More changes lined up at DDB Mudra Group

Water, DDB Mudra's strategic branding and design consultancy, will join the Interbrand network and will represent Interbrand in India. The group also announced the entry of shopper marketing agency TracyLocke in India.

The DDB Mudra Group network in India has adopted a new structure, brand identity, colours and brand architecture. The logo and the structure clearly bear strong DDB presence.

After the restructure, the group will now comprise eight branded agencies, namely DDB Mudra, DDB MudraMax, Mudra, Water, DDB Health & Lifestyle, Maatra, RAPP and Tribal DDB India.

The agency DDB Mudra shall be the influence and behavioural change agency with a pan India presence across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The second agency, Mudra, shall function as the partnership firm for entrepreneurs, with a pan-India presence across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata and Mumbai (earlier, Ignite Mudra, which worked under the leadership of Sudarshan Banerjee as a partnership firm for entrepreneurs, was rolled back into Mudra). The two agencies have been created with a possible intent of being able to work with competing brands.

DDB MudraMax, formerly known as MudraMax, shall be the experience and engagement arm which offers media, out of home, retail and experiential services.

Under the new structure, Water, the brand and design consultancy, will now be a part of Omnicom's Interbrand network. Water will represent Interbrand in India. Simon Bailey, CEO, EMEA and LatAm, Interbrand, says, "It is clearly an exciting development that Water will shortly become Interbrand in India." Water, as part of the global Interbrand network, will continue to be headed by Ashish Mishra, its chief strategist and head.

DDB Health & Lifestyle will continue to function as the health and lifestyle solutions practice, while RAPP continues to be the data-driven marketing services agency. Tribal DDB India shall function as the interactive and new media agency.

Maatra will also continue to operate as the localisation and pre-media services agency, and will function as an independent unit.

Earlier, there were four agency strategic business units (SBUs) that functioned under the Mudra Group, namely Mudra India, Mudra Max, DDB Mudra and Ignite Mudra. Mudra India had five SBUs - Mudra West; Mudra South; Mudra North & East; Water, a strategy and design specialist; and Maatra, a localisation and pre-media specialist.

DDB Mudra comprised four SBUs - DDB India, Tribal DDB India, RAPP India and DDB Health & Lifestyle. Mudra Max consisted of 16 SBUs that provided clients seamless solutions across a wide array of media touchpoints. Ignite Mudra provided partnerships for entrepreneurs, a specialist agency that catered to the complete brand building needs of entrepreneurs across geographies.

The DDB Mudra Group has also declared the entry of TracyLocke, a global shopper marketing agency, into India. TracyLocke, a part of DDB Worldwide Network, will fit into the DDB Mudra Group in partnership with DDB MudraMax. TracyLocke India will be managed by Pratap Bose, CEO, DDB Mudra Group. Bose says, "The entry of TracyLocke complements the DDB MudraMax 'feet-on-the-street' strengths and given our huge footprint in India, I believe that the TracyLocke India model will certainly add huge value to both our global and retail brands."

TracyLocke's roster of clients includes brands such as HP, T-Mobile, Starbucks, Johnson & Johnson, Gatorade, Tropicana, PepsiCo, Sony and Unilever's Lipton.

The executive board of the DDB Mudra Group will consist of Madhukar Kamat, Pratap Bose, Sonal Dabral, Dilip Upadhay and Ajit Menon.

Earlier this month, DDB Mudra Group had announced the appointment of three regional heads - Vandana Das to head its North operations, Rajiv Sabnis to head the West operations, while Ranji Cherian continued to head the southern operations. Sabnis and Cherian will also initiate integration projects and business for DDB MudraMax from the existing clients within DDB Mudra and Mudra in their respective regions.

John Zeigler, chairman and CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, Japan and India says that DDB Mudra's strength is the strongest local with the most connected international business. "We have an extremely strong foundation here in India and also an agency that reflects the culture of India." He says that short term plan for the DDB Mudra Group is to be the No. 1 in India, and the long term plan is to win two or three major brands in India and do the best work in that category.

Until November 2011, Omnicom had a very shallow presence in the Indian market, with agencies such as TBWA/India, BBDO India, OMD, and joint ventures such as R K Swamy/BBDO, besides holding a 10 per cent stake in the Mudra Group. The Omnicom Group increased its foothold in India on acquiring a majority stake in Mudra in November 2011.