Maitri bags Pricol account; wins a finalist nomination at NY Festival

Chennai-based advertising agency Maitri Advertising Works has won the advertising business of Pricol (Premier Instruments & Controls, which operates in the precision engineering field of automotive instruments) in a multi-agency pitch. Other agencies in the fray included Hakuhodo Percept, Saatchi & Saatchi and Mudra Communications. Putting a figure to the size of the business is a little premature, feels the agency. "It will be significant considering the spread of the magazines," says Sajan Abraham, managing director, Maitri, adding, "however the final numbers are yet to be determined."

Going by the company brief, which is to stick to the corporate stance that its previous advertising reflected, the challenge for the agency is to infuse a certain degree of novelty. "Maitri believes that its refreshingly different approach will provide the cutting edge," says Abraham. The campaign, which will be largely magazine focused (general interest, business and in-flight), is expected to break by October.

Abraham is doubly happy because Maitri has once again made it to the finalist grade at the New York Festival 2003 International Print Advertising Competition. The work honoured this year was done for Health & Glow, featuring Stayfree Sanitary Napkins in the Retail Stores Posters category. Health & Glow is an RPG Group company, which operates in the retail sector, with interests in beauty, cosmetics and healthcare products. While last year (2002) Maitri's work on MRF WallCoat (an MRF Speciality Coating Division brand) won the finalist nomination at the New York Festival, hopes run high this time on the back of Health & Glow.

Talking about the nomination, Abraham says, "Looking at the number of agencies that have made it to the Festival from the south of India, this is definitely a rare feat. The number becomes lesser when one takes into account those that have made it two times in a row." Applauding his team's efforts he says, "Ideas don't necessarily belong to big agencies alone. This year's finalist status cements Maitri's belief that age and size of the agency have nothing to do with producing cutting-edge ideas." The team on the Health & Glow account comprised Aparna Raman on copy, Jeyananth in art, and Vidya Sankar, who is account manager on the brand. © 2003 agencyfaqs!