Biprorshee Das
Advertising

The Republic wins creative duties for Welspun Retail

The business was won in a multi-agency pitch; the incumbent agency is McCann Erickson

Welspun Retail has awarded its creative mandate to The Republic after a multi-agency pitch. The account was earlier with McCann Erickson.

The Republic will handle creative duties for the brands of Welspun Retail, namely Welhome and Spaces Home & Beyond. While Welhome is a value-for-money brand; Spaces Home & Beyond is a premium brand.

Welspun Retail is India's largest chain of home décor. The company operates more than 200 stores across 110 cities, offering a range of products in bed, bath, kitchen, dining and living furnishing segments.

On the development, Rajiv Handa, director and chief executive officer, Welspun Retail says, "I believe The Republic will make tremendous impact in our strategies and give a fillip to build up the brands. There are huge opportunities to be explored in retail, and specially, the home décor segment that we are into."

"We chose The Republic, considering their deep understanding of the consumers and creative insights," he adds.

The company is looking to build strong brands in the category that will occupy top-of-mind recall. It also intends to drive growth in the branded home linen category.

The Republic wins creative duties for Welspun Retail
On the win, Maia Katrak, head, The Republic says, "Winning the account takes us into the immediate and challenging environment of retail. We believe our skills in design and our ear-to-the-ground approach equip us to make a success of both brands."

Katrak tells afaqs! that retail was a new space for the agency. Therefore, to get more information about the segment, a thorough research was conducted in stores and customers, especially women, were extensively spoken to.

"The presentation we put together was elastic, with new insights and information coming in all the time from our team in the market, and ideas happening all over the place, based on what we were finding out. And when we finally got down to creative, our design team clinched it with their work. We were having meetings with the Welspun team all the time. It was a real, working relationship, before we signed any contract," she exclaims.

Among other brands that the agency handles are Birla Sun Life, Times Out of Home, Ceasefire, Trident and Oberoi Hotels (Mumbai).

While Handa refuses to comment on the ad spends, he says that the company has aggressive growth, advertising and marketing plans.

On the communication vehicles of the company, he says that Welspun Retail advertises across print, radio, outdoor and BTL. In-store activities are also used to enhance consumer experience.

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