Creativeland Asia counters Parle Agro loss; wins new biz including Domino's and Indian Express

Creativeland Asia has made up for the loss of Parle Agro, an account that moved out in January this year.

Says Sajan Raj Kurup, founder and creative chairman, Creativeland Asia, "The new business is worth more than double the revenue we got from Parle Agro," an account he lost in January this year.

For Domino's, apart from mainline advertising work, Creativeland will also handle precision marketing and digital duties. For Godrej No.1, the team will be responsible for integrated marketing and communication design and growth of the No.1 range, including soaps, face-washes and other new products. The mandate for Emami's She Comfort includes integrated marketing communication, a brand revamp exercise and packaging re-design. The agency has created new communication for The Indian Express; the campaign, which includes print, TV and digital communication, will break this week.

Harneet Singh Rajpal, vice president, marketing, Domino's India, says, "It was a really close pitch, but what worked in favour of CLA was the synergy in thinking and approach of strategy and creative. Also, they have good digital orientation... We needed more strategic and creative minds to work with us and hence we selected CLA as our new agency partner, in addition to our incumbent creative agency..." Note that Contract Advertising has been the brand's creative partner for a while now; in fact, the agency's new ad campaign, featuring chefs Vikas Khanna and Narendra Javarta, has broken few days back.

Sunil Kataria, chief operating officer, sales, marketing and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products, says, "We have been working with CLA since 2011 and one of the things I really appreciate about them is the ability to come up with genuinely creative ideas for the big moments. One of the reasons they are able to do this is because the top leadership gets involved in understanding the brand essence and tonality, in depth. Soap is a highly fragmented market that requires a creative idea which not only connects with consumers but has the power to build equity for the brand in the medium term." It was the agency's 'Tum hi ho No.1' idea that led to the win, he tells us, referring to the presentation made by team CLA. The agency already handles the Cinthol account.

Dubbing his creative firm 'CLA 2.0', Kurup says, "It is going to be Creativeland in a different gear. We are preparing for the next ten years. We have made some fundamental changes in our organisational structure and added a 'culture and marketing' team. Our technology team is all set."

The agency has converted its digital production department into a separate tech company called Creativeland Technologies. "Our design team is looking beyond brands and identities and is venturing into retail, space, environment and infrastructure design," he adds.

Currently, Creativeland Asia employs 148 people, including technologists, economists, UI designers, writers, and even sociologists. The agency's clientele includes accounts like Mercedes-Benz, MTS, Cinthol, Godrej Expert, Café Coffee Day, Aer (home and car fragrances), among others.

Creativeland Asia is headquartered at Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex. "Conscious of the long hours and intense pressure the nature of our work commands, we have made our office environment fun and rejuvenating," says Kurup, going on to tell us about his in-agency spa, hair treatment options, massage chairs, pool table, table tennis table and foosball table.