Campaign India Agency Report Card: Interface

Type of agency: Advertising

Company ownership: IPG

Key personnel: Niteen Bhagwat, executive cirector and CEO, Joe Thaliath, chief operating officer, Robby Mathew, national creative director

Accounts won: Sundrop Peanut Butter, Sundrop GoldLite

It was more or less a quiet year for Draftfcb+Ulka’s second agency Interface Communications. The agency ,which handles a large part of Mahindra & Mahindra businesses, spent most of the first half of the year working on the launch of Mahindra’s SUV Xylo. It managed to create some buzz for the vehicle. The agency fought its way through a multi-agency pitch to retain the Club Mahindra business. This year, the agency saw the exit of P Subramaniam who was heading the Chennai office. Soon after, Interface hired Elango as general manager from R K Swamy BBDO.

Campaign Score: 5

How INTERFACE Rates itself: 9

At a time when companies and agencies across the board were battering down the hatches, Interface Communication was bucking the trend with an exceptional 2009. It was a year of high growth, high activity and lots of advertising buzz across its portfolio of brands. Interface revved off the year with a high decibel launch of ‘Xylo’ – the new utility vehicle from Mahindra. Interface’s pre-launch communication strategy created significant buzz around the brand even before the vehicle was revealed to the masses; so much so, that 6000 test drive bookings were achieved. Lodging it as another first in the auto sector of India. For Agro Tech India, Interface launched two new products in the year that caused much stir in the foods sector. Namely, Sundrop Peanut Butter and Sundrop GoldLite. Peanut Butter helped Agro Tech carve out a niche in the large bread spreads market. While GoldLite helped prise open a new segment - that of the young and health conscious. Later in the year, Interface also helped launch two high end scooters for Mahindra two wheelers – the ‘Rodeo’ and the ‘Duro’. In a cluttered segment dominated by international brands like Honda and Suzuki, the agency’s eyeball grabbing multi-media advertising campaign helped them become the fastest growing brands in the category – no mean feat. Meanwhile, Interface’s strategic insights and advertising acumen has helped strengthen the positions of the other renowned brands in its portfolio. Little wonder, 80% of them are category leaders in their domain.