These are the days of co-existing & co-creation: Kyoorius' Rajesh Kejriwal

With the inaugural edition of MELT slated to commence in Mumbai on May 21, the Founder CEO of Kyoorius sheds light on the festival, the thought behind it and the expectations

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | May 19, 2015

Rajesh Kejriwal

Since its inception in 2006, Kyoorius has been championing the creative community in India through programmes that inform, inspire and stimulate. Taking their philosophy ahead, Kyoorius had announced the launch of MELT 2015 some time back, a festival of creativity for the advertising, media, digital and marketing industries. The festival has been conceptualised in partnership with D&AD, GroupM and Zee, and is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on May 21 and 22.

MELT 2015 will include content divided across the four key pillars of Learning, Networking, Showcase and Celebration. Events under these headers will be driven and curated by content partners and participating brands. The festival will see several seminars, exhibitions, and workshops, and will culminate with the Kyoorius Advertising and Digital Awards Night at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai. The festival is expected to attract over 5,000 people over two days.

BestMediaInfo caught up with Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO, Kyoorius to know more about MELT, the thinking behind the festival, the preparations and more. Excerpts:

MELT is around the corner, how are the preparations?

Melting! Apart from a unique convergence of all stakeholders of the marketing communications industry, marketing, media, advertising, digital and emerging technologies, there is a lot that goes into making such a festival and it couldn't have been done without each and every one of our partners. Their support and expertise is what has made MELT what it is.

This is the debut year for MELT. What are your expectations?

MELT is a festival with multiple sessions happening at the same time, so there is a lot to learn for every stakeholder – something relevant to his/her skill sets and industry that they can benefit from. Our expectation is that the industry will find true value in a platform such as this and over the coming years, it will help answer the questions that today's youngsters have.

What was the thinking behind starting MELT?

The marketing communications industry is going through a furious pace of change and is becoming more complicated. While the core propositions, ideas and consumers remain the same, it is about amplifying the ideas, harnessing varied skills right from writing to design and additionally by using and better understanding digital and allied technologies, using the power of the web to make better, longer lasting and more efficient connections with consumers.

MELT has been conceptualised to help advertising, media, digital and marketing professionals become familiar with the changes and learn, through lectures, discussions, case studies and workshops, how to marry their inherent skills and talent with the emerging technologies.

Do you think it will give a strong competition to other industry initiatives?

Exactly the opposite! It will help the industry grow, stay tuned to the changing landscape and also help other industry initiatives to become more specialised and cater to an audience with content that is relevant to them. These are the days of co-existing, co-creation and collaborating and much like the industry itself, MELT will work actively to bring more value to this industry.

What kind of participation have you received till now?

We have received over a 1,000 registrations, but the remarkable thing is that the participation is coming from across all stakeholders. So, our conviction of bringing all stakeholders under a common platform has been proven.

The speaker line-up looks pretty interesting. Do you think it has grabbed the necessary participation?

It is not easy to curate content that can be interesting to different skill sets and given the feedback that we have received on the content, we seem to have achieved this. Given that we have registrations from across the industry, it does seem that we have grabbed the necessary attention and participation.

Is the number of entries as per target?

The number of entries for our awards show has been higher by 42 per cent compared to last year, at 1,419 entries, whereas our expectation was in the region of 1,300. So it is above our target.

What kind of work have you witnessed as and when the entries were coming in and also while judging?

I have not been privy to the entries while they were coming in, but I did happen to see them, though not all, during the judging sessions. The jury noticed a trend in the entries submitted this year – entries addressed three key areas: the elections, women's rights and the World Cup. A lot of them were hard-hitting and some of the craft was remarkable. Digital though still has a way to go – but the results are encouraging and we see a constant progression here both in quality and volume.

Do you think with so many awards, people in the industry are getting more opportunities to witness the kind of competition that they have in the industry?

I think it should be more about motivation and maybe a feeling of pride rather than just competition. Any serious player in the industry who keeps his eyes and ears open would witness work from competing agencies. Awards are primarily to inspire and motivate the industry.

Do you think the combination of MELT and Kyroorius Awards is set to become the primary awards for the Indian advertising industry?

Our goal is to stimulate the industry in every way we can. Both MELT and the Kyoorius Awards are two initiatives in that direction and are additions to Kyoorius Designyatra, Digiyatra, the Kyoorius Magazine, the Showcase Book and the FYIdays. If people feel proud when they win an Elephant, then we have achieved our objective. And that, for us, is more relevant. Being primary was never the objective and it will never be.

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