Meridian rides away with Piaggio's Vespa Scooters

The company is also on the lookout for a media planning and buying agency for the brand; the pitch process is currently underway.

It is learnt that Vespa Scooters, the two-wheeler product from the stable of the Italian company Piaggio, has awarded its entire creative mandate to Meridian Communications, Ogilvy India's second agency. The Mumbai branch of the agency will handle the business.

The company is currently in the process of finalising a media planning and buying agency for the brand.

The concerned spokesperson at Vespa Scooters confirmed the developments to afaqs! on grounds of anonymity. At the moment, the company and the agency are in the process of settling the financial details of the account movement.

It is further learnt that the upcoming advertising campaign for Vespa Scooters, which is to break shortly, will be a 360 degree effort. The brand is now slated to undergo a complete revamp, and will be re-launched with renewed vigour in the months ahead.

Recall that in July this year, afaqs! had reported that the account was scouting for a creative partner. The pitch process was held in Pune, and saw the participation of several leading, networked creative agencies, as well as independent start-ups and creative boutiques.

Further, it was reported that the creative pitch was in tandem with Vespa's plans to venture into the Indian scooter market soon. Interestingly enough, this market is far from unfamiliar territory, as the scooter brand Vespa has competed here several times in the past.

Specifically, the Vespa has been associated with strong Indian companies such as the Firodias and Bajaj Auto in the 1960s, and later, with LML (Lohia Machines Ltd) in the 1980s.

In the past, the Vespa has been associated with style and modernity. It remains to be seen how the winning creative agency, Meridian Communications, will help the Vespa position itself in today's extremely competitive two-wheeler market in India.

For the record, it may be recalled that in May this year, Meridian Communications was awarded the creative mandate for the Onida Mobile account.