Tobacco major Godfrey Phillips India to focus more on corporate social responsibilities.
MUMBAI: Some smoke rings are wafting up this festive season. Media Direction, the specialist media services group of RK Swamy/BBDO has just won the Media AOR (agency of record) of tobacco giant, Godfrey Phillips India and will do all media planning and buying for this client.
The Media Edge had been handling their media business for the last five years and will retain no part of the business.
The size of the account is upwards of Rs 5 crore. The creative agency on the business is Everest Brand Solutions. Other empanelled creative agencies are FCB Ulka and Rediffusion.
Says Nita Kapoor, executive VP, marketing and corporate affairs, “We liked the strategic approach of Media Direction. They proactively approached us with a value proposition, which was in line with our strategic thinking of taking Godfrey Phillips Bravery award forward. I am confident they will play a critical role in the overall process of our brand development, in addition to their specific media deliverables”
It is also learnt that Godfrey Philips Bravery is undergoing a lot of strategic changes and the company will emphasise more on ground level activities in the forthcoming campaign.
Therefore, the company felt that the account should be moved from TME to Media Direction.
Godfrey Phillips is one of the largest players in the Indian cigarette industry with an annual turnover of over $ 265 million.
The company runs a social programme called Godfrey Phillips Bravery. Since tobacco companies are barred from advertising, this is the only property of Godfrey Phillips that can be advertised.
The initiative has been in existence since the 90s, and since then has awarded over 1000 people for their selfless acts of bravery and courage.
Godfrey Phillips has recently embarked upon an initiative to make youth of the country more aware of the ethos of Bravery. This is precisely why the youth icon actor Preity Zinta has been chosen as their brand ambassador.
S Yesudas, COO, Media Direction India, said, “Working on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is a whole new aspect altogether. It has to be looked at in a completely different manner compared to the conventional media approach. This will be serviced out of our Delhi office.”
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