|
In the race to victory, FCB Ulka beat top guns like Rediff DY&R
and Contract. The size of the account is worth approximately Rs
400 million per annum. Ulka would also be Zee's strategic partner
to direct its creative/advertising strategies.
When contacted by indiantelevision.com today, Essel Group's vice-president,
corporate brand development (CBDG), Ashish Kaul admitted, "We
have decided to give Ulka the mandate to direct our unified account.
We believe that synergy in all external communications is a must,
especially with an organisation as diversified as ours".
Few months ago, Chandra had decided to bring the communication
of all his diversified companies under one entity, CBDG. The companies
that are part of the Essel Group, but function independently, include
the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Zee Telefilms, satellite and communication
company ASC Enterrprise, on-line lottery venture Playwin and real
estate and theme park businesses.
This is for the first time that Zee Network has decided to place
all its accounts in one basket, including Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee
MGM, Zee English and Alpha brands, among others. Previously, Zee
and its sub-brands were handled by multiple advertising agencies
such as Rediff DY& R, Contract and other medium sized agencies.
The Zee account collectively is one of the largest accounts in
the media world. However, Kaul did not comment on the size of the
account.
Leading agencies like Rediff DY&R, Lowe, Contract and Leo Burnett
were gunning for this huge account and had made presentations over
last week to Zee top honchos in Mumbai.
Zee Network has been witnessing a lot of changes in its communications
front in last few months and the impetus has been on building synergy
in external communications. A few months ago, in a major communications
overhaul, a
signature group was created to offer centralised communications
support to all the companies under Essel Group banner, and subsequently
all the public relations (PR) agencies were retired. Even Clea PR
that is handling the Zee Cinema account
at the moment would not see an extended contract beyond 31 October.
Though these are early days for the concept of unified communication
and CBDG, some results seem showing up with Zee TV's launch of new
programmes in Delhi that evoked stupendous response.
One of the marketing and communication initiatives also includes
coming out with a new-look FPC (fixed point chart) for the main
Zee channels, including the Alpha regional channels, which was created
in-house. The unified programme schedule or the FPC, with a new
look, comes to susbcribers beginning this month in form of a magazine.
|
