Tata Teleservices creative mandate up for review

The creative duties for Tata Indicom, Tata Teleservices' CDMA business, are up for a review and industry sources say that Contract Advertising, DraftFCB Ulka and McCann Erickson are in the race to win the mandate.

Contract has been handling brand Tata Indicom for about two years after being brought on board in 2008. DraftFCB Ulka also handles a part of the Tata Teleservices business, that is, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd. (TTML) in Maharashtra. The agency also looks after Tata's GSM business, Tata Docomo, which was launched in 2009.

While McCann could not be reached for comments, the other two agencies chose not to comment on the development as yet. Even officials at Tata Teleservices were tight lipped on the development.

For the record, McCann, too, has had worked on the account before when it won the duties in 2005. Later, in 2007, the business was consolidated with DraftFCB Ulka, while McCann was retained for project work as and when required. Slowly, the business eased out of McCann, with the duties being split between Contract and DraftFCB Ulka in 2008.

The brand has also witnessed significant changes in positioning as it moved from one agency to the other. McCann created the premise of 'Do More. Live More', while DraftFCB Ulka adopted a more tactical strategy with the 'Switch to Tata Indicom and experience the difference' ads. The positioning then took a turn towards an emotional route with the 'Suno Dil Ki Awaz (Listen to your heart)' tagline with Contract.

In 2009, Contract Advertising created a much talked about campaign centred on the concept of Suno Dil Ki Awaz with reference to the digital clarity of Tata Indicom. Earlier, the agency was also responsible for the 'Hello Hello' campaign, which, on a humorous note, conveyed the same message of the service provider's network prowess.