Devina Joshi
Advertising

Lowe, Chennai, bags real estate company, Ozone

The size of the business is around Rs 3-4 crore. The other agencies that took part in the pitch include JWT, TBWA, G3 and Mudra. The media duties are yet to be finalised, but MindShare and Interactions have been short-listed for the job

Lowe, Chennai, has bagged yet another account, the creative duties for the Ozone Group, the South India based, real estate company. The pitch saw JWT, TBWA, G3 and Mudra also in the fray. The media duties are yet to be finalised, but MindShare and Interactions are the two agencies that have been short-listed. A decision is expected in a week’s time.

The media spends are pegged at around Rs 3-4 crore. This is the first time that the Ozone Group has gone in for a national-level ad agency.

Confirming this win to agencyfaqs!, Kevin D’Souza, vice-president and branch head, Lowe, Chennai, says, “It was our combination of cutting edge ideas and strategy which fetched us the business. Although I can’t reveal the exact positioning and campaign details, I can say for sure that this won’t be typical ‘swimming-pool-next-to-a-building’ kind of advertising.” The creatives were made by Lowe’s group creative director, Deepa Geethakrishnan.

Adds Priyanka Jain, manager, PR, marketing and media, Ozone Group, “In the real estate category, one can’t have overtly creative ads. The advertising needs a more strategic input, which is what we got from Lowe. Besides, Lowe has more experience with real estate brands.”

For the record, Lowe already handles real estate brand True Value Homes, but both the agency and the Ozone Group officials say that there is no issue of conflict because the two brands differ in their scale of operations. Ozone is more into establishing townships, both commercial and residential.

The two-year-old Ozone Group, headed by S Vasudevan, recently won a bid for a 43-acre property – worth Rs 350 crore – in a prime residential area of Chennai. This will be advertised by Lowe. It also acquired large chunks of property in Goa and Bangalore recently. The Ozone Group is strong in the Southern market primarily and doesn’t plan to go national any time soon.

The media mix will include television, radio, press and outdoor. The television campaign will use the South-based channels, but will have small scrollers running on the national news channels, too. In addition, the group is exploring the possibilities of sponsoring real-estate shows on the national news channels, which, according to Jain, will bring in more exposure than full-fledged ads on the same channels.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!

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