Biswajit Pandey is new Aircell marketing head, North; calls for agency pitch

South India-based cellular operator Aircell, promoted by C Sivasankaran's Sterling Group, has appointed Biswajit Pandey as head, marketing and business development, North. Pandey moves from Dentsu Marcom, where he was general manager on all non-Honda business, that included Sony Ericsson, Canon, Vaatika group and DS foods.

Pandey, who is based in Delhi, however, would not be relocating to Chennai or Tamil Nadu – the two areas Aircell is currently present. He will be working out of the Delhi office, as Aircell now plans to launch its services in 10 regions of North India.

To begin with, Aircell would be targeting some of the areas in the B circle (Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal and Kerala) and the C circle (Assam, North East, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir). In that context, Pandey's mandate is to oversee the launch the Aircell services in the two circles.

An important aspect of launching Aircell's services would be creating appropriate brand awareness. Aircell, which has a strong brand presence in the South, has negligible or no recall in the North. That, coupled with the fact that Airtel and to an extent Hutch have a considerable brand equity in the North, Aircell has an uphill task.

While fine-tuning of launch strategies is underway, the operator is reviewing advertising agencies. Pandey, however, declines to divulge any details on the development, but according to industry sources, Leo Burnett, Contract, Capital and Fountainhead are among the contenders for the estimated Rs 15 crore account. In fact, sources indicate, Leo Burnett is a front-runner for the business.

As agencies await the result with their fingers crossed, Pandey prepares himself for the magnitude of the task. "Ensuring a successful launch of Aircell in these 10 regions is indeed, a challenge. To evoke a strong brand presence for Aircell is one of the primary tasks for us. And, I am looking forward to it,” Pandey says.

The prospects of a better career took Pandey to Aircell. Pandey says, he had a great time at Dentsu Marcom. "In this one year stint at Dentsu Marcom, we pitched hard for business, and I enjoyed every moment of it.”

Before his stint at Dentsu Marcom, Pandey was with Lowe. At Lowe, Pandey worked on Sony Ericsson, Maruti and part of the Joyco business. In fact, the moving out of Sony Ericsson from Lowe to Dentsu, coincided with Pandey's exit.

Pandey 's earlier assignments in the advertising industry include Rediffusion DY&R, J Walter Thompson and McCann-Erickson.

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