Aircel's creative duties under review

'Change is always good' -- keeping this notion in mind, the telecommunication company Aircel, after three years, is once again on the lookout for a new agency. After establishing itself as a Chennai-based telecommunication brand, it grew to be a national player, and now believes that it's time for the brand to evolve further.

The company has called for a creative pitch that includes agencies such as Dentsu Communications, BBH, BBDO and DDB Mudra. The company has briefed the four agencies to create a model of communication that will transform Aircel from a national brand, to an iconic brand.

The development has been confirmed by a senior official of the company. According to him, the company first briefed the four agencies in the last week of April. The agencies participated in the first round of presentations, which took place last Friday, on May 13, 2011.

The second round is yet to take place.

Currently, Aircel's creative business is handled by Dentsu Communications. The agency bagged the account in 2008 through a pitch, when the company decided to have a pan-India presence. The business was handled by Publicis India before that.

The telecom company made lots of news with some of its campaigns such as 'Save Our Tiger' - a social campaign, and an outdoor campaign called 'Aircel Boat', where in Primesite, Mudra Max's OOH agency installed a life boat on a hoarding in Mumbai to help them cope with rain.

Meanwhile, Dentsu Media, the media agency from the group, handles Aircel's media duties, along with Starcom Worldwide. The company had appointed US Adcom as the out of home (OOH) media partner.

For the record, The Aircel Group was formed in 1994 via an alliance between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia with a 74 per cent equity, and Apollo Hospital Enterprise with the remaining 26 per cent.