Mudra, Bangalore, bags two McDowell's brands

The New Year sees Mudra, Bangalore, on high spirits.

The agency has started work on two McDowell's brands (from the UB Group) - Scottish Crown and Derby Special - which it bagged a couple of weeks back. "The point is, it is easy to announce the launch of a new liquor brand, but it can just as easily be canned! Liquor companies are known to come up with concepts, but if they feel that the time is not opportune, they shelve them just as easily," says S Radhakrishnan, vice-president, Mudra, Bangalore. The size of the advertising account for these two brands is estimated at Rs 3 crore.

Scottish Crown has been launched with an eye on the future when the floodgates for importing liquor brands are opened in India. Hence, with Scottish Crown the company is looking to establish its presence in the super-premium imported, pure Scotch whisky segment. The brand was launched last month in Mumbai. Derby Special (DS), on the other hand, straddles the regular plus whisky segment, and flaunts a premium imagery. It has been launched in Goa.

According to Radhakrishnan, the agency won the business in a multi-agency pitch, which saw the likes of Everest and JWT vying for the account. According to the Mudra brass, the two brands were awarded to the agency on the basis of its reputation as a good creative outfit. In accordance with its premiumness, Derby Special has been positioned on the lifestyle plank with the baseline "Apna Alag Andaaz". A huge teaser campaign was unleashed early this month asking "Kab Aayega Yaar?" along with the all-too-familiar logo of the UB Group.

"There are absolutely no questions on McDowell's strength in the mass brand segment. Hence, the company will seek to push and build its base in the super premium segment with Scottish Crown. In fact, if you look at the packaging, the company name has not been highlighted; the brand has been presented as a ‘fully imported scotch'," says Radhakrishnan. The very obvious references to its lineage are visible in the Tartan checks. The baseline reads, ‘Pure Scotland sip by sip'.

The thrust of the company is clearly on establishing a strong presence in the Scotch category. Like most liquor companies, the UB Group will be involved with events and direct contact programmes to push its brands, apart from advertising in the print medium. © 2003 agencyfaqs!