Shapoorji Pallonji Group awards creative duties for its new financial venture to IB&W, Mumbai

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, one of the largest shareholders in Tata Sons, has decided to foray into the financial space with a new company, ACE Richesse India. The creative duties for this company have been allotted to IB&W, Mumbai, while the media duties have gone to IB&W’s sister agency, AK&I.

The overall budget allotted for advertising is estimated to be Rs 3-4 crore. There were three other agencies in the fray, but their names couldn’t be ascertained.

Paresh Rajde, executive director, ACE Richesse India, confirms this development to agencyfaqs!, saying, “ACE Richesse India is looking at expanding its network all over India through the franchising model. We liked IB&W’s presentation, particularly the innovation that they displayed in their strategy. They also highlighted the strong points in our marketing, which can be leveraged fruitfully.”

Mukesh Gupta, chairman and managing director, IB&W, Mumbai, says, “We were associated with the Shapoorji Pallonji Group some years ago, but that association was closed down due to certain reasons. But now, we look forward to working with the group again and I personally believe it is the accountability of the advertising budgets that we showcased in our presentation that won us this business.”

The media mix for the new campaign will involve television, press, outdoor and, possibly, radio, but the budget allocation for each media is still being worked out.

ACE Richesse India will deal in share broking, commodity trading, providing housing loans, mutual funds and distribution of IPOs at the national level. Its main focus will be on institutional businesses, private client services, client fund management and depository services, loans and other financial services.

For the record, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in the country, tied up with Arihant Capital Markets (ACM), a listed brokerage firm, to offer a range of financial and broking services, by forming ACE Richesse India in October 2005.

The company is planning to have more than 200 franchisees across the country by the end of fiscal 2005-06.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has been in the construction industry in India and internationally for more than 135 years. The group has the ISO: 9001: 2000 certification. It has operations in fields such as commercial and residential buildings, infrastructure projects, industrial plants, mechanical works, electrical works and property development.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!