PowaiFest 2017 – Suburban Festival in Mumbai
February 5, 2017
Annual Franchisee Event Management for Fitness Brand | ICE India
October 29, 2025Product Launch Event Management for Financial Services | Wealth Management Platform
The Challenge
DBS, a leading financial services provider in India, approached ICE India with a critical objective: launch their new wealth management platform to Mumbai's high-net-worth individual (HNI) community. The challenge? Breaking through the noise in Mumbai's oversaturated financial services market where sophisticated prospects attend 10+ similar product launch events annually.
With just 8 weeks to plan and 200 discerning attendees expecting world-class innovation, the stakes were exceptionally high. Traditional ballroom presentations with PowerPoint decks wouldn't engage this audience. DBS needed a product launch that would position them as the culturally sophisticated, forward-thinking choice while generating qualified leads within a ₹28 lakh budget.
Our Strategic Solution
ICE India developed an "Art of Wealth" concept that aligned with DBS's premium brand positioning and the audience's appreciation for alternative investments. Rather than a conventional seated presentation, we transformed the product launch into an immersive art gallery experience where wealth management principles came alive through curated artistic expression.
Key Elements Delivered
Venue Selection & Transformation: The Taj Mahal Palace Grand Ballroom in Colaba was reimagined as a contemporary art gallery with modular exhibition walls, museum-grade lighting, and intimate conversation zones that encouraged networking over traditional theater-style seating. Our venue expertise ensured seamless logistics and brand alignment.
Experiential Design: Gallery-style spotlighting highlighted six emerging Indian artists whose work doubled as investment pieces, while live jazz acoustics created sophisticated ambiance. Interactive art stations allowed guests to engage with portfolio diversification concepts through visual metaphors.
Engagement Innovation: NFC-enabled credentials tracked which art pieces guests viewed longest (with full disclosure), feeding into DBS's CRM for hyper-personalized follow-ups. A live art auction demonstrated bidding strategy parallels to investment decision-making, creating memorable touchpoints that drive business outcomes.
Brand Integration: The color palette (deep emerald green echoing DBS's brand, gold accents, and crisp white) maintained brand consistency while feeling authentically gallery-appropriate. Custom invitations resembled gallery opening announcements rather than corporate invites, setting the tone from first contact.
Challenge Navigation: When our initially contracted jazz ensemble canceled three weeks before the event due to international tour commitments, we pivoted strategically. We partnered with the Mumbai Jazz Foundation to create an "emerging artist showcase," positioning the product launch as a platform for discovering next-generation talent. This perfectly aligned with the wealth-building theme.
The Event Experience
From the moment guests arrived at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace entrance, every touchpoint reinforced sophistication and cultural intelligence. A custom LED entrance tunnel displayed dynamic wealth management insights through artistic data visualization, while ambient instrumental jazz created anticipation. Registration was reimagined. Instead of traditional check-in desks, art curator-styled hosts welcomed each guest with personalized gallery maps highlighting artists whose work matched their known investment preferences.
The wealth platform unveiling happened not through slides, but through a live art auction where the auctioneer seamlessly wove DBS's platform capabilities into bidding commentary. As guests evaluated pieces, they simultaneously experienced the platform's due diligence tools on tablets stationed throughout the gallery. The parallels were striking: provenance research mirrored DBS's investment vetting; bidding strategy paralleled portfolio diversification; art market timing reflected wealth management foresight.
A signature moment came when renowned Mumbai artist Ravi Mandlik performed a live painting while a DBS wealth advisor narrated the creative process through an investment lens. "Notice how he balances bold strokes with subtle detail, much like balancing high-growth and stable assets in your portfolio," the advisor explained. Guests departed with custom art prints featuring their photos reimagined in iconic investment art styles (Warhol's Money, Basquiat's Untitled), delivered to their homes the following week with personalized DBS platform information.
Measurable Impact & Results
The product launch event for DBS exceeded even the most optimistic projections across all key performance indicators:
Attendance & Engagement
- 92% attendance rate (187 of 200 invited prospects), exceptional for financial services events in Mumbai
- 3.4-hour average dwell time for an event scheduled for 2 hours, indicating deep engagement
- 2.8 million social impressions via #DBSArtOfWealth hashtag
- 73% shared content on LinkedIn within 48 hours, amplifying reach
Business Impact
- ₹127 crores in AUM within 6 months, directly attributed to event relationships
- 47 discovery meetings booked within 30 days (25% conversion from attendee to warm lead)
- ₹47 lakh raised through art auction donated to charity, generating goodwill
- 8.9/10 satisfaction score from post-event attendee survey
Brand Amplification
- Economic Times feature for innovative product launch approach
- 3 competing banks requested similar concepts within 2 weeks of event
- DBS CMO testimonial: "Highest-ROI marketing initiative in DBS India history"
What Made This Product Launch Successful
Audience Psychology: Our pre-event research profiled every invited guest. Their investment portfolios, art collecting habits, philanthropic interests, even LinkedIn activity. This intelligence informed artist selection, conversation guides for relationship managers, and personalized touchpoints that created intimacy at scale.
Metaphorical Messaging: Rather than explaining wealth management features, we let guests experience them through art investment parallels they already understood. The metaphor did the selling for us, bypassing the defensive skepticism HNI prospects have toward traditional sales pitches.
Multi-Sensory Engagement: Visual (gallery aesthetics), auditory (live jazz), tactile (art interaction), and experiential (auction participation) elements created memorable encoding that traditional presentations can't achieve. Every sensory layer reinforced the brand message.
Seamless Production: Our on-site team of 6 event professionals ensured invisible execution. From temperature control (art preservation requirements) to real-time sentiment monitoring, every detail reinforced professionalism.