rmg plays up the David spirit, promises more action in 2005

rmg David has had a pretty eventful 2004. Having won some key accounts in the form of Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines, Cox & Kings, Indigo Hospitality and Bharat Matrimony among others, the agency tried out some innovative methods, sending a definitive message to the industry.

The Davids of “the smallest worldwide agency” pasted their childhood photographs on their business cards and created a website inspired by doodles, with the assistance of the National Institute of Design (NID).

“There is a child in all of us and we are brave enough to acknowledge it,” says Josy Paul, country head and national creative director, rmg David. The year was marked with serious work in keenly contested pitches. At the Singapore Tourism Board pitch, for instance, the agency took on 25 other agencies as reported in agencyfaqs!

“The first few months of the year were hectic and the bulk of our business came in during that period. For the rest of the year, we were networking and consolidating our presence,” says Paul. And that included a first-ever rmg David conference in Goa called, “Abhi tak khatam nahin hua *@#%^!”

With offices in Chennai and Delhi having their own sub-cultures based on the central theme of play, the agency’s staff strength crawled up to 55. “While Mumbai and Chennai offices have been inspired by the concept of a play-school, the Delhi office turns the concept of a boring 40’s factory into a fun and exciting place,” says Paul.

However, the Delhi office, which handles among other things the agency’s LG GSM account, is still waiting for its head. “As our culture and identity becomes more defined, it takes longer to recruit people,” explains Paul. “It takes a different kind of mindset to be a part of our team.” The hunt is on.

Meanwhile, the key people (though the agency is uncomfortable with identifying anyone as ‘key’) in the Mumbai office are COO R Narayanan, Mumbai head Dharmendra Satpathy, and creative director Priya Pardiwalla,. In Delhi, the 'play factory' is looked after by Bhaskar Preenja, account director and Nirmal Pulickal, associate creative director.

In Chennai, Raja Ganapathy is the VP and general manager, while Melvin Jacob is at the helm of the creative. The agency’s outdoor section called rmg blue-sky Outdoor and Activation Cell is headed by Praveen Vadhera.

The year also saw a number of awards and honours coming rmg David’s way.

Besides the much-popular 'nest' campaign for WWF, which went on to win the ABBY, One Show Pencil, Young Guns, London International and other awards, the agency won the Effies People’s Choice award for the 'Lagey Raho' campaign.

The agency’s one-inch book also made it to the Limca Book of Records . But the work that Paul holds closest to his heart is a concept by the Chennai team for the Don Bosco Society. “If you walk into any bookstore in Chennai, you will see an extremely bulky and oversized book titled 'The Burden of the street child and other stories from the streets'. But when you open it, all you find is a brick and a few words on how you can help the street children,” he explains.

“It is a simple and unique campaign and extremely inspiring for all of us,” Paul adds.

Among the most successful campaigns from the agency, Paul rates the Sanjeev Kapoor tandoor television capsule (with Smriti Tulsi Irani) quite high. “We had worked on the complete branding of the show and it went to become a huge success.”

Though the agency refuses to give an idea of the total billings, it claims it is “the fastest growing agency in the WPP group”.

Paul predicts the year 2005 as the year of David, the boy who had challenged the giant Goliath. “Not only will you see some interesting work from our agency, you'll also witness a recognition of the David spirit as both creative and organisational philosophy,” promises Paul. “And, possibly beyond the Indian shores as well.”

The challenge for the 'playful' agency is “how to grow, without growing up!”

© 2005 agencyfaqs!