Curry-Nation to handle Nirlep's creative business

Nirlep, the kitchen appliances and accessories brand, has appointed Mumbai-based Curry-Nation as its new creative agency.

Priti Nair and Nagessh Pannaswami, founder-directors of the agency, have confirmed the news to afaqs!.

The account has moved from McCann Erickson; the agency had been handling the duties for Nirlep for the past three years.

The development is the result of a multi-agency pitch process that was carried out in Mumbai. Initiated a month ago, the pitch saw participation of several agencies including McCann Erickson, Interface Communications (Draftfcb Ulka's second agency), Network Advertising, Meridian Communications (Ogilvy India's second agency) and Postscript Advertising. The process was both, creative as well as strategy-led and the mandate was awarded to Curry-Nation after only one round of presentations.

The Nirlep spokesperson tells afaqs! that besides the agency's impressive creative inputs, it was its founders' understanding of the Indian culture and the agency's overall philosophy of 'Indian-ness' that helped Curry-Nation clinch this win.

The media mandate for Nirlep lies with Media Circle. The ad spend for the upcoming campaign is pegged at Rs 5 crore. According to market estimates, this is a 10-15 per cent increase over the brand's earlier budget.

The next ad campaign for Nirlep will be rolled out after April. The media mix will include press, magazine ads and TV. The maximum activity on the communication front will take place between July and December.

Nair informs that though a substantial amount of consumer research was done by the agency at the time of the pitch, plans to dig deeper and figure out the appropriate consumer insights for the upcoming communication are on the cards. "We've all grown up with this brand in our kitchens and look forward to develop a strong positioning for it soon," she says.

Though the usage percolates to almost all strata of society, Nirlep's TG (target group) primarily comprises today's health and time-conscious housewives belonging to SEC A and B.

Pannaswami adds in good humour, "Working on such brands is in Curry-Nation's DNA as it's difficult to separate 'curry' from kitchen-ware and cooking!"