PassPass moves from Contract to Mudra

The advertising account of PassPass, the mouth-freshener brand from the DS Group, has changed hands. From Contract Advertising, Delhi, which serviced the account for three years (since the brand was launched), the brand has moved to Mudra Communications, Delhi. Vinit Khanna, corporate head, marketing, DS Foods, confirmed this development. The media business remains with Zenith.

Information available with agencyfaqs! shows some of the top agencies were vying for the business. Besides Mudra, the others in the fray included Bates Advertising, McCann-Erickson and O&M. Company officials refused to comment on the size of the business. Sources in Contract say while the business was with the agency the advertising spend on PassPass was around Rs 1.5 crore.

What prompted the company to look for a new agency was the need to infuse ‘fresh ideas' in the brand strategy. "We wanted something refreshing and innovative; therefore we decided to invite some agencies to pitch with new ideas," says Khanna. Apparently, when it was asked to defend the business, Contract declined to make a fresh presentation.

The agencies made a creative-cum-strategy presentation based on the brief that the campaign idea should be ‘out-of-the-box'. Whether that would entail tweaking the current communication platform of ‘Bindas Kha' is not clear yet.

Though a mouth-freshener, the positioning of PassPass is very unlike a traditional chew. By virtue of its with-the-times kind of advertising, the brand has come to compete with a wider range of confectionery products including chewing gums and bubble gums in the estimated Rs 200-crore branded mouth-freshener branded market. But what attracts it most to today's teenagers is its indigenous feel. "Almost all brands in the mouth-freshener category are non-Indian. Being the only indigenous product, PassPass gives a very Indian experience to its consumers," reasons Khanna. The three-year-old brand recorded sales of Rs 25 crore last fiscal. This year, the company hopes to increase its sales by 25 to 30 per cent.

Currently, PassPass comes in four flavours - Green Mint, Pan, Spear Mint and Katha - and these are available in sachets, priced at Rs 1, and fliptop containers, priced at Rs 10. © 2002 agencyfaqs!