MxMIndia

Tag: Dhirubhai Ambani

  • Rahul Gupta, CEO of the Percept arm, speaks on the winning the big Reliance account

    It’s Only IBD for Only Vimal

     

    For a generation that grew up in the early years of television advertising, Only Vimal is a campaign that’s etched deep in memory.  While India was always known for its textiles industry, it was Only Vimal – created by Reliance Group founder Dhirubhai Ambani – that became its most iconic brand.

     

    Last week we reported that IBD, a Percept company, had bagged the strategic and creative mandate for ‘Only Vimal’. And, the road to the finish line was not at all easy. IBD was in the race with some of the biggest names in the industry.

     

    “In the final round, we were fighting with RK Swamy. For a very long time, it had handled the biggest textile brand Raymonds and obviously would have been the prime contender to handled this account too. For us, to be able to upstage them and win this brand was a matter of great pride and satisfaction. I believe, the strategy and all was very bang-on but our edge was the differentiated positioning we talked about, the technological positioning and the creative execution we brought in to place. That is where things went in our favour,” said Rahul Gupta, Managing Director, IBD.

     

    The rechristened Vimal – ‘Only Vimal’,  was one of the first textile brands to make a massive consumer impact pan-India. A Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries’ (Reliance) textile division, Only Vimal is also one of the first major retail chain of stores to be set up across the country. IBD will be responsible for repositioning and revitalising the brand image.

     

    One of the most important things while preparing a pitch is the brief that is given to an agency by a client. Speaking to us on the brief, Gupta said, “The whole essence of Vimal was that- it was one of the most prized brands once upon a time. Over a period of time, Reliance moved on to bigger and better things and different areas of business. So, to a certain extent the textile division of Reliance Industries’ was kind-of put on the backburner. But it continued to do decent business for a period of time.”

     

    “Obviously, it lost the lustre of a brand it was in the 80s. So, very clearly, the task in hand was to re-stage this brand and make it relevant for the new India, for the younger India. The young India does not know the value of the Vimal brand. Our task is to re-stage the brand, so that today it is seen as a premium brand. The youth of today should understand the iconic status of this brand.” Gupta added.

     

    MxMIndia previewed the television campaign which will be launched today (Aug 16). In the commercial, the focus has been given more on the fabric and the qualities of the clothing material. But since the brand’s target is the youth of India, why shoot the film in a foreign location? “We did a lot of research and psychographic studies and we realised that the youth of today though rooted in India have a very global aspiration. Today’s market is all about the youth. We wanted to focus on the youth and the youth of today is all about action. Yes, there aesthetic and creative reasons why it is important to shoot the film in an international setting. It allows you a nice backdrop; ultimately it is a fashion brand and aesthetics, style etc. do play a big role in communicating the style quotient of the brand. But apart from that it is also to give a global value to this brand,” explained Gupta.

     

    When it comes to fashion brands, more often than not we see the clichéd concept of how wearing the brand can make one a winner or achieve the impossible in life. “Everybody followed conventional wisdom in terms of advertising where you talked more about achievement or being good-looking, it was all focused on personality. It was us who took these fabrics and decided to position the brand of fabrics as a brand which offers technologically superior fabrics that will aide people in their lives, especially the man of action. The youth of today is on-the-go and need something which will help them. It was time for change and today everything has changed. If Vimal needs to come back and become a market leader, it needs to have its own voice,” said the Gupta.

     

    On the marketing front, a 360-degree strategy has been agreed upon but is there any special plan was the most used and enquired about platform ‘Digital’? “We already are working very extensively on social media platform. We have taken a lot inventory on YouTube, so we are doing all those standard digital efforts as it is. But we are also planning a lot of engagement activities which you will see and is very effective in getting across this new position and new fabrics to work on innovative little digital program,” added Gupta.

     

  • Chairman Mukesh Ambani's son Akash has joined Reliance Industries Ltd and is reportedly actively engaged in finalising the go-to-market strategy of the ambitious 4G telecom venture

    Jio mere lal! Mukesh Ambani’s son Akash joins RIL; begins at telecom arm

    Akash Ambani with mother and Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani at the IPL auctions on February 13… Fotocorp

    By Rajeev Jayaswal & Chaitali Chakravarty

     

    Thirty-two years ago, Dhirubhai Ambani’s son Mukesh joined the company his father had founded. Now, Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s son Akash has joined Reliance Industries Ltd, starting at its telecom unit at a critical time. He’s involved in finalising the go-to-market strategy of the ambitious 4G telecom venture, said two persons aware of the development.

     

    “He comes to office regularly and sits in review meetings with his father and Manoj Modi. He is also working closely with Reliance Jio Infocomm’s Group President Sandip Das. The company doesn’t want to talk about it because he is new to the business and learning the ropes,” said one of those cited above.

     

    It is learnt that Akash, who was also seen at the IPL players’ auction last week along with mother Nita Ambani, is working with Mr Das in preparing a comprehensive plan for Reliance Jio that will include strategies for customer acquisition, service, call centres and related issues.

     

    According to one of the persons cited above, Mukesh Ambani is keen that his son sits through all critical meetings of Reliance Jio because he feels this would be the best education for him. The elder Ambani learnt the fundamentals of the group’s flagship petrochemicals business by shadowing his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, at every meeting and at every juncture that decisions were taken.

     

    Mukesh Ambani joined RIL in 1981 at the age of 24 and went on to set up India’s biggest refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat. He was also responsible for setting up the group’s telecom venture and had an ambitious vision of where he wanted to go with it. But the unit became part of younger brother Anil Ambani’s businesses following a split between them. A subsequent rapprochement between the brothers meant the older brother could reenter the business that he felt so strongly about.

     

    An RIL spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the younger Ambani’s induction. Akash Ambani, 22, who pursued undergraduate studies at Brown University in the US, returned to India last year to intern in the family business. His twin sister Isha, a graduate from Yale, is likely to join the Reliance Foundation, which houses the group’s schools and hospital ventures, said a person aware of the plans. Their younger brother, Anant, is pursuing higher studies in the US.

     

    People familiar with the inner workings of the company say Mr Modi is one of Akash’s key mentors. Mr Modi, 55, was Mukesh Ambani’s classmate at engineering college and is a hands-on operations person.

     

    Regarded by many as Mr Ambani’s closest associate, Mr Modi played a large role in setting up the Hazira petrochemicals complex, the Jamnagar refinery, the first telecom business, Reliance Retail and now the 4G rollout. The 4G project provides the right opportunity for the younger Ambani to learn the basics of setting up a venture from scratch, said some of those cited above.

     

    RIL, which is said to have aggressive plans to roll out a nationwide voice and data network to rival that of the incumbents, bid around Rs 11,000 crore for spectrum in auctions that ended last week. Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of RIL, is the first telecom operator to hold a pan-India unified licence, which means it can offer all telecom services everywhere in India.

     

    The initiation of Akash into the telecom venture seems to be a conscious decision on the part of Mukesh Ambani because the business combines both the need for innovation and taps into the aspirations of the younger generation. Akash is part of a venture that has grown rapidly from less than 700 professionals a year ago to over 3,000 employees. Reliance Industries as a whole is a powerhouse with a net profit of Rs 21,003 crore and total assets in excess of Rs 318,500 crore.

     

    Ambani junior is often seen in the Reliance Corporate Park located at Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai, people said. The plush corporate office, popularly known as RCP, was built about four years ago and houses almost all the RIL businesses. RCP also has an office for Ambani senior, although he usually functions from Maker IV in Nariman Point. Akash’s RCP office is in the same building as that of the chairman’s office, they said.

     

    Much will depend on how Reliance’s long-anticipated telecom plans unfold. Bharti, Vodafone and Idea will fight hard to make sure the new entrant doesn’t hurt their business.

     

    The younger Ambani has been given the ideal platform from which to launch himself and make a mark as the first member of the third generation of a family that has transformed India’s business history in the past half-century.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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