Sumita Vaid
Marketing

Wunderman to launch DM blitz for Jet, STAR DTH

The agency sees these accounts as great opportunity to practice some novel concepts in direct marketing

Wunderman, part of the global Y&R network and the leading direct marketing company in the world, is quite excited about its recent account wins.

Some of the prestigious names include Jet Airways, Tata AIG's Auto Insurance, STAR TV's DTH venture - Space TV and EMC, an international data storage company.

The size of the business is definitely substantial, but that's not what excites the Wunderman CEO Rajat Sethi. "We see these accounts as a great opportunity to practice some novel concepts in direct marketing - commonly known as DM."

While Jet Airways and Tata AIG were won in a multi-agency situation, STAR's Space TV account was jointly won by Wunderman and the creative agency Rediffusion DY&R. For EMC, the company had made a direct pitch.

For each of the businesses, the task is to plan and execute its entire direct communication. "With Jet Airways, our focus is going to be on the Jet privileges loyalty programmes. For Space TV, customer relationship management (or, CRM) is what will drive our direct marketing," Sethi says.

The media mix will comprise Internet, e-mail marketing and CRM programmes.

When quizzed whether mobile phone marketing would be a part of the media plan, Sethi answered in the negative. "The next big thing in direct marketing is definitely going to be mobile marketing. But not now. Next year, mobile marketing will, perhaps, grow at an accelerated pace."

"At the moment, we are in talks with cellular companies to explore possibilities for mobile phone marketing," he adds. Internationally, mobile phone marketing is already an active form of direct marketing. In fact, the current rage abroad is around Direct Response TV. But Sethi says, interactive TV is still a distant reality for marketers in India.

While one would have to wait a bit to witness the boom in mobile phone marketing, there is a clear indication that the traditional boundaries between advertising in mainline media and below-the-line are blurring. "Today the approach is media neutral. Therefore anything that helps in establishing communication or a dialogue with the consumer becomes an important media vehicle. Now, the thrust is basically on using the right kind of medium at the time and the right place, irrespective of whether it's print, TV or direct marketing," Sethi concludes. © 2004 agencyfaqs!

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