MUMBAI: Colombo has been lucky for Rediffussion DYR. While back home, past one year hasn't been exactly the brightest, but the company claims to have been on an account winning spree in Sri Lanka.
Established in April 2002, the Sri Lankan office of Rediffusion DYR claims to be going from strength to strength, especially in past nine months.
The agency, in a release issued, claims that looking at it's strong performance, the company has billing target for 2004 is set at a realistic SLR 600 million. The agency's current client portfolio includes Singer, National Lotteries Board, Hayleys (Philips bulbs), S-Lon, Kevilton, ICL and Ole.
According to the release, besides growing the business portfolio with their existing clients the agency has also won Caltex, Life Insurance Corporation Lanka and two car brands Megane and Laguna from Renault.
The agency claims to have begun to focus on winning business and making a real mark on the Sri Lankan advertising industry, since D Rajappa took over as Rediffusion DYR, Colombo CEO.
At present, the team, comprising 25 people at the Colombo office is poised to help the agency grow into one of the country's leading advertising agencies. The agency claims to have upgraded infrastructure both in terms of the hardware and software. The Sri Lankan division has employed the 3-D planning model and other proprietary tools from DYR for creating advertising and integrated marketing solutions that are distinctive and memorable, says the release.
According to Rajappa, "The Sri Lankan market is full of tremendous potential and this is apparent in all aspects of life. Colombo is the first international destination for India's private airlines as they take to the international skies. Global megastars like Bryan Adams have performed to rapturous response recently in Colombo. Rediffusion's presence in Sri Lanka has been one of the unsung stories of Indian success on international soil. Our recent account wins have catapulted us into the top bracket of advertising in Sri Lanka and we take great heart in having achieved all this within two years of launch."
Progress over the period of nine months aside, Rediffusion DYR Colombo has successfully launched two brand and three new campaigns in past two months. The two new brand launches were Divyangana- a women's life insurance policy from LIC Lanka and the launch of two new car models Megane and Laguna for Renault. The agency also released three new campaigns including a television commercial for Raja Theja Tea and print campaigns for Whirlpool and Hitachi from Singer.
According to Rajappa, "The heightened activity in the Sri Lankan market augurs well for us at Rediffusion. A significant number of the brands we handle in Sri Lanka are not yet present in India and it is natural that entry to the Indian market would be sought at some stage both by Sri Lankan brands as well as the international brands. The agency's experience in the Sri Lankan market with these brands will be of immense benefit to us when that happens".
