Ambience Publicis wins ICICI's global money remittance biz

Ambience Publicis has just won ICICI's global money remittance business account. The new business venture aims to establish ICICI as a serious player in the global money remittance business and not be limited to non-resident Indians sending money back home.

Partha Sinha, executive vice-president & national head of planning, Ambience Publicis, confirmed the development to agencyfaqs!. The campaigns will be extensively using international media, and the agency will be using the international Publicis network for inputs about the international markets.

The short-list and the final selection of agencies happened in two stages. The first pitch happened in early November, while mid-November witnessed the second. Apart from Ambience Publicis, apparently FCB Ulka and O&M were also in the fray.

Sinha said ICICI announced the winner only over the past weekend. "Rarely have I come across a client which is crystal-clear about what it wanted at the very outset. So, all we did was deliver to the brief provided by the client...”, he added.

The success of moneytoindia.com, which is ICICI's vehicle to help NRIs repatriate money to India, has prompted the home-grown financial behemoth to have a go at the global market.The global money remittance business is a part of ICICI's international business division, and the institution has already tied up with a number of foreign banks for this purpose.

The international money remittance business is estimated to have a turnover of $150 billion per year, with Western Union Bank being the numero uno player in this category, followed by US-based Moneygram and others.

Ambience Publicis, says Sinha, will be responsible for finalising the brand name and the brand strategy for the recently launched business. "We have to collate consumer insight across continents and then, devise a strategy to run an international campaign. This is one substantial piece of business that we have won,” he says.

"We shall be obviously looking at NRIs in the US, the UK, and the Gulf countries, but it's the international citizens who will be our prime targets,” he adds. Ambience Publicis will be working for a fee, and not a commission.

"We will be working on a simple premise: Earn the trust of our targeted customers. The pricing will come later,” Sinha said. Details about the country where the service will make its debut are also yet to be decided.

In the recent past, Ambience Publicis has won the corporate business of ICICI, children's entertainment channel Nick, and VIP Industries new brand Carlton.

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