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TBWA: The Big Worli Agency
After spending nine years in the earlier office, TBWA moves to a swanky premise at Worli. This office will house all of TBWA’s arms and more on one level
The trend seems to have made a comeback. Last year, at about the same time, O&M shifted its office premises from Kamala Mills to Goregaon. Soon after, Everest Brand Solutions, too, shifted office to Andheri.
These agencies did so with much fanfare and even wove a certain communication around the shifting to inform their clients and the others about it. O&M created a film (an adaptation from its earlier Fevicol TVC) and outdoor in the form of awards that the agency had won was placed from its old Lower Parel office all the way to Goregaon.
Everest created a small booklet with short stories that built up and finally announced the agency office moving from Santacruz to Andheri.
Rediffusion Y&R, too, moved office a while ago and now TBWAIndia adds to that list.
About ten days ago, we received a package, which to our astonishment had wooden shavings, scratched CD’s, bottle caps, matchboxes and other such items of no apparent use. On the scratched CD was a sticker that invited us to the new TBWA India office in Worli. The theme being, ‘We don’t need this. But we need you.’
Apart from this, no other communication was carried out as the agency didn’t really want to spend too much on outdoor or posters, but make it a more direct piece of communication.
All arms of TBWAIndia, which includes Tequila (the direct marketing arm) and Brodeur (the PR arm), will be stepping into the new office in Worli today. afaqs! spoke to Shiv Sethuraman, chief executive officer, TBWA India. Explaining the shift, he says, “We’ve grown in the number of people that are present - which is why we needed a new place.”
Sethuraman adds that TBWA needed a proper flagship office in Mumbai where all of the work and units were integrated.
At the earlier TBWA office in Bandra-Kurla Complex, the separate arms of TBWA and the agency weren’t on the same floor. At the new office, all three arms will be on the same floor. “Also, a wall-less structure is what we were looking at, to bring about better integration and have everyone working at one level,” shares Sethuraman.
The office has been chosen with a five year perspective. This also includes TBWA’s plans to introduce the other specialist arms such as Integer and agency.com, which haven’t been introduced in India yet. “There is room for more people,” Sethuraman says.
To mark the enthusiasm, a huge poster has been put up on the wall, with different takes on what TBWA stands for - one take being The Big Worli Agency.
TBWA spent about nine years in the earlier office and though there is a certain amount of nostalgia about the place, it is equally excited about moving to a newer place.