McCann wins Belmonte and Lee Cooper

McCann-Erickson has won the creative duties for apparel brands Lee Cooper and Belmonte. While the international brand, Lee Cooper, was won through a multi-agency pitch, the Belmonte win happened after the agency did a mini-assignment on the brand.

For Belmonte, the economy menswear brand from S Kumar’s, McCann-Erickson was asked to produce a television commercial. The result was the ad featuring brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan as a teacher at the ‘Style Academy’.

“Belmonte liked our Style Academy idea, and we have now been fully assigned the creative duties,” says Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, India, and regional creative director, South and Southeast Asia, McCann-Erickson. McCann’s job will now be to take the Style Academy thought forward, using other media vehicles as well. The idea will be to have SRK offering various kinds of tips on style.

Uniformity from Belmonte, a uniform fabric brand, is also part of the win. Belmonte will also be an off-field apparel sponsor for the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL.

Belmonte’s ad spends are pegged at Rs 10 crore, while the corresponding figure for Lee Cooper is Rs 20 25-crore, according to sources.

Lee Cooper, the international brand brought to India by the Future Group, has aggressive plans in the Indian apparel retail space through expansion of its exclusive stores across the country. “It is a coveted dream brand for every creative guy,” Joshi says. In the past, the brand has been hugely associated with the rock era and the Beatles. But not many in India know of Lee Cooper’s heritage.

“While people know the brand in India, they don’t know its history and lineage,” Joshi says. McCann will prepare communication which aims to tackle this and which will resonate with the Indian youth. Whether Lee Cooper will hire a brand ambassador is not known yet.