L&K bags McCain Foods India's creative duties

The agency's Delhi office will service the account.

McCain Foods India, a subsidiary of McCain Foods Canada, has appointed Law & Kenneth (L&K) to handle its creative duties. The account, which was won after a multi-agency pitch, will be handled by the agency's Delhi office. As the agency of record (AoR), L&K has the task of creating awareness about the brand in India, besides conceptualisation and execution of integrated brand communication. The brand's creative duties were earlier with Leo Burnett.

Vikas Mittal, managing director, McCain Foods India, says, "We see a big opportunity in making McCain a part of the food basket of Indian households and see the L&K team as a key partner in creating the communication platform for achieving this goal."

Gunjan Pandey, general manager, marketing, McCain Foods India, says that L&K was chosen for its strong consumer insight and creative direction.

Sanjeev Gauba, senior vice-president and branch head, Law & Kenneth Delhi, says, "We are excited to come on board with the McCain team. We will look after its retail and food services and carry out above-the-line, below-the-line and digital campaigns."

The brand faces stiff competition from other segments like ready to cook and ready to eat. The challenge, it is learnt, is to create top-of-mind awareness. The agency will be ready with a campaign for McCain by the end of June, Gauba reveals.

In March, the brand brought on board Madison Media as its media agency of record (AoR) to take care of its digital, display, social, video and mobile platforms.

McCain Foods' last television campaign was in December 2012, where it introduced its first brand ambassador, Karishma Kapoor. The campaign's tagline was 'Jhatse banao, kuch tasty khao'.

McCain Foods offers a variety of frozen products such as French Fries, super wedges, smiles, rosti rounds; Indian ethnic specialties, veggie nuggets, veggie burger patties and imported cheese appetisers such as cheese and jalapeno nuggets, macaroni 'n' cheese munchies and mozzarella cheese sticks.

McCain Foods is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and claims to have sales of more than $6 billion. The brand owns 50 plants in six continents and its products are supplied to over 160 countries.