Mudra, Bangalore, bags Rs 3.5-crore Epson account

In what is seen as a highly competitive pitch in agency circles, Epson has just shifted part of its business from Hakuhodo Percept to Mudra, Bangalore. This new account is estimated to be worth Rs 3.5 crore. While Percept, Bangalore, will continue to handle the Epson corporate brand and the company's dot matrix printer businesses, Mudra has come into the scene to provide "strategic input and direction" to Epson's other range of printers.

"We have just been assigned Epson business consisting of inkjet printers, laser printers, consumables and visual imaging products. The win was in a multi-agency pitch involving Dentsu, Hakuhodo Percept (incumbent), and iB&W. It has been a tremendous win after two rounds of presentations," S Radhakrishnan, vice-president, Mudra, Bangalore, confirmed. He added, "Mudra was taken on because of the powerful communication strategy we developed for Epson based on key consumer insights, and because of our cutting edge creative work. I'm sure we'd help enhance the brand values of Epson as a technology leader," says Radhakrishnan.

Epson comes Mudra's way close on the heels of two other big wins in recent times - the Cycle brand of incense sticks and Naturo fruit bar from Nutrine Sweets. What is interesting about the Epson pitch is that the client had called for a "strategy-led" pitch sans any creative presentation. "It is easy to get bamboozled by the glossy presentations of creatives. We were very clear in that we needed inputs on how the agency could provide direction to our brand communication," said a highly placed company official.

Interestingly, Epson shot into media cognizance with a high-decibel campaign involving brand ambassador Sushmita Sen that sought to bring glamour into an otherwise dull category. "This was in 1998 and even after such a long time, people remember our communication. Epson is a progressive company and sought to align with an ambassador who comes across as intelligent and smart. That is why our earlier campaign had a relatable face that was representative of our brand," said the company official.

Among other things, the company seeks to build on the hype it created with the "I chose Epson" campaign launched in March this year. "We are looking at interesting and innovative ways to get everybody involved with this slogan right from our business partners to consumers. Already the initiative has been taken forward in the form of prominent print ads in magazines such as Computer Today and India Today." The company, which competes with the likes of Hewlett Packard, Canon, Lexmark-TVSE and Wipro, has a market share of 15 per cent in the printer category. "We have put up big hoarding across prominent location in Bangalore," informed the company official. © 2002 agencyfaqs!