India's INR 13,000cr Live Events Market Emerges As Brands' Next Offline Battleground

With 78% of Indians preferring experiences over products and live events delivering 59% brand recall and 55% higher purchase intent, brands from Swiggy and Zomato to Nykaa and Mikiamo are pivoting to experiential activations. India's events market is projected to grow from USD 5.69B in 2025 to USD 9.04B by 2031.

— Filed Sat, 16 May, 2026, 11:22 IST · Source ET Brand Equity · Updated

Op-ed argues India's experiential marketing is the next brand battleground, citing INR 13,000cr live events market and case studies from Swiggy Durga Puja activation, Zomato, Nykaaland with BookMyShow Live, and Mikiamo Limoncello's Bangalore launch.

Why this matters

Live events become a core offline channel as brands chase recall and purchase intent that digital ads struggle to deliver, positioning ticketing platforms like BookMyShow as critical gatekeepers.

Retail-brand activity steady with 279 signals in last 90 days.

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