Neha Kalra
Advertising

Skoda India puts new Fabia variant up for creative pitch

Sources reveal that the company is looking at an ad spend of about Rs 10 crore for the brand

Reliable sources in the industry confirm that Skoda Auto India has invited creative agencies for a pitch for its forthcoming variant of the premium hatchback, Fabia. The new car will be launched in the country next year, probably around the third quarter.

When contacted by afaqs!, Tarun Jha, head - marketing, Skoda India, declined to comment on the development.

Skoda India puts new Fabia variant up for creative pitch
Skoda is considering launching a new variant of the Fabia, so as to leverage the popularity that the brand already enjoys in the market. The new variant would be available in three versions -- petrol, diesel and green-line (eco-friendly). The decision to launch the car could be due to the immense potential of the premium hatchback segment in the Indian market.

Last week, officials at Skoda India circulated a brief amongst a handful of creative agencies for the presentations. The presentations are to begin next week.

Though no confirmation was available on the advertising spends for the new brand, sources peg the account to be in the region of Rs 10 crore.

Mediacom is the media AoR for the company in India, and would continue to handle these duties. Prior to that, Motivator was the media agency; but it now handles Honda Jazz.

Law & Kenneth is currently the sole creative custodian of the Skoda brands in India. It handles the creative duties for all four brands -- Fabia, Octavia, Laura and Superb. The business was aligned with the agency in 2007, when a pitch for was called for the Fabia.

The creative duties for some of the Skoda brands were also handled by iB&W earlier; but these went to Law & Kenneth as a result of the aforementioned alignment.

For the record, Skoda entered the Indian premium car market in 2001 and set up a plant at Shendra, on the outskirts of Aurangabad. This is the company's only manufacturing facility outside Europe.

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