Contract wins Rs 5-6 crore creative account of Cream Bell

Subsequent to a multi-agency pitch, Universal Dairy Products (UDP) has awarded the Rs 5-6 crore creative duties of its ice-cream brand Cream Bell to Contract Advertising, Delhi. While the names of all the outfits that pitched for the business are not available, industry sources indicate that TBWAIndia and Mudra Communications were among those invited to make presentations. The creative account moves from RKSwamy/BBDO; the media duties, though, continue to be with Carat.

UDP is part of the Rs 1,200-crore Jaipuria Group of companies that owns about 60 per cent of the Pepsi Cola bottling business in India, and the whole of it in Nepal. The Group is also the franchisee of pizza chain, Pizza Hut. UDP, a relatively new entrant in the ice-cream business, has launched Cream Bell in over two dozen cities and towns across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In 2003, the brand began being retailed in the NCR region and parts of south Delhi. Now, however, the company is preparing to take on the biggies in the Delhi market. While it will be a challenge for Cream Bell to eke out a space for itself in the ongoing turf wars between Kwality Walls (of Hindustan Lever), Mother Dairy and Amul, UDP is confident that its product and competitive pricing will work favourably for the company.

For the newly-appointed agency, the task is to "establish a new entrant in a highly competitive market", says Pankaj Mridul, senior vice-president, Contract Advertising. And the fact that India's per capita consumption of ice-cream is the lowest in the world clearly demonstrates that the market is just waiting to be tapped. In this context, in addition to a sound retail strategy, clearly differentiated communication can create consumer demand. Now what that communication strategy would be, Mridul isn't telling. "We will be lending a fresh perspective to the communication, a completely different way of looking at ice-cream communication," is all he promises at this stage. © 2004 agencyfaqs!