TBWA India bags Kuoni's SOTC business

DDB Mudra is the incumbent on the account.

SOTC, a travel operations brand from the stable of the travel and tourism company Kuoni Travel Group India, has appointed TBWA India as its new creative agency. The agency's Mumbai branch will handle the business. The win comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch.

Highly placed sources have confirmed the news to afaqs!.

Earlier, the creative mandate for the account was with DDB Mudra. Before that, the account was with Network Advertising; Saatchi & Saatchi has also handled the mandate. Agencies that have handled the creative mandate for Kuoni in the past include The Republic and Pickle Lintas. The brand's online duties have been with DDB Mudra, preceded by R K Swamy BBDO.

In the past, SOTC's media duties have been looked after by Maximize, the media planning and buying agency from the GroupM stable (2004-06), and later, by Maxus (2006 onwards). Most recently, the media mandate was with an in-house team.

It may be recalled that in 2008, the Kuoni Travel Group underwent a global rebranding exercise that was a part of its 100-year celebrations. The brand had, at the time, opted for a total makeover including a logo change. Media vehicles including select print magazines and television were exploited in order to promote the brand's repositioning and to reach out to the consumers. On this occasion, the group also set up a new flagship store at Nariman Point in Mumbai.

For the past five-six years, SOTC has carried the brand philosophy 'Expect More'. The brand is positioned as one that provides more value, superior customer service and high quality. It remains to be seen if the newly appointed creative agency will be required to work to change this positioning.

Currently, SOTC operates in the US, Canada, UK, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Kuwait, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan and South Africa.

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