Adgully Exclusive | APREE prepares for summit of industry aristocracy

APREE is the hallowed forum that unites the best minds from the advertising, PR, events & entertainment industries. The APREE aristocrats deliberate on the issues that are shaping their fields. Their exchange of ideas not only makes sense of market realities, but also helps the industry leaders anticipate trends.

Adgully spoke to Salama Yamini, APREE's director of new business, to discern the agenda for the forthcoming edition of the annual seminar that, as always, will draw the most distinguished names from the business.

Yamini began by telling Adgully about the forum. "APREE, as a concept, was born out of necessity," she said. "Advertising, PR, events & entertainment are among the most important industries today. In fact, anything that aspires to be a brand has to go through these industries in order to establish itself, to become known." These industries shared a common and a symbiotic relationship, she said. "We wanted to narrow down the gauge to bring together these industries to understand their working, know more about their core competency¦and this is where APREE came in," she said. "We saw this as a great opportunity for industry colleagues to network, educate themselves about emerging trends, and benefit from them."

APREE has been providing the rewarding forum for two years, and Yamini explained how it had evolved. "APREE has come a long way since its inception in 2008," she said. "This platform has gained in popularity, it has received more media attention, the number of speakers has progressively increased, both in terms of quality and quantity." She the number of student and professional registrations grew with every edition. "Since the participation is strictly by invitation, we ensure that marketing backgrounds of the participating professionals are varied," she said. "And with each year, we have been increasing the number of participants. There are also a number of international students who participate in the seminar."

As for the theme of this year's edition, it is "Tools in a Surging Economy', Yamini said. "Last year's agenda was "Innovation at the Time of Recession'," she said. "Now that the economy has gained, be it the production or the service sector, we want to talk how we can efficiently provide the market forces with powerful tools to gear up for the emerging challenges and reach out to a wider group of consumers."

The tools will be discussed by the veritable royalty of the concerned industries: Harish Bijoor, brand expert & CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults; Shubhamoy Sen Gupta, Rediffusion; Maniv Arcot, Leo Burnett; Vipul Mathur, Arvind Brands; Piyush, Dish TV; Terri Waller, MD, Arc intl. UK; and Anand Nair, Audience Matters.

APREE has oraginsed various get-together events to publicise the forthcoming seminar and has secured significant media coverage already, Yamini said. "Mailers, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are a great way to get through to interested participants," she said.

Some of the brands associated with APREE this year are Jet Airways, the airline partner; UB, for beverages etc.