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Rediffusion it is for Simplifly Deccan

The size of the business is pegged to be around Rs 40 crore. Equus Red Cell continues to handle the creative duties for Kingfisher Airlines

The UB Group owned Simplifly Deccan has delivered the verdict on its creative duties. Rediffusion DY&R will handle the account now. afaqs! had said as much in an earlier report. The size of the business is pegged to be upwards of Rs 40 crore.

The creative duties for Kingfisher Airlines continue to remain with Equus Red Cell. Media is handled by GroupM.

In 2007, the Vijay Mallya owned Kingfisher Airlines bought majority stake in the Captain Gopinath owned Air Deccan. The two airlines continued to function on the same premise as before, with Kingfisher being a premium airline and Deccan, a low cost, no frills airline. The Deccan logo, font and colours were changed to match those of Kingfisher and the airline was renamed Simplifly Deccan. After the acquisition, the Deccan account moved to Mumbai.

Rediffusion it is for Simplifly Deccan
“With the reinvention of the brand with new vitality and fresh thinking, it was necessary to bring on someone who understood that and shared that with the brand,” says Vikram Malhotra, general manager, marketing, Kingfisher Airlines.
Rediffusion it is for Simplifly Deccan
Vikram Malhotra
Rediffusion DY&R handles various other businesses of the UB Group, including the Indian Premier League and Force One. “This swayed the balance towards Rediffusion DY&R and it was a fairly obvious choice,” adds Malhotra.

Since its inception in 2003, Deccan (then Air Deccan) was handled by the Bangalore based agency, Orchard. Orchard was responsible for the first ad that was created for Air Deccan, Old Man and the Sky, which was one of the longest ad films and won many awards. Later, when the airline was rebranded as Simplifly Deccan, Orchard created the next campaign of change, highlighting all the features of the no-frills airline.

There wasn’t a formal pitch, but Rediffusion made presentations to the airline. Orchard wasn’t aware of the review initially.

When asked whether Deccan would be renamed after the merger is complete, Vikram says, “All I will say now is that Deccan is going to be a value based airline and we’re evaluating the best way to go about that.” The merger is still under review by the Karnataka government.

“We haven’t decided upon a communication yet, but it will be dynamic, keeping Kingfisher in mind,” says Nisha Singhania, executive vice-president, Rediffusion DY&R.

Orchard continues to retain the creative duties for Deccan Aviation, which includes the helicopter service and the SkyLimo facilities.

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