Dentsu Marcom wins Mauritius-based Emtel's 3G mobile network biz

Dentsu Marcom has just picked a piece of business from Mauritius-based cellular operator Emtel. The business pertains to Emtel entering into a creative partnership with Dentsu Marcom for its yet to-be-launched 3G network.

Emtel, the first company to launch cellular operations in Mauritius, is a joint venture between Currimjee Jeewanjee, one of the foremost groups in Mauritius, and Millicom International Cellular (MIC) S.A. Millicom is based in Luxembourg and have 23 operations in 21 countries.

The win comes close on the heels of Dentsu Marcom bagging the Catch Spices and PassPass business from the DS Group, which happened last week.

For the uninitiated, 3G or the third-generation wireless refers to near future developments in personal and business wireless technology, especially relating to mobile communications. 3G will usher in many benefits as roaming capability, broad band and high speed communication (upwards of 2Mbps).

The interesting part is that Emtel, which has no presence in India, has appointed an Indian agency to execute the communication for its new venture in Mauritius.

Rajesh Aggarwal, COO, Dentsu Marcom, explained that the business came to the agency on the basis of a creative and strategy presentation that it made to the company.

The agency is, of course, quite excited about the multinational project. While the account, in terms of capitalised business, is a modest sum, the project serves as a tremendous opportunity to establish the agency's creative credentials overseas. Then, there's the issue of future business prospects that such an alliance ensures. "This opens up another market for the agency. And, this is Dentsu Marcom's first overseas account," Aggarwal said.

An important implication of this win is that it gives Dentsu Marcom an edge in terms of working on a technology that is yet to be launched in India. "No agency in India has the experience of launching 3G. It is a technology that Indian operators would be launching in the near future. I see that as a good opportunity for us," Aggarwal says.

Executives on the account have been shuttling between India and Mauritius to service the client. The communication approach is going to straddle corporate identity, below-the-line and main-line advertising. "We have been entrusted with the task of creating the brand identity and launching 3G in Mauritius. To that end, the communication has to be pervasive."

Since this is going to be the agency's maiden international account, Marcom in collaboration with Emtel has conducted a consumer research to understand the expectations and behavioural pattern of a Mauritius consumer. "We had gone to Mauritius, and in tandem with the client, collated data on the Mauritius consumer based on research conducted. And those learnings are going to be the starting point of the ideation," said Aggarwal.

Aggarwal added, "What is going to stand us in good stead is our experience with Airtel. Gullu Sen (Dentsu Communications as executive vice-president and national creative director), Sandeep Goyal (chairman, Dentsu Communications and Dentsu Marcom) and I have worked very closely on that brand." The understanding of the telecommunication category, Aggarwal pointed out, puts the agency in an advantageous position.

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