Non-traditional media is the new mantra for Ogilvy, Bangalore

O&M Bangalore is on cloud nine these days. After its wins at the Abby Awards, it seems that unconventional advertising will be the new mantra for the agency.

Of the 20 golds, 47 silvers and two Grand Prix awards the agency won at the Abbys this year, seven – and some of the top ones at that – belong to O&M, Bangalore for its unconventional work, chief amongst which was its Hutch Rangashankara Festival campaign. That campaign went on to fetch the Bangalore office four metals: the Grand Prix gold in the Campaign category, a gold for the Integrated Campaign of the Year (an achievement for any agency’s branch office after over a decade), a gold in the Ambient category (Cubbon Park) and a Silver in the same category (Caesar’s Restaurant).

O&M Bangalore won a gold for Lenovo in the Direct Mail category, and two silvers for Titan (Scribbles) and Kathalaya (Rapunzel is Back), respectively, in the Outdoor category.

The Hutch Rangashankara Festival campaign had Hutch and O&M planting theatre actors at popular public places in Bangalore – restaurants, malls, cafés, traffic signals and parks. The actors blended in with the crowds before starting their acts, which were both in English and Kannada. They would create a scene, attracting the attention of onlookers. Once everyone was glued to the drama, someone from the Hutch team walked around with a placard that read, ‘For more drama, come to Rangashankara’. Another volunteer strolled around, distributing leaflets that carried the schedule of the theatre festival. The histrionics, more often than not, met with applause. All of this was caught on candid camera, and planted at various spots with permission from the requisite authorities.

O&M Bangalore’s thrust towards the unconventional took on a different spin when Mehra, along with creative director Amit Akali, were made to shift base from Mumbai to Bangalore, after the unfortunate demise of the agency’s star creative man in the South, V Mahesh. His creative partner, Rajiv Rao, subsequently shifted base to Mumbai.

“It was very tough, taking over from the legacy Mahesh and Rajiv left at O&M Bangalore,” says Akali. “But as the talent already exists here, we worked towards harnessing it further, and motivating the team.”

It was consciously decided that the agency needed to work on the use of experiential, result-oriented media, as opposed to just the typical press or film ads. Campaigns such as Kathalaya, Rusty (for Rohan Builders) and the Hutch festival were rolled out in the latter half of 2006.

Some other non-traditional work on ITC Foods’ Bingo, Worldspace Satellite Radio and Titan can be expected from O&M Bangalore in the near future.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!