MUMBAI: Focus has been recently awarded with the creative duties of the cement major ‘Dalmia Cement‘ for the entire North-East region.

The mandate involves the entire integrated brand and communication strategy which includes ATL and BTL initiatives. The agency has begun work on the project and launched its first campaign for the brand recently. The brand has also brought on board Olympic bronze medallist boxer Mary Kom as brand ambassador.

Focus Circle (creative arm of Focus) national creative director Rahool Talukdar said, "This association has given us the opportunity to not only work for a heavy weight cement brand like Dalmia but also associate with the iconic Mary Kom. Sometimes brand ambassadors seem force fit for brands, that wasn‘t the case here. She had the perfect brand fit for Dalmia in North East that stood for attributes like Performance, Victory and Commitment. As communication strategists, the challenge now remains in making Dalmia a ‘prominent brand‘ in the region. And our initiatives planned for Dalmia in the coming phase will prove to be efficient in penetrating the same; enhancing its national presence furthermore."

Dalmia Bharat Cement senior executive director group marketing and corporate communication B K Singh said, "Given our reputation as a leading player in the cement industry with a very strong brand of Dalmia, the challenge was to combine the experience of 70 years and the experience of the local team. The team felt we needed a strong brand ambassador to connect with the people of the region. So, choosing Mary Kom was very critical to establish the connection. In Focus we found a team with rare combination of rich experience in the region and knowledge of the industry. This helped us to leverage the strength of both team and come up with a robust and innovative marketing campaign."

Dalmia has recently taken over North East based Adhunik cement and Calcom cement (76 per cent stake) and the group stands as one of the top five largest cement manufacturer in the country. Being the incumbent communication partner of Calcom, Focus has been considered as the preferred agency (with its Kolkata branch operations) for Dalmia Cement in the region.

The agency has demonstrated its expertise and deep understanding of the North Eastern markets through its past projects, with established leading brands.