a.m. wins creative duties of Bajaj Auto international business

The newly formed agency will service Bajaj's international business of three-wheelers.

Bajaj Auto has appointed a.m., a Mumbai-based creative agency, to handle the creative mandate of its three-wheeler category's international business. The agency won the multi-agency pitch, which began in December, 2013 in Pune.

Under the mandate, a.m. will be expected to relaunch the new-generation Bajaj RE, which includes a three-wheeler passenger vehicle. The brand has a presence in more than 36 countries; however, the relaunch campaign will be rolled out in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Egypt, Bangladesh and Peru in the first phase. The agency will conceptualise the brand's creative communication strategy for print, radio, outdoor and below-the-line media, as of now.

This is the first time Bajaj Auto has hired a professional agency for its three-wheeler portfolio's international business. Although local country heads and distributors have promoted the brand till now, the company felt the need to have a consistent and uniform marketing effort in its international market. While the business size is not known, the company's international business contributes to almost 35 per cent of its total sales.

According to the agency, the brand is a leader in the category but has also been instrumental in creating the category itself. In fact, Bajaj Auto revamped its three-wheeler portfolio in 2013.

Shreepad Shende, director, a.m., says, "It is a privilege for us to partner with a company like Bajaj Auto. Our first project was the re-branding of its Pune office and this design is now being extended to all major three-wheeler dealerships across India. This is the first time we will be working with the international business group." This will be the agency's flagship account.

Nilesh Vaidya, director, a.m., adds that both the product and the markets are new challenges for the team. "In most of these countries, it's a category where not much has been done in terms of path-breaking work. Hopefully we can change that," Vaidya states.

Bajaj Auto, which has been manufacturing three-wheelers for about five decades, is one of the largest selling three-wheeler brands in the world. With over 50 lakh customers, it leads in the export market as well.

a.m., which is nine-months-old, was started by Nilesh Vaidya and Shreepad Shende. Some of the agency's other clients include Reliance Life Insurance, National Geographic magazine and other titles of ACK Media.