Fountainhead wins Rs 40-crore worth of new business

Chennai-based Fountainhead, which has positioned itself as "the challenger agency for challenger brands", has won new business worth Rs 40 crore in the last few months. Alongside it has launched a new outfit Minte Consultancy, which according to Suresh Pillai, managing director, "will completely focus on brands originating from the deep south".

Pillai told agencyfaqs!, "The response from marketers of regional brands have been so overwhelming that we started Minte Consultancy. It will be based in Coimbatore and headed by Sankara Subramanian."

The new outfit will handle locally relevant bands such as Chakola range (a popular fairness cream brand of Kerala), Power Detergents (Pondicherry-based company which also services Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh), Jansons (business school in Coimbatore), Dora Garments (a popular innerwear brand of Tamil Nadu), Goodluck Mosquito coils (Coimbatore), Point Pumps and Point Wet Grinders (Coimbatore) and Adlux range of durables (a Kerala brand for TV sets, music systems and home theatre that is being rolled out in other states). Interestingly, all these brands are getting ready for a major push in distribution and spread.

Meanwhile, mother agency, Fountainhead started the new year with some handsome wins including three new confectionary brands from Nutrine (Melters butterscotch candy, mint-toffee MMMint, a first of its kind in India, while the third still at blueprint stage),

five liquor brands from Chennai-based Empee Distilleries (the flagship company of the Rs 600-crore Empee group), Aban Chai (a Tamil Nadu brand) and other businesses from Aban Lloyd Group (working on formulation stage), Eastern range of masalas (brand leaders in Kerala, which has just entered Tamil Nadu) and Chemfab Alkalis (Team Aqua water purifier and Sparkle floor cleaner). The agency has recently won the entire range of Velvette, Nivaran (cough syrup) and Memory Plus (memory enhancer capsules) brands from Velvette International.

"These accounts have been won in the last few months on the basis of our remarkable track record in building brands," said Raj Narain, branch director, Chennai, Fountainhead. He added, "Marketers have been approaching us to script success stories such as Fairever, Nyle, Ramco cement, Aircel, DSL Dishnet for their brands,"

With all the new businesses in it kitty, the agency hopes to touch a billing figure of Rs 60 crores in the current financial year. © 2003 agencyfaqs!