BBH drives away with Skoda India

The win follows a multi-agency pitch that took place in Mumbai. BBH will conceptualise and execute the creative communication campaigns for all Skoda Auto products and initiatives in India.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has won the mandate for Skoda India. The business will be managed by the agency's Mumbai office. The win follows a multi-agency pitch that took place in Mumbai. As part of the mandate, BBH will handle Skoda's corporate initiatives, new launches and the entire portfolio including Fabia, Laura, Yeti, Superb and the newly launched Rapid.

Thomas Kuehl, brand head, Skoda Auto India and member, board sales and marketing, says, "Ever since its arrival in India, Skoda Auto has constantly evolved to suit the demands of the Indian consumers. Effective communications and daily engagement with our customers is an essential requirement to enforce our corporate identity, 'Simply Clever', together with our value-for-money proposition. Moving ahead, we welcome BBH as our new communications and strategic partner."

Earlier, Skoda India had called for a creative pitch as a part of its annual review process. Agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Bates were also in the fray for the business.

Saatchi & Saatchi's Mumbai branch was the incumbent on the account. The agency won the business for Skoda's entire product portfolio in May, 2011. Recently, it came up with a TVC for the Skoda Rapid that was launched on Facebook before it was launched on television.

Earlier, the account was handled by Saints & Warriors. Law & Kenneth and iB&W have also handled the brand at different points.

Kamal Basu, head, marketing, Skoda India, says, "In today's media-savvy era, it is imperative that one builds the brand's image through sharp and effective communication strategies. We expect our association with BBH to be a successful one, interspersed with memorable campaigns for our various products and corporate initiatives."

For the record, Basu, former CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi India recently joined Skoda India as head, marketing.

Partha Sinha, managing partner, BBH India, says, "Skoda India is a fantastic brand and has built a great reputation in India. We are delighted to have the opportunity to take the brand forward. We are confident that we will be able to use our strategic and creative capabilities to create communications that have the well-known BBH ingredients of intelligence and magic."