SSC&B wins Rs 50-crore Videocon business

In a hotly contested pitch that included the likes of Mudra Communications, Everest Integrated Communications, FCB Ulka, Advertising Avenues and Leo Burnett, SSC&B swept the estimated Rs 50-crore creative business of Videocon. SSC&B now has the entire Videocon range under its belt - including televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and microwave ovens (which will be launched soon). The media duties of Videocon will continue to be handled by Videocon.

In an earlier arrangement, the entire Videocon business was temporarily parked with Quadrant. Before that, company executives explain, the business was split among three agencies - Leo Burnett, Mudra and iB&W. While Leo Burnett handled the appliances part of the business (refrigerators and washing machines), Mudra had the Internet TV business and iB&W serviced the colour TV business.

Company official feel, consolidating the business under one agency was necessary "to give a strategic direction to the marketing plans of Videocon". The company is now aggressively looking at entering new categories in kitchen appliances such as microwaves, vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, in addition to introducing completely new ranges of refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and flat TVs in the coming months.

Talking about the brief given out to the prospective agencies, Ajay Chandwani, president, SSC&B, says, "The brief was to rejuvenate the Videocon brand image. Over the years, there has been some dilution in the leadership image of Videocon caused by a changed competitive scenario and an excessive dependence on schemes rather than theme. The task for the agency was to find the most appropriate way of making the brand image of Videocon salient and premium."

And Sunil Tandon, vice-president, marketing and sales, Videocon, explains what swung the decision in SSC&B's favour. "We had asked for a strategy-cum-creative presentation from all the agencies. SSC&B scored really high in giving the right strategic direction to the Videocon brand and produced marvellous creatives."

Shah Rukh Khan will continue to endorse Videocon products and the new commercials for Videocon television are already on air. Says Chandwani, "It was decided to use a brand ambassador since a popular film celebrity has the advantage of achieving high brand recall as long as care is taken to make sure the celebrity does not overpower the brand. Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar are the most popular film and cricket celebrities in the business. Shah Rukh was chosen since entertainment is an important part of the colour television business, which is the largest category in the consumer electronics market. He has great appeal across socio-economic classes, which can carry both the trade and the consumer with ease. The personal lifestyle of a film star can also help achieve a premium image in a compressed time frame."

In terms of positioning the brand, the agency has taken recourse to "technology with a twist". The slug line reads, ‘Technology for health and pleasure'. "The brand position of Videocon is inspired by the aim of all consumer electronic products - which is to provide cutting edge technology for everyday benefits. Technology has become generic to most consumer electronic brands. It's important for Videocon therefore to have a technology image in a niche context. Again there are many brands which are positioned on health. By adding the dimension of pleasure, Videocon hopes to achieve a warm empathetic and human face for consumer electronics technology," elaborates Chandwani.

Alongside, the agency is hoping to cash in on the World Cup to build a strong association with cricket. In that context, SSC&B has coined the catch phrase "Match on toh Videocon" in a 40-sec TVC that is being aired on World Cup matches currently. © 2003 agencyfaqs!