Hakuhodo Percept wins Maruti pitch; to handle creative for upcoming car

The business is worth Rs.100 crore, as per the press note sent by the agency.

Hakuhodo Percept, the Delhi-based Indo-Japanese agency has won the creative and integrated brand duties for Maruti Suzuki's new car in the B-segment.

Elvis Sequeira, COO, Hakuhodo Percept, says, "It's an incredible win. The excitement in the agency is unbelievable. We are so happy to welcome this very popular brand back to our agency."

The account win was the result of a multi-agency pitch initiated in November 2014. Maruti Suzuki's incumbent agencies Lowe, Capital and Dentsu also took part in the pitch, but Hakuhodo Percept won the business worth Rs. 100 crore.

Kosuke Kataoka, executive director, Hakuhodo Percept, says, "Winning this new brand from Maruti Suzuki gives us all immense pride and marks an important step in our journey together, which we re-initiated in early 2014, with the extremely challenging Delhi Auto Expo. We are looking forward to making this launch a huge success."

Manohar Bhat, vice-president, marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, says, "We are happy that Hakuhodo has come on board. Hakuhodo is associated with Suzuki Japan on various brands and we do believe that our brand will benefit from that experience."

The name of the new model is undisclosed as of now, however, its launch is slated for mid-May, and a fully integrated campaign is being planned around the same time. It is pertinent to note that Hakuhodo Percept, in 2008, had managed the creative mandate for Maruti Suzuki's A-Star - the first global car that was designed by Indian designers for Suzuki Motor Corporation.