Tamil news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai awards creative mandate to Disha Communications

The development follows an informal creative review of agencies done by the channel; the incumbent agency on the account is Grey.

Tamil news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai has awarded its creative mandate to Bengaluru-based Disha Communications. The agency will handle the business out of its Chennai branch.

The development follows an informal creative pitch called by the channel. While Disha initially pitched for a new channel that is being planned by Puthiya Thalaimurai, it bagged the entire mandate eventually.

Grey handled the creative duties of the channel since its launch in August last year.

Shyam, director, operations, Puthiya Thalaimurai tells afaqs!, "The commitment and dedication showed by Disha during the pitch impressed us."

The 24-hour news channel was launched last year by New Generation Media Corporation, publishers of the Puthiya Thalaimurai group of magazines. It soon rose to become the top news channel in the state. On launch, it intended to introduce a vibrant young energy to news-making, rooted firmly in traditional ethics with the tagline 'Unmai Udannukudan' (quick news without an iota of falsehood).

Going forward, the channel plans further growth with a new channel in the offing soon. The upcoming campaign will be spread across various media. There will be a lot of focus on events and BTL activities as well.

OMD continues to remain the media buying agency of the channel.

For Disha Communications, which celebrates its 25th year, Puthiya Thalaimurai is the first media account. Among the other businesses handled by the agency are State Bank of Hyderabad, Panasonic Home Appliances, Tata Motors, Tata Gold Plus and British Council.

Talking to afaqs!, Devarajan Duraibabu, vice-president, Disha Communications says that the agency went ahead with a consumer perspective that clicked with the client. Armed with ample research findings that presented the people’s standpoint on Puthiya Thalaimurai, the agency worked on a strategy that Duraibabu says did not stray away too much from the channel’s core DNA.

“For the new channel (that the agency initially pitched for), we came up with a strategy that stemmed from Puthiya Thalaimurai’s current positioning. The channel stands for truth and neutrality that has made them popular with the masses. Their non-news programmes have also been very successful. We thought that the strategy for a new channel could not be very different from the core DNA. Taking off from the same values, we knew it had to be ‘responsible entertainment’,” Duraibabu says.

“We conducted our research in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli and presented our findings to the client. Our strategy was not creative for creative’s sake but was breakthrough and different. It was not something just out of the hat but came from the public themselves. It made a huge impact with the client eventually helping us bag the entire business and not just the one new channel,” he adds.