Section: News Category: Media Planning & Buying

The agency won the business sans any pitch, based on its understanding of the retail market in India. The size of the business is said to be about Rs 40 crore.

The size of the business is said to be about Rs 40 crore.

Confirming the development to afaqs!, Pravahan Mohanty, head, marketing, Vishal Mega Mart, says, "With the Indian retail market growing rapidly, we were looking for an agency that reflected the understanding about the Indian retail market in its work. We found that Alliance Advertising has both the understanding and the knowledge about the retail industry."

"We will develop the media plans for the retail brand and will partner Vishal Mega Mart in its process to gain back its position in the retail market in India," says Jogesh Bhutani, director, Alliance Advertising.

Earlier, the media duty of the retail brand was handled by Portrait. Vishal Mega Mart has not appointed any creative agency - the creatives are currently managed by an in-house team that reports to Mohanty.

The company started as a retailer of ready-made apparel in Kolkata in 2001. After tasting instant success, the brand expanded its presence across the country and opened other formats of retail outlets. It operated through brands such as Vishal Megamart, Vishal Retail and Vishal Fashion Mart.

In 2011, San Francisco-based private equity firm TPG acquired the wholesale arm of the business, along with Chennai-based Sriram Group, which acquired the retail operations. So, while TGP Wholesale operates back-end sourcing, merchandising and logistics, Airplaza Retail, a Sriram Group Company, runs the retail shops and other franchisee partners operating Vishal branded stores.

The business was earlier handled by ZenithOptimedia.

Ibibo, founded in 2006-07, is an internet and mobile products company with focus on social gaming and e-commerce platforms. The company is jointly owned by South Africa's Naspers and China's internet company Tencent.

The company's flagship brand is the gaming network, ibibo.com.

Last year, the company launched its online travel portal, goibibo.com. Recently, it also launched a shopping portal, tradus.in. It is also present in the jobs classifieds business with bixee.com.

Commenting on the new win, Arshad Nizam, director, Alliance Advertising feels that dotcom companies are the future of consumerism, and hence, it's important to have an edge on the business model. "Ibibo will be a great client to work with since it has various verticals and a clear plan of being the undisputed leader in each one of them," he says.

Sanjay Bhasin, president, Ibibo, says, "Alliance can bring in the creative thought in media planning required for engagement. We needed a partner on board who would be involved with the brand and think beyond regular campaigns."

He is of the opinion that in the current scenario, where there is a lot of fragmentation and clutter, it is important to think of engagement ideas and innovative ways to connect with the audience.

The total value of the business remains undisclosed. An aggressive campaign for goibibo.com has been launched with an association in the India-England cricket series. A similar association is also planned for the upcoming India-West Indies series.

LAVA Mobiles connects with Alliance Advertising for its Media Duties.

A new entrant in the Mobile Handset Business, LAVA Mobile Phones have recently launched various models in the price range of Rs. 2500 to Rs. 5000. This segment is fiercely competitive with brands like Samsung, Nokia, Spice, Micromax and others.

The agency has been roped in to handle entire 360 degree media solutions. The account is pegged at 20 Cr. annually.

"We are very excited to work for this category and will put our best skill and clout with broadcasters and publishing house to deliver brilliant ideas and strategy for LAVA Mobile Phones.” Arshad Nizam - Director Alliance Marketing.

Friday - Jun 19, 2009
Rahul Kapoor - Televisionpoint.com | New Delhi

Following a multi-agency pitch, Subway, the sandwich quick service restaurant (QSR), has appointed Arms Communications and Alliance Advertising as its creative and media partners, respectively. 

Sandeep Shah, member, national advertising board, Subway India, says, "The brief given to agencies was to increased brand sales by about 20 per cent. We aim to spend about Rs 3-4 crore for the year ahead, which will take into account national and regional marketing activities."

The bundling of creative and media duties was a criterion in the pitching process. Madison Creative and Arms made it to the last round on the creative front; Madison Media and Alliance Advertising were pitching for the last round of the media business.

Though a creative agency is new in the roster, Alliance Advertising has been Subway's media partner for almost five years. Though the brand has not been very active on the advertising front as compared to other QSR players, it has been active in print advertising through flyers and other print vehicles.

Subway flagged off its Indian operations beginning with Delhi. Today, it has approximately 145 stores across the country, with the largest markets being Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

As per the latest Ernst & Young report, the contribution of the organised market in the QSR space is less than 3 per cent of the entire Indian eating out market. 

Though there is no competition for the brand Subway in the sandwich QSR space, the brand contends against fast food services such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Domino's.

Advertising has bagged the media duties for KEI cables. The agency won the business following multiple rounds of pitching spread over nearly three months. Zenith Optimedia also participated in the pitching process. Alliance won the business for its strategic planning inputs.

The business is estimated to be worth Rs 5-6 crore. Dentsu is the incumbent on the creative and media duties. It won the business last year when the brand was launched. Currently, Innocean handles the creative duties – it won the business in April this year following a multi-agency pitch against Dentsu and another agency.

Talking to afaqs!, Gaurav Sahi, head, marketing and corporate communications, KEI, says that this is the first time the brand has thought of utilising electronic media as part of its communication plan. Till date, the brand has been advertising in print (specifically trade journals) and outdoor. Outdoor was handled in-house and was limited to Rajasthan and certain cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

KEI, an established player in the power cable segment which has till now been only in the industrial space, is looking at venturing into the home segment. It competes against brands such as Finolex and Havell's. Havell's, compared to the other players, is an avid advertiser in this category.

Arshad Nizam , director, Alliance Advertising, in an official communique, says, “The category so far has been limited to a single player dominating the media. The test is to turn KEI into a significant brand in the media and consumer space. We are looking forward to the task of re-evaluation of the wire and cable space in the consumer mind space.”

© 2008 afaqs!

The pitch process began in July 2008 with five agencies – MPG, ZenithOptimedia, Connext, Dentsu and GroupM company Motivator – vying for the business. In the two rounds, agencies were briefed to deliver media strategy and recommendations for the company's flagship laminate brand Greenlam. The final round was an evaluation of the media planning inputs for the brand by the shortlisted agencies.

Arshad Nizam, director, Alliance Advertising, said, "It is a privilege for us to work with Greenply Industries. We are sure we would be able to provide value in terms of fresh thinking and new ideas in a category that has some strong contenders. We are currently running the campaign for Greenlam, the premium laminate brand from Greenply."

Manish Kakkar, brand manager, Greenlam, said, "Alliance Advertising was our choice as we found that in terms of functioning synergies, we had a lot in common. The agency was extremely meticulous in terms of resource allocation as well as in offering innovative media solutions for the brand."

Greenply has allotted Rs 15 crore for the marketing and advertising of the brand. Television will comprise almost 80 per cent of the entire media pie and 20 per cent will be devoted to print, primarily trade magazines and household and interior design magazines.

The precision-cut lead crystal company's account is estimated to be in the region of Rs4 to Rs5 crore. Austrian Swarovski AG is a global brand name in crystal art objects, candlesticks, jewellery and gifts.

Alliance Advertising's portfolio is comprised of UK-based retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S), Videocon group's retail arm Next, fashion company Guess, Body Shop, and clothing and limited edition fashion accessories store Debenhams.

India is a key market for Swarovski, one where rising disposable incomes is creating phenomenonal demand for the crystal maker's designs as spend on luxury brands increases year on year. Swarovski is going to be looking at a more focused targeting, both in the consumer and corporate segment.

Alliance Advertising's forte is known to be an indepth understanding of the special needs of brands operating in the luxury space. The agency's expertise in handling some of the lifestyle brands that have enjoyed patronage in India for many years, even when they were absent from the Indian market, has stood it in good stead in bagging the Swarovski account.

Industry sources says that the agency successfully managed some luxury brands that were totally new to the consumers in India, taking due care to understand the diverse tasks that were at hand to address the different consumer sets.

Arshad Nizam, director, Alliance Advertising says that the challenge in working with luxury brands is to address each of their needs in a very complex market, where each day more and more premium brands are launched. He said his agency was ''very excited with the prospect of working with Swarovski'' as it gives the agency an opportunity to create fresh landmarks.

Apart from a Rs4 crore on advertising, Swarovski is also looking at events as a brand push. Two new segments in India for Swarovski are the home accessories segment, and the corporate gifting segment.

The events route holds promise for a niche brand like Swarovski, as it would provide a greater assurance of returns in the absence of well-targeted communications to its target markets.

Ad spends of most luxury brands in India have been growing in recent times, with a focus on product advertising in fashion and lifestyle magazines.

Alliance Advertising, the Delhi based media planning and buying agency, has won the media duties for Swarovski, the Austrian brand known for its crystals, jewellery and accessories.

With this win, the agency has taken a step forward in building on a vertical which has been nurtured since 2004. This vertical looks at offering specialised media services to brands in the luxury space and already has Marks and Spencer, Next, Guess, The Body Shop and Debenhams in its kitty. Apart from Swarovski, the other brands have been won over a period of three years, beginning 2005.

 
Arshad Nizam, director, Alliance Advertising, tells afaqs!, "Alliance brings in understanding and expertise in handling the special needs of brands that operate in the luxury space. While some of the lifestyle brands we handle have enjoyed patronage in India for many years, even though they were not retailed in India, there were some which were totally new to the consumers. We took care to understand the diverse tasks that were at hand to address the different consumer sets. It has worked for the brands. The challenge is to address each of their needs in a very complex market, where each day, more and more premium brands are launched. We are very excited at the prospect of working with Swarovski. It gives us the chance to create fresh landmarks."

Swarovski has allotted an approximate sum of Rs 3-4 crore for its advertising. Apart from the usual print advertising that luxury brands take up, Swarovski is also looking at events as a brand push; there are a lot of new things that the brand wishes to experiment with, Nizam says.

Spreading its reach, Swarovski is looking at entering the home accessories segment as well as the corporate arena.

© 2008 afaqs!

The Montres Appella Sarl (makers of Apella Watches) account is worth Rs 50 million. Arshad Nizam, business head of Alliance Advertising, confirmed this development to indiantelevision.com.
 
Appella Sarl is an international watch company based in Geneva. The brand would be launched in India by December 2004 through exclusive stores. The range of watches to be launched is in the premium category and would start at a base cost of Rs 75,000.
 
The watchmaking company, for the first time in India, would be launching its products through exclusive retail showrooms. In the first phase, these showrooms are to be located in the metros, including Delhi, Mumbai and Banaglore. The company is also looking at Chandigarh.

Alliance will also handle the account for all media related activities in Pakistan, Iran and Singapore. At present, the campaigns have begun in Pakistan.
The other account of Flex Industries is worth about Rs 40 million and is for the initial year of launch of a new product.

Alliance has been awarded the complete responsibility of planning and buying. Flex industries is one of the largest packaging companies in India, and would be introducing a new product in the market by the name of zip lock pouches, which is currently being sampled in SEC A and B class towns.

Some of the other clients of Alliance includes alcoholic beverages company Jagatjit Industries, Subway, Surya Roshni bulbs, Kajaria and the Dharampal Staypal Group.