Ogilvy wins NDTV's e-commerce pitch

In a significant development, NDTV has awarded the creative duties of its much anticipated e-commerce operations to Ogilvy India. The agency's Delhi office will work on this business. The pitch was led by Ogilvy's digital and e-commerce teams.

The mandate is said to include the launch and promotion campaigns of this new venture, across media channels.

The win comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch process that was initiated around February, soon after NDTV's interest in foraying into the e-commerce space (through its subsidiary NDTV Worldwide) was confirmed. Recall that around the same time, news about Rahul Narvekar's (co-founder and director, brand sourcing, FashionAndYou.com) move to NDTV, to help set up this new e-commerce business, was in the air.

It is now confirmed that Narvekar is the CEO at NDTV Ethnic Retail and will head this e-commerce venture in the days ahead. According to reports, the website will offer 'ethnic fashion' items and will target NRIs.

Some of the existing e-commerce brands known for their ethnic offerings targeted at Indians residing overseas include Cbazaar.com, Efello.com, Exclusively.in, HutK.com (currently under maintenance), and several others.

Evidently, substantial competition awaits NDTV's new venture. And now, with one of the most awarded creative agencies on board, expectations from this venture have gone up a notch. It remains to be seen how the agency will help the brand bring this venture alive with its famed creativity.

NDTV's e-commerce venture has been named 'IndianRoots.com'. The soft launch of the site took place earlier this week.