Incredible India account up for review

The ministry of tourism’s Incredible India account is under review. It is learnt that initially, as many as 18 agencies participated in pitching for the business. But out of these, six agencies have been short-listed now for the final presentations.

agencyfaqs! could ascertain the names of five of the short-listed agencies. They are Grey Worldwide, O&M, F. S. Advertising, RK Swamy/BBDO and Ashok Creative (the in-house creative wing of the India Tourism Development Corporation, ITDC). It is learnt that the sixth agency in the fray is one of the Lintas Group agencies.

According to sources close to the development, each of the short-listed agencies has been asked to present separate ideas for both the domestic and international campaigns. In total, each of the finalist agencies has been asked to present 17 campaigns – 13 for promoting individual tourist destinations in different states of India for domestic tourists, and another set of four campaigns for international tourists.

The size of the business is estimated to be more than Rs 100 crore, out of which the spends on the international campaigns will be around Rs 80 crore.

Last year, the ministry of tourism had run only outdoor and print campaigns for international tourism, but this year, it is learnt that television will also be part of the international media plan.

Grey Worldwide, one of the agencies in the fray for the business, handled the Incredible India international campaigns last year. Recently, Grey’s work on Incredible India was short-listed as a finalist for the EACA Euro Effies.

A decision on the pitch is expected soon with the next round of presentations slated for later this week. The ministry of tourism generally appoints separate agencies for its domestic and international campaigns and that is likely to remain the pattern this year, too.

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