ICFP awards creative duties to Brand Curry

The company is planning a marketing spend of Rs 3-4 crore this year, as compared to last year’s Rs 1-1.5 crore

The International College of Financial Planning (ICFP), promoted by the Bajaj Capital Group, specialises in providing financial services education. The advertising duties for the ICFP have been awarded to Brand Curry after a multi-agency pitch.

Madison handled the creative and media duties for the brand till 2006. The creative was handled in-house after that, and a local media agency appointed for releases. The company is planning a marketing spend of around Rs 3-4 crore this year, as compared to Rs 1-1.5 crore last year.

Ashish Sood, senior vice-president, Brand Curry, says, “The need for communication for the ICFP is to make it a preferred choice amongst all defined target groups, and that is what we shall attempt to achieve.”

Anish Wig

In the brief given to the creative agency, the ICFP said it wanted to be positioned as a premier institute in the field of education for financial planning, competing against the likes of the International School for Business in Hyderabad, though not on the same level. Anish Wig, director and chief executive officer, ICFP, says the institute is a well-known brand amongst recruiters and several placements take place from their campus. Established in 2002, the ICFP has a market share of 90 per cent in the area of certified financial planning, and there are very few players in the education sector that offer similar courses.

Talking about bringing Brand Curry on board, Wig says, “We were looking for an agency that had some experience in the educational space and fresh ideas to offer us. The agency’s youth oriented perspective of communicating the brand on a B2C (to students and parents of young boys and girls who are seeking a career in financial planning/MBA training) and B2B (all kinds of financial institutions) level was good.”

The communication will target those aged between 18 and 24 years, and SEC A households in the cities where the institute has a presence, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Wig reveals that they are looking at a new acquisition as well as at launching new products.

The ICFP is looking at print advertising in the education supplements of newspapers such as The Times of India and Hindustan Times, magazines such as BusinessWorld, and business school magazines. College activities and Internet advertising will also be considered.

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