Cheil no more just Samsung's in-house agency; bags creative duties for IndiaCan

After three years of monogamy, Cheil Worldwide has begun pitching for businesses outside of the electronics and consumer durables maker, Samsung

Samsung-owned Cheil Worldwide has won its first account after three years of servicing only Samsung and the brands under it. This is the first time in three years that Cheil has pitched for a business outside of the Samsung umbrella.

Cheil has been awarded the creative duties for IndiaCan, a 50:50 joint venture between Educomp Solutions and Pearson Education. The objective of setting up IndiaCan is to create a bridge between employment opportunities and the skill and knowledge base of the youth in the country, through capacity building and multi-dimensional skilling. This would help the youth to obtain sustainable employment opportunities in rapidly developing economies.

This is the first time that IndiaCan, a new entity, has brought on an agency to create its communication. The size of the account is estimated to be in the vicinity of Rs 8-10 crore; and Cheil will be responsible for the ATL and BTL communication.

IndiaCan had invited several agencies for a pitch; the brief was to come up with a two-year plan to build the brand.

"We liked Cheil's body of work, and their ability to deliver ATL, BTL and online activities. We see them as a key stakeholder as we build our business; and we look forward to a long and mutually rewarding partnership," says Vinay Sharma, marketing head for IndiaCan.

Cheil was first set up in India in 1997 as a liaison office, and did some of the work for Samsung. In 2003-2005, Cheil began pitching for Samsung brands one by one, and eventually, won all of them. Cheil also worked on the creative mandate for Hyundai in 2005 for about a year, before it went back to working only on Samsung and its brands.

When asked why Samsung's in-house agency has stepped out of the shadow of the electronics brand, Prathap Suthan, national creative director, Cheil Worldwide, says "We are now better equipped to handle businesses outside of Samsung."

Alok Aggarwal, chief operating officer of Cheil Worldwide, points out that with the experience gathered while working on Samsung brands, Cheil will now begin to accumulate a different set of learnings when working with other clients.