Tops moves from TBWA<img src=/grfx2/slash.gif border=0>Anthem to iB&W

iB&W Communications, Delhi, has won the estimated Rs 2-crore to Rs 3-crore advertising account of Tops (the brands spans a range of jams, condiments and noodles) following a strategy-cum-creative presentation. It seems sometime back the agency had approached the makers of the Tops brand with a presentation. The timing was perfect. Tops had just then severed its ties with TBWA

Anthem, its incumbent agency. The company, on its part, asked the new suitor to make a presentation on how to improve the brand image of Tops. The rest, as they say, is history.

The break-up between Tops and TBWA

Anthem wasn't very amicable, it seems. "When Tops announced its decision to relaunch the brand, TBWA

Anthem failed to produce the launch material in time. Things like mailers, brochures etc were not ready. Thus we decided to terminate the contract with TBWA

Anthem," says Jasdeep Singh Kohli, marketing manager, GD Foods Manufacturing (India) Pvt Ltd.

TBWA

Anthem, however, had a different story to tell. It seems when the agency was called in to discuss the relaunch plan, the Tops management showed the agency team on the account an ad film, which the company had commissioned and produced with the help of a ‘small-time' production house. TBWA

Anthem was ‘miffed' by the way the whole episode was conducted. Says Amal Sethi, general manager, TBWA

Anthem, "After working with Tops since the beginning of the year and after doing things like revamping their packaging and several strategy presentations, which the client bought into, the agency was pleasantly surprised to see a film made by a freelancer, which obviously didn't gel with the overall gameplan chalked out by the agency."

The contract then was terminated by mutual agreement. In any case, the contract was valid for a year and according to it, if one of the two parties was dissatisfied, the relationship could be ended. Prior to TBWA

Anthem, the Tops account was with HTA, which had actually designed the brand and launched it in the market.

For iB&W, the gain is substantial. "We have to relaunch the Tops brand. And we have got a huge portfolio of products that comprise 21 variants of pickles, jams (six variants), sauces (chilli, soyabean, etc), tomato ketchup, vinegar, fruit juices, table spices sprinklers and noodles. The idea now is to make Tops top of mind," says Devraj Basu, COO, iB&W Communications, Delhi.

Ravinder Siwach, creative group head, iB&W Communications, Delhi, adds, "The relaunch is more in terms of product improvement. That is, making the products look trendier and upmarket. The taste too has to be tinkered with to give them the homemade feel."

Tops has never really advertised in the mass media - the emphasis being on below-the-line activities. So while Tops had a whole range of products, the brand association was restricted mainly to sauces - soyabean green chilli. Pickles had a low recall.

Now that competition is getting media savvy, there is a clear need to rework its brand associations. The agency plans to take an umbrella-branding route to rebuild the brand association of Tops. In the first phase of the brand relaunch, pickles and sauces will be aggressively promoted through a multimedia campaign, which is likely to break around mid-July. The overall positioning is going to be on ‘variety'. As Siwach puts it, "The objective of the communication is to drive home the innovations that go into our wide array of products."

To start with, the effort will be to push pickles as its flagship brand and one with a mass appeal. In the second phase, Tops' jams and fruit juices will hit the markets in their new avatars. © 2002 agencyfaqs!