With the new office, SOI Live Marketing and Events will have full fledged operations coverage in the east, north, west and central states of India. In the eastern market, the agency has recently bagged campaigns for brands in the FMCG and telecom space.

Commenting on the agency's expansion into the eastern market, Himanshu Shah, Chief Mentor, SOI Live Marketing and Events said: "Eastern markets have very few regional players, mainly working in the domain of events and road shows. During our earlier client meetings, we realized that competency in providing strategic sales and marketing solutions was almost not there. Hence, we felt that it was a virgin market for us, keeping in mind our core strength of providing solutions for sales and marketing and not just promotions."

Shah further added that the eastern parts of the country are geographically a major challenge and are a combination of certain up-market areas and some economically backward areas. Highlighting the challenges of the eastern markets, Shah told EVENTFAQS that language is a significant hurdle and that the agency had faced a lot of difficulties in creating regional based recruitment advertisements for Orissa, West Bengal and Assam, all of which had different languages.

Another significant challenge in the tapping the eastern market is the cost, according to Shah. "East is like going abroad, as every visit from the head office is a huge cost. Hence, the cost of launching and stabilizing operations so far in the east by way of money and time is a big factor," Shah told EVENTFAQS.

Commenting on the competition for SOI Live Marketing and Events in the eastern markets, Shah said: "We generally do not face competition as we meet clients with specific briefs after understanding their sales and marketing needs. However, as far as the east is concerned, there is no competition in our core competency. We would face some competition in regular events and promotions, but there also, we stand at an advantage."

Talking about future expansion plans, Shah said that with its upcoming Bhubaneswar office and its existing office in Kolkata, the agency will be able to cater to the entire eastern market. The agency plans to expand towards the south in the future.