Campaign India Agency Report Card 2011: Everest

Ownership: Y&R

Key Personnel: Dhunji S Wadia, president, Rahul Jauhari, national creative director, Naveen Saraswat, COO, Meraj Hasan, vice president - strategic planning, Pooja Balani, general manager, Mumbai, Sameer Chonkar, executive creative director, Mumbai

Account won: Danone, Ranbaxy Volini, GoAir, Parle - Hide & Seek, Happy Happy cookies, Melody, Wafers, Clovemint, Actifit, Tata Housing - La Montana, New Haven Boisar and Vasind, Shubha Griha and New Haven Crest. 

Account lost: None reported

D Rajappa and N Padmakumar moved from Everest to Rediffusion in December last year. With Dhunji Wadia placed in the president’s role, Rahul Jauhari came on board as national creative director. Meraj Hasan joined as vice president strategic planning, Pooja Balani as head of the Mumbai branch, and Arnab Bannerjee as creative director in Delhi. The agency won the Ranbaxy Volini business in March. However, the creative output wasn’t very visible and the agency didn’t participate in awards either. It seems the agency has had some revival this year, so it’s time to up the ante on the other fronts as well.
How Campaign India rates the agency: 5

How Everest rates itself: 5
2011 has been a great year for Everest.  We had a change in senior management and there was a complete overhaul of the processes, philosophy and identity. We needed a definition of the kind of agency we wanted to be. Our philosophy stems from the belief that, ‘It is better to be a salmon than a shark’.  As a shark, you’re just there casually swimming around waiting for the next big meal. But the salmon doesn’t wait to be fed; he’s been battling long and hard swimming upstream to get the source of all the ideas and products. The salmon is now also part of our new identity.  We have created a proprietary tool Finding Brand Fingerprints. No two individuals are the same. Brands, like people, have their own fingerprint. At Everest, we find the product/service’s uniqueness, its fingerprint.  This helps us create the brand.  Everest has worked hard in 2011 to continue building some of the biggest brands in the market place.  Our clients and brands have grown and we have grown along with them – Parle Products, CNN IBN, TATA Housing, Ranbaxy Volini, GoAir, Akai ... to name just a few. And our future is tied directly to the success of our clients and brands. Currently Everest is in an exciting state of change.