MUMBAI: R K Swamy BBDO has added Rs 1 billion worth of new business to its kitty in the first half of 2005.
The new client roster includes brands like Indian Airlines, India Tourism, IndusInd Bank, Videocon Home Appliances, Cognizant Technologies, Get It Yellow Pages and Mars Chocolates.
The agency is also expecting new business to flow from empanelment by State Bank of India, ONGC and Canara Bank.
Another growth area for the agency will be the national HIV communications project from Unicef / NACO, the new social and rural marketing communications for Hindustan Latex and the state level HIV communication programme in Andhra Pradesh for HLFPT.
The agency’s New Delhi office has been a major gainer from some of these wins. R K Swamy BBDO executive director Delhi Ajit Shah says, “These gains should help us get to the front ranks in the Delhi market. We have emerged as a major force in both Social and Rural Communications and in the general advertising space.”
The re-launched media wing of the agency, Media Direction has also made significant gains winning the media business of SBI Mutual Fund and Witco.
According to the agency’s executive vice president Sangeetha Shetty, almost all the business gains have been won against stiff competition from many leading agencies. “The most gratifying aspect is that we have won in virtually every major pitch, save a couple,” she says.
Spotting the need and opportunity in the total marketing services area, the R K Swamy Group has geared up to offer end to end solutions for clients.
“In addition to corporate and marketing communications under R K Swamy BBDO, we provide a range of marketing services under the Hansa Brand,” says R K Swamy BBDO chief executive officer Srinivasan Swamy.
Market research services is offered by Hansa Research, which has emerged as a major player in both syndicated and custom research. Hansa MedCell, was one of the first to enter the technical support communications and brand consultancy for healthcare companies and today, works with many local and MNC pharma companies in India.
Hansa MedCell has won a few major overseas assignments as well. Hansa OutSell is the specialist out-of-home division and this division has already clocked Rs 250 million business in outdoor solutions in the first 10 months of its operations. Hansa Consultancy, just three months old, has won brand consultancy assignments for more than Rs 10 million.
Other Hansa offerings include, Hansa Events & Exhibitions, Hansa Retail Identity, Hansa InfoSource and Hansa LoginAds. These services have been built on the back of Hansa’s pioneering work in the area of TV programme production.
“In R K Swamy BBDO itself, we have five key divisions: Media Direction, Social and Rural Communications Group, Proximity India specialising in CRM, Human Resources Services Group and the Pharma Services Group. All our initiatives have taken root and we are amongst the very few marketing communication companies with such a comprehensive array of services,” says Swamy.
The agency is poised to make further business additions in 2005.
“We have been short listed in quite a few major pitches and we are well on our way to winning at least Rs 500 million worth of new business in the next few months,” adds Swamy.