Percept's Mash Advertising wins Philips' mobile handset business

Mash Advertising has bagged the creative and strategy account of Philips' mobile handset. The business will be managed out of the agency's Delhi office. The win comes after a multi-agency pitch that took place in the Capital, in which three-four agencies participated. The annual spend on the media for this business is estimated to be more than Rs 15 crore.

Philips made a re-entry into the Indian mobile handset market after eight years, with its Chinese owner launching six models priced under Rs 10,000 in September, 2011. At that point, DDB Mudra worked for the launch campaign of the handset in India.

Amitabha Lahiri, chief executive officer, Mash Advertising, says, "After all, an entire generation in this country has grown up with this brand. The residual brand equity will of course be useful to rekindle a favourable predisposition amongst a much younger target group."

Apparently, the company aims to target a young group as the product is a low-end multimedia phone.

R Mahendran, president and business head, Conplex International, the sole distributor of Philips in India, says, "We saw the differentiated approach from Percept in both strategy and creative. They were truly tailor-made for the respective target groups. That really was the clincher."

Mash is a 360-degree offering of advertising, with a strong support of media, PR, content and experiential marketing. It is a subsidiary of Percept/H. The agency has the participation of the Indian Percept Group and the Japanese Hakuhodo.

For the record, in December 2011, electronics giant Philips appointed Ogilvy & Mather as the lead creative agency on its US$465 million global advertising account. The agency picked up the business following a final shootout against TBWA. DDB, the incumbent on the account, was eliminated at an earlier stage.