Campaign India Agency Report Card: Draftfcb

Type of agency: Advertising
Company ownership: IPG
Key personnel: M G Parameswaran, executive director and CEO, Anil Kapoor, regional president, Asia Pacific, K S Chakravarthy, national creative director

Accounts won: ICL, Hero Honda, Indian Oil, Career Launcher, InBev and  ICICI Bank

Accounts lost: Tata Indicom, Whirlpool

Draftfcb+Ulka continues to ride high on the stability and solidity radar this year. It built on its reputation for  long lasting relationships with its clients including its most important and, perhaps, profitable, client Tata Motors. In fact, going by the relationship it shares with Tata Motors and the quality of work they have created for the auto major, it would not be surprising if it is awarded the Tata Nano account.
The year also saw the agency bolster the digital, direct and interactive divisions.
The other highlight of this year is the appointment of K.S Chakravarthy (Chax) as the national creative director. Chax instantly makes the agency look more creative focused and has embarked on a missio n to get the agency’s creative product into place.
This year, it won some visible accounts including ICL (Indian Cricket League), Hero Honda (25th anniversary campaign), Indian Oil and ICICI Bank. However, it lost out on one of its biggest accounts, Tata Indicom, as the creative duties got spilt between Contract Advertising and Draftfcb and the major chunk of the account went to Contract’s kitty.
The agency also announced  the collaboration between the shopper marketing division of Draftfcb Chicago and Cogito Consulting to focus on  branding and marketing in the retail space in India.  Niteen Bhagwat is spearheading the division.
Campaign Score: 7

How DRAFTFCB+ULKA rates itself: 8
The year 2008 saw the agency get new business from clients like Hero Honda [25 Years; Hunk], ICL, Indian Oil, Career Launcher, InBev and  ICICI Bank, to name a few. In July, the agency brought on board K S Chakravarthy (Chax) as national creative director to lead its creative teams across all offices, and to help convert the agency’s strong strategic thinking into consistently clutter-breaking creative. The agency has a strong offering in the direct, database, interactive and healthcare space. The agency group also has a strong strategic consulting arm that completed several key projects during 2008. The agency is one of India’s top five with a healthy bottom line and a growth momentum that is ahead of the market.
It is well positioned to provide business counsel and focused clutter breaking creative built on sound strategy,  in fact exactly what clients will look for, as they face a challenging 2009.