Archies on aggressive brand revamp with The Hive

Ritujoy Chakraborty

agencyfaqs!

NEW DELHI, August 09

Archies Greetings and Gifts Ltd (AG&G) is aggressively working on a new image for itself. For the purpose, it has shifted its advertising and communication account from now-defunct agency R. Kanga to new-kid-on-the-block, The Hive.

With the support of its new agency, AG&G has released a series of 12 television commercials over the last one-and-a-half months. Of this television campaign, six TVCs will be devoted to Archies Perfumz to promote its newly launched range under the brandname Boyz and Galz. By end-August, a large number of print ads will invade business publications and coffee-table magazines across the country to showcase all the AG&G product offerings.

Talking about the strategy overhaul at the Rs 70-crore company, Vineet Kumar Kapila, chief officer marketing & alliances, archiesonline.com says, "All our efforts currently are aimed at repositioning the company as a complete gifts and greetings entity. To start with, we have changed the baseline for our cards business from ‘Archies, the most special way to say you care' to ‘The magic of an Archies card'."

Apart from this, the company has gone online and has tied up with Yahoo to design e-cards. On Tuesday, it announced the launch of a new range of greeting cards and related products in association with HelpAge India. "With the market opening up and with the entry of new players, we are looking to establish the Archies brand as a cut above the rest in the minds of the consumer, specially the teenager," says Kapila.

Kapila's urgency is understandable. In the initial days, the task before the company was more in the nature of market creation. "We singlehandedly pioneered, established and promoted a Western concept of exchanging cards on special occasions and events in India," points out Kapila. That explains the big investments that AG&G was making in creating and marketing occasions.

After two decades of existence the company owns about 50 per cent of the Rs 150 crore organized greetings card market. Another Rs 150 crore comprises the unorganised sector players who've cashed in on the hype created by AG&G. "With a rash of new brands invading the market, the task is to strengthen the Archies brandname, and broadbase the market through new launches and associations."

With a targeted turnover of Rs 84-crore by the end of this fiscal, the company is investing Rs 4.5 crore in advertising and promotions, both top and below the line.

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