Raymond adds TBWA to its creative roster

The business will be handled by the agency's Mumbai branch.

Senior level sources close to the development have confirmed to afaqs! that textile and apparel company Raymond has awarded a part of its creative mandate to TBWA. The agency's Mumbai branch will handle the business.

This development, it has been learnt, is the result of a closely fought multi agency pitch which involved about 10 agencies.

RK Swamy BBDO continues to stay on Raymond's roster as its principal creative agency. The agency has been handling the creative duties for brand Raymond for a decade.

TBWA will be responsible for work on the brand's new mass market offering, which will be rolled out shortly. Apparently, Raymond is eyeing the mass market space after establishing its presence in the premium, high end of the market.

In the first week of December 2010, afaqs! reported that following a review of media agencies, Raymond had consolidated all its media planning and buying with the RK Swamy Media Group, comprising Media Direction, Digital Direction, Hansa Media Services and Hansa Outdoor. The agency now handles the media duties for Raymond, Park Avenue, Parx, ColorPlus, JK Helene Curtis and JK Ansell.

Prior to this development, the agency held the media mandate only for the Raymond brand; the media duties for its other brands were handled by Starcom MediaVest and Dentsu Media.

It may be recalled that in December 2010, Raymond's ad campaign attempted to popularise its lesser known offerings such as Manzoni, ColorPlus, Parx and Notting Hill. These brands are a part of the Raymond Group and are available at The Raymond Shop outlets. The campaign was rolled out with the objective of informing customers that The Raymond Shop is a one stop shopping destination for men, complete with all of Raymond's brands under one roof.

Shiv Sethuraman, chief executive officer, TBWA India was contacted at the time of filing this report but remained unavailable for comment.