Yepme aligns business with Lintas; LMG to manage media duties

In April, the e-commerce portal got Lowe Lintas & Partners on board to manage its creative duties. Yepme plans to spend Rs 30-35 crore annually on media.

Online fashion portal Yepme has awarded its media planning and buying duties to Lintas Media Group.

LMG has won the business after a multi-agency pitch that took place in Mumbai, which saw participation of several media agencies. Yepme plans to spend Rs 30-35 crore annually on media. The business will be managed by the agency's Mumbai office.

The e-commerce portal had earlier appointed Lowe Lintas & Partners to manage the creative mandate. There was a pitch for the creative business as well, in which four to five agencies had participated.

Yepme.com has a range of fashion wear and accessories for men. It also plans to launch a women's wear range on May 30. The brand has signed leading Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut as its style ambassador.

Confirming the news of handing over the media mandate to LMG, Vivek Gaur, CEO, Yepme, says, "With Yepme, we are trying to cater to the non-metro audience and LMG could understand this pretty well, more than any other agency that had participated in the pitch process."

Apparently, Yepme is creating a category for itself. Unlike most other brands that are using the online route, Yepme has a non-metro focus and is creating a network of clients across the country.

"The role of media for such a challenge is extremely critical and requires a fine balance between mass reach and narrow targeting. We are glad to have Lintas Media Group partner us and give us very strong support in media as we nurture the brand further," adds Gaur.

Gaur says that the aim is to create a brand which is more like an FMCG brand.

The media mix will include TV, print and radio, but will be skewed towards TV. "We plan to advertise on general entertainment channels, movie and music channels. The print campaign will be carried out in the vernacular newspapers. We do not intend to use radio and outdoor media," explains Gaur.

Suresh Balakrishna of Lintas Media Group, who is very enthusiastic about the addition of this new business, says "Yepme will go a long way in adding a young and futuristic character to the portfolio of brands that we work with. Fashion and e-tailing are both growth areas of the future and their media needs are extremely dynamic. We are very glad that the management of Yepme recognised our strengths and decided to partner with us for future growth. We plan to provide strategic solutions to this brand."

For the record, earlier this year, Balakrishna had joined LMG to head a new agency under the LMG brand. The agency is yet to be named, and Balakrishna will be the chief executive officer of this agency.

This win comes soon after the recent wins of Lintas Media Group, including the accounts of Henkel, Eden City and OCL.