JWT Bengaluru wins ITC's chewing gum business

The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch that was held in Bengaluru over the past month-and-a-half. The new brand will be launched in the market, shortly.

The result of ITC's chewing gum pitch is out. The account has been awarded to JWT.

When contacted, Rajesh Gangwani, senior vice-president and head, JWT Bengaluru, confirmed the news to afaqs!. "We have won the mandate for an ITC product in the confectionery space," he confirms.

Recall that in the first week of July this year, afaqs! had reported that the multi-business conglomerate was scouting for a creative partner for this upcoming confectionery venture. It was then that afaqs! had learnt that the product is a chewing gum brand.

The pitch process was held in Bengaluru and several leading agencies with a strong presence in the Southern market, participated in the process. According to industry sources, part of the brief given by the ITC authorities was to coin a name for this yet-to-be-launched product. Sources go on to inform that towards the end of the pitch, the competition was down to Grey Bengaluru and JWT Bengaluru.

Gangwani informs that the pitch was both creative, as well as strategy-heavy, and that the agency provided a combination of creative and strategy-related recommendations as part of its presentation. "A host of ideas were shared by us; not just strategic, but also product-related. These, I believe, were seen as strong value-additions (by the client)," he explains.

The agency is yet to actively begin work on this account. The marketing strategy, launch and roll-out plan for the product are details that are yet to be frozen.

Currently, ITC has several agencies on its creative roster. Law & Kenneth handles the creative duties for ITC's Vivel soaps and the Fiama Di Wills range of soaps, gels and shampoos, while Mudra handles communication for Vivel shampoo. Optima (Chennai) has also worked on communication for Vivel's soaps in the recent past.

Meridian handles the soap brand Superia.

Communication for confectionery products Mint-O Fresh and Sunfeast cookies is being handled by Draftfcb Ulka.

Ads for the instant noodles offering from Sunfeast - Yippee Noodles - and the popular chips brand -- Bingo -- are being handled by Ogilvy India.

The media mandate for the ITC account currently lies with Madison. The agency handles the entire ITC portfolio, across all verticals.