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i-mint pitch ends; Mudra, Rediffusion-Wunderman and Dentsu on board
Mudra will handle the account's ATL duties; Rediffusion-Wunderman will be responsible for the brand's BTL mandate, and Dentsu will function as the company's media agency.
i-mint Loyalty Solutions and Research, India's largest coalition loyalty programme, has announced the appointment of three new agencies -- the Mudra Group, Rediffusion-Wunderman and Dentsu Communications. The advertising/marketing and media mandate will be shared by these three agencies.
The pitch process was initiated around Diwali last year. Back then, word had it that a change of management had prompted the review. Around mid-2010, i-mint was taken over by the German company, Payback. Payback is the card business arm of Germany-based Loyalty Partner, which provides loyalty management solutions.
The three newly-appointed agencies will now help the company in brand development, marketing strategies, promotional planning and execution of marketing campaigns. However, each agency has a unique mandate.
The Mudra Group will be responsible for driving i-mint's ATL (above the line) advertisements, while Rediffusion-Wunderman (a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rediffusion-Y&R) has been roped in to provide total integrated marketing solutions in India and the Asia-Pacific regions. Rediffusion-Wunderman will also be responsible for i-mint's BTL (below the line) advertising mandate.
Dentsu Communications has been appointed as i-mint's media agency and will offer optimised solutions and strategies for the planning and implementation of marketing communication strategies. Together, these three agencies will develop creative solutions for i-mint by leveraging the full spectrum of their marketing and advertising capabilities.
Vijay Bobba, managing director and chief executive officer, i-mint, shares in an official communiqué, "We are very excited to be working with Mudra, Wunderman and Dentsu. This association represents a positive step for the company towards increasing its brand awareness amongst its audience. Their leadership in specific domains will be a tremendous asset to us to engage our customers better."
Notably, the i-mint multi-partner programme has become India's largest coalition loyalty programme since its launch in June 2006. i-mint's partner portfolio includes several hundreds of prominent partner brands and companies throughout India, including ICICI Bank, petrol service station chain HPCL, Air India, and online travel company Makemytrip.com.
Currently, more than 10 million members use the scheme and enjoy i-mint benefits.