Tag: IBD

 

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.