TBWA India sets up Bangalore office; Pankaj Gupta to head the branch

TBWA India is setting up a Bangalore office to service the Standard Chartered Bank account that the agency has recently won. The office will be operational by January 15, 2005. Pankaj Gupta, who has recently joined TBWA India's Delhi branch as general manager, will be relocating to Bangalore as the branch head.

The decision to set up the Bangalore office came soon after TBWA India won the creative duties of Stanchart in a global pitch. Given the sheer volume of the work and the size of the business, which is in the vicinity of Rs 20-25 crore, it was only natural for the agency to set up a fully equipped office. Plus, the bank is headquartered in Bangalore.

After discussing the job details with Stanchart, the agency has put together a 22-member team under Gupta. There will be 12 more people joining the team by end of January, 2005.

Both K George John, chairman and managing director, TBWA India, and Kurien Mathews, director, TBWA India, who were in Kochi for Christmas, are delighted about the Bangalore office. "We are very fortunate to start operations in Bangalore with such a prestigious account. Moreover, winning this account gives TBWA a tremendous presence in the Bangalore market.”

With the Bangalore office set to be operational by next year, TBWA is moving its Apple computers account from Chennai to Bangalore, as it is a Bangalore-based business."Now, we can service the account from Bangalore and do some exciting work on the brand,” says John.

The global pitch for Stanchart, concluded in the first week of November, consolidated the bank's creative business with Omnicom's TBWA Worldwide and its direct-marketing division, TBWATequila.

John credits the well-coordinated efforts of the network that ensured optimum performance during the pitch. "Kudos to the entire network. All the agencies of the TBWA network worked in a seamless manner...”, he says.

Right from the time of the credential presentation to the creative presentation, TBWA India, an important member of the Asia Pacific team, was involved in every stage of pitching process. Before it moved, the Stanchart account was with JWT and Thompson Connect.

Winning the account in a global pitch has boosted the morale of TBWA India manifold. "At the moment, we do not figure in the Top 10 agencies in India, whereas our global network is known for its creative excellence. So we know there is some catching up do. But we are certainly at it. An example of our effort is the Standard Chartered Bank account,” says a happy John.

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