Mudra enters into Emami stable; wins Himani Navratna

Following a multi-agency pitch, Emami Group's brand Himani Navratna has fallen into Mudra's kitty

Mudra Communications has entered the Emami fort, in which Ambience Publicis had a strong hold. The agency has bagged its first business from the Emami stable – Himani Navratna Oil and Talc.

This business was won following a multi agency pitch, which was called in September. JWT, Dentsu Communications, Law & Kenneth, and Saatchi & Saatchi were in the fray for this business.

The Himani Navratna business was earlier handled by Ambience Publicis. The development has been confirmed by Probal Bhattacharya, assistant general manager, Emami Group.

Says Bhattacharya, “Navratna is a flagship brand and despite its Rs 200 crore annual turnover, we have deep faith in its growth. We have set a target to double the brands turnover in two years. The agencies during the pitch were thus briefed to come up with a creative and a strategic presentation.”

Launched in 1991, Himani Navratna oil is an Ayurvedic formulation. From the beginning it has been positioned as a cool oil meant to relieve stress. The brand in the past has made use of multiple brand ambassadors to target different category of people. For instance, it has used Amitabh Bachchan to reach out to a global audience, while Sourav Ganguly was used to target the youth and cricket lovers. Besides, Govinda has been used to reach out to the masses. Even regional TG has been wooed by using Chiranjeevi to reach out to consumers of South. Also, Shahrukh Khan is known to have endorsed the brand.

The advertising spends for Himani Navratna is pegged upwards Rs 20 crore.

Says Sanjay Sharma, executive vice-president, Mudra, Delhi, “This is a very prestigious win for us and being part of the Emami club agencies is a matter of great pride." We hope to contribute to Emami's ambitious growth plans moving forward.

Sharma adds, "In order to grow the brand, we recommended that Navratna Oil be positioned as a part of everyday life which is full of daily ups and downs, stresses and strains. Oil is a key category in the Emami portfolio and one that has shown a robust CAGR of around 25 per cent over the last three years. The challenge as also the opportunity is to build on this growth. Essentially, our mandate is to make a success story an even bigger success story ."

The new Navratna Oil campaign is scheduled to break in early March 2008.