Everest ‘moves’ with its communication

Announcing office movements with exclusive communication seems to be the new ad fad. Everest is the next to join the bandwagon

Everest Brand Solutions is moving, and it has created a ‘moving’ communication to tell people about it. The communication, physically delivered to all of Everest’s clients and business associates, is in the form of a slim booklet, titled Moving Stories in Advertising.

Making a campaign out of shifting office seems to be the latest ad fad. Recently, when O&M shifted its office to new, larger premises, it had creative communication delivered to all its clients and business associates. Everest Brand Solutions has also communicated the news of it shifting office in a unique manner with Moving Stories in Advertising. Made of recycled paper, riveted at one end, and with a manuscript like appearance, each of the five pages in the book has a moving story that could have occurred in the ad world.

One of the stories is that of a copy trainee, who, while preparing the group head’s quarterly reel, learns that two of the commercials on the reel were written by him. The trainee was not aware that the reels had been shot. Later, on awards night, the ad that no one knew he had written wins. The group head, while collecting the award, calls the copy trainee and acknowledges his role. The awestruck copy trainee is reduced to tears. There is applause from the audience. What a moving story!

Four such stories are part of the communication.

The final story is about a regular Monday meeting at an ad agency. The agency head asks the staff if they’d like to move to a place larger than the one they are in. He describes a place which has a cafeteria, a gym, a games room and hold on… even a bar! The jaws of the staff drop – they cannot believe what they’re hearing. The employees, and those who read the story, are moved.

All the stories in the communication are fictional, except the last one. The agency featured in the last story is Everest Brand Solutions, and it is moving to a place that has all the amenities the agency head described.

D Rajappa, president, Everest Brand Solutions, says, “When you’re in advertising there are a lot of things that you wish would happen, but they never really do. The shift into larger premises with better amenities is a reality.”

The other stories are instances of all the things that happen in an agency, but go kaput at the last minute. The copy trainee isn’t always acknowledged, the account supervisor’s holiday is never extended.

“It was a good opportunity to pun on the word ‘moving’ and make everyone smile,” says N Padmakumar, national creative director, Everest Brand Solutions. Padmakumar was responsible for the concept and copy, while Devesh Desai did the art.

From Kalpataru, Santacruz, Everest is moving to Collar Pack House, Andheri. “Since we have grown so much, we needed a larger place to accommodate all of us for now and for the future,” says Rajappa.

There has been no other external communication other than the booklet, which was also sent out in pdf format. Internally, the staff clicked loads of pictures of the old office to keep memories alive.