Devina Joshi
Advertising

Reliance Textiles to get back into reckoning; on the look-out for an ad agency

Vimal, the once heavily advertised brand of Reliance Textiles, is all set to get going as far as advertising goes. Reliance Textiles is in talks with several agencies for Vimal and, according to industry sources, the ad spend will be in the region of Rs 40 crore

Reliance Textiles Industries, a part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, is looking for a creative agency to handle its sole apparel brand, Vimal. According to informed industry sources, the size of the business is close to Rs 40 crore. The sources also told agencyfaqs! that around five or six agencies are already in the run for the business, including Publicis India and Rediffusion DY&R.

The media AOR for Reliance Industries is Vibrant. When agencyfaqs! contacted Nikhil Dave, director, Vibrant, to confirm the development, he refused to comment on it. The executives at Reliance Textiles Industries weren’t ready to comment either.

For the record, Vimal comprises a range of suitings, shirtings and saris. It was heavily advertised in the 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1980s, Jaya Prada and Sridevi were the early endorsers of its sari range, while Kabir Bedi, Deepak Malhotra, Milind Soman, Ravi Shastri and Allan Border used to endorse the menswear range. Back in those days, the brand was handled by Mudra. In fact, Vimal was the business acquired by Mudra and it was one of the brands closest to the heart of AG Krishnamurthy, former chairman and managing director, Mudra Communications. The tag line, ‘Only Vimal’, was conceived by Mudra.

However, 1998 onwards, the brand receded into the background, although the product was very much in the market. It is learnt that Vimal will now aggressively advertise itself on a scale that it hasn’t ever before. ‘Only Vimal’ is all set to make a comeback.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!

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