAS was created to provide marketing professionals with an event and a community for sharing the best practices and expertise they need to maximize ROI. The event saw comprehensive discussions through case studies, panel discussions thus creating real value for the participants. BAS 2010 offered attendees the opportunity to learn actionable strategies and tactics from leading brand marketers, agency professionals and activation specialists. BAS 2010 brought together thought leaders into the activations marketing space in India, sharing their views on topics constantly defining the consumer activations marketing space. ?

As a panel member at the summit, Ambika was quoted as saying that,? Activation is all about taking the brand to the consumers and having a feedback loop. Consumer engagement is the essence of activations. Integration is the future. The speed and transparency with which we now communicate require cohesive messaging and tactics driven by integrated marketing strategy that supports the overall business plan.?

Recognizing the importance of Measurability of output and the Effectiveness of Activation in comparison to other marketing tools, a panel of Ajay Sharma, Director Events and Promotions (Momentum), Sumit Arora, Associate Director and Head (Synovate), Sameer Kaul, Marketing Head (Dr. Lal Path Labs Lal?s), moderated by Venkee Sharma, Sr. Vice President & Director (Arc Worldwide) discussed ?The Currency of Brand Activation?. They debated on defining the parameters for measuring the effectiveness of activation. This plenary session was followed by a ?Live? brand activation exercise by Star News and a demonstration for the audience who attended the Summit.

The final panel discussion of the Summit was on the ?categories that lend themselves best to activation? and ?ways of maximizing ROI? by Ambika Sharma, national head, Jagran Solutions; N Divakar, head, retail branding, HPCL; and Hiroshi Omata, director and vice-president, Dentsu Marcom and moderated by Sreekant Khandekar, co-founder and director, afaqs!, The panel unanimously believed that Activation cuts on duplication, helps in reaching only specific audience: users or decision makers, has higher conversions and induces maximum participation while earning word of mouth via experiences.

At the end of the summit vote of thanks speech was given from Prasanna Singh, COO, afaqs!