Absolutes from Revlon goes to Dhar & Hoon

Dhar & Hoon clinched the account following a multi-agency pitch

Following a multi-agency pitch, Absolutes, the ‘whitening products' range from Modi Revlon's personal care division, has been awarded to Dhar & Hoon, Delhi. The agency will handle both the creative and media duties. Though Sanjeev Kapoor, director, sales & marketing, personal care division, Modi Revlon, did not reveal the size of the Absolutes account, he mentioned the total advertising budget (including below-the-line activities) for the personal care division of Modi Revlon is in the Rs 5-7-crore range.

In the first round of discussions, Revlon (a brand of Modi Revlon - a 76:24 joint venture between Modi Mundi Pharma and Revlon, USA) had invited four agencies - roster agency Grey Worldwide (which handles the colour cosmetics account), O&M, Contract Advertising, Equus Red Cell and Dhar & Hoon. Three made it to the final round - Grey, O&M and Dhar & Hoon. Grey will continue to service the colour cosmetic division.

This development comes after a broader rationalisation of Modi Revlon's product portfolio in January this year. The company then segregated its product range into two divisions - the colour cosmetics division (which includes lipsticks, nail paint and foundations) and the personal care division. The personal care division has seven products, including Charlie body spray and perfumes, Colorsilk hair colour, Touch & Glow fairness cream, Flex shampoo-cum-conditioner, the Absolutes range of whitening products, Revlon professional beauty parlour products and hair cream and hair thickener for men (which the company plans to launch soon).

The decision to split the product range was intended to "widen the exposure the personal care products". "The distribution of the personal care products was dependent on the handful outlets that stocked the colour cosmetics range. Since the personal care products were more mass, it was strategically cleaved from the colour cosmetics division to reach the market through an independent and stronger distribution set-up," explains Sanjeev Kapoor.

Kapoor, therefore, plans to increase the number of outlets. "Which is what we have been doing for the last eight to 10 months. After having established a sound distribution network, the task is to augment consumer off-take," he adds. And that was the brief given to the three agencies. "Since Absolutes is a new brand (a month old), we felt that it needs immediate media support," underlines Kapoor. Based on this brief, Dhar & Hoon made a creative-cum-strategy presentation.

"We are projecting a 100 per cent growth over the previsions calendar year. We expect Dhar & Hoon to help us achieve this target," says Kapoor. Dhar & Hoon seems prepared for the challenge. "Our task is to sell a fantastic product to the SEC A women through the appropriate communication channel. Absolutes is a premium product, which comes in three variants, ‘whitening essence', ‘whitening lotion' and ‘whitening cream'. While the lotion (50 ml) and the cream (50 gm) are available for Rs 245, essence (50 ml) is pegged at Rs 275," explains Nikhil Rungta, account director, Dhar & Hoon. To begin with, the agency will use the print medium to reach out to the potential consumer. © 2002 agencyfaqs!