Luminous appoints Arms Communications for its home electrical business

The annual media spends for this new division is estimated to be in the range of Rs 20-25 crore.

Luminous Power Technologies has appointed Arms Communications for its new home electrical division. The agency won the business following a multi-agency pitch that took place in Delhi and saw participation from several agencies including Meridian, which is the incumbent on the account.

Interestingly, Arms Communications had collaborated with Yang Communications for the pitch. Saints & Warrior's second agency helped Arms Communication to present valuable creative options to the client. Together, the two agencies presented a creative strategy to Luminous.

After the win, Arms Communications and Yang Communications will together service the client. However, the work contract will lie with Arms Communications.

Reet Ahluwalia, chairman, Arms Communications, claims that this is the first time that such a collaboration has taken place, where two agencies pool their resources to present to a client.

Ahluwalia says that to leverage Luminous' exciting brand equity, and achieve high visibility will be the focus for the home electrical division, which will be launched under the Luminous brand. The offering will include switches, fans, cables, and wires.

The media mix will include the use of print, TV, and outdoor, and a plethora of below the line (BTL) activities. The total spends on media and promotional activities is estimated to be in the range of Rs 20-25 crore for the year.

Alliance Marketing and Advertising takes care of the media planning and buying duties for Luminous.

On choosing Arms Communication, Sridip Banerjee, deputy general manager, marketing tells afaqs! "Arms Communication came across as an agency which can provide strategic inputs to the overall marketing approach. It was quite evident through their presentations and the detailed discussion which spanned several meetings that there are synergies in the way both the parties want to promote brand Luminous and an understanding was reached in terms of overall creative duties as well as day to day conduct."

Sachin Tendulkar, who was signed on as brand ambassador of Luminous Power, will also promote the offering of the home electrical division.

For the record, in 2010, Luminous had appointed Meridian to handle its creative function. Arms Crestra was managing the creative duties for Luminous Power Technologies before Meridian.

Founded in 1988, Luminous Power Technologies manufactures power products for home and commercial applications. The company's group portfolio includes power backup, industrial batteries, renewable and alternate energy solutions such as solar, wind and hybrid solutions, infrastructure solutions for IT and telecom, diesel generator sets and home electrical products.

In May 2011, French electrical group Schneider Electric, acquired 74 per cent of Indian manufacturer Luminous for Rs 1,400 crore.