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On their 5th anniversary, iTalk gets Red Om Entertainment, the guys who started the theme night fad, to bring a 6-point action plan to run a successful event management business
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The cheery co-founders: Vikram Mehta and Sapna Lulla celebrated 5 years of being in the events business on June 4 at Zenzi, Bandra. Pic/Rane Ashish | At a time when the nightclub was your only hope of de-stressing after 8, the concept of a lounge/bar was probably in its nascent stage, and the guestlist, a much more exclusive affair, Red Om became the sole opportunists in the market. Club owners and managers wanted to pump up overall business, and this duo had the ideas on how to do that. Vikram Mehta (26) and Sapna Lulla (24) started by doing what every other teen was, and is doing today for an extra buck working on a commission basis with clubs to pull in crowds. They realised they were better than most around and decided to go solo. Just a year after Red Om came into existence, they had a full blown team Puneet Gidwani, Beej Lakhani, Viraj Saxena, Bharat Sehgal, Paramveer Bhatti, Tejas Merchant handle marketing, Ankit Anand (co-owner of Crepe Station) is a partner with Mehta and Lulla. The duo tell us what it takes if you want to make it big in event management.
1 Be professional from Day 1
You may be just 18, but this is not a playground, says Lulla. If you want to take on work, make sure you behave in a way that club owners and managers take seriously. Club managers must enjoy interacting with you, they must trust you time and again, which is how you continue to get more work. "We had every single thing on paper right from the time we started printed letterheads, invoices, visiting cards an indication that we meant business," says Mehta.
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Team Red Om Entertainment | 2 Filter database every week
As much as you may want to keep the guestlist exclusive, it's important that a large enough crowd comes to the club when you organise a concept night. How do you ensure all those freeloaders getting in on the guestlist are worth inviting? "Every week we screen a database of 3,000-odd people and eliminate those who have misbehaved in the past, or use our own discretion to figure whether they should make it," explains Mehta.
3 Become famous first, money will follow
Some people follow the other approach: Make money first, fame can come later. But these two were very clear about setting their groundwork for a stronger future. "When I worked under an events company, I sold more passes than any of the other guys on commission because I had no qualms in approaching people," says Mehta. You have to network tactfully and maintain your relationships. When he left that job to do his own thing, it was a smooth transition people around already knew of him.
4 Build on concepts, create a USP
"We patented close to 15 fresh concepts, when we started out," says Lulla. These so-called "nights" may seem run-of-the-mill now, but back then, they were the hottest events of the week, she says. Red Om's first concept night was at former club Athena (now Prive), where they organised a Straight from the Hood night. "It was an all-new Hip Hop night where we dressed up the bouncers like rappers, complete with bling jewellery," Mehta tells us. They point out an interesting reason why those nights worked better than they do now the guestlist was an exclusive affair then; not just anybody could be on it, unlike how it is now.
5 good booze and food is vital
Red Om Entertainment has held a monopoly of sorts when it comes to Christmas and New Year's Eve bashes at 5-star hotels, for the last few years. This year, they dared to do what even hotels chickened out from they went ahead with a half-a-crore bash at a suburban 5-star, despite the terrorist attacks in November. "We ensured security was tight, and the hotel management had faith we would bring in the crowds despite the tragedy," says Mehta. And they did. Three thousand people showed up at the party; the team had pumped in extra money just so they wouldn't run out of alcohol at midnight. "Dancers, firework shows... we never do much of that, because at the end of the day it's food, alcohol and music that make a party," smiles Lulla.
6 Diversifying is important
After trying out club events, Red Om swiftly moved into artist management and brought down then-popular acts like RDB, Stereo Nation and recently, Astrix. "Today, there are lounges, bars and many more places that the crowd can frequent. The only ones to walk into nightclubs are college kids," says Lulla. Realising that events at nightclubs have a short shelf life, the duo set up a restaurant and lounge, and a multi-designer boutique. "We also brought down Michael Learns to Rock to MMRDA grounds last year, which took our portfolio to another level." Now, that they think they are "finished" with Mumbai, what's the next move? A host of DJs and artists from France, the UK and Russia will be coming down for a multi-city tour. Emphatically they say: It's time to go national now.
Log onto www.redomentertainment.com |
