ZenithOptimedia's Equinox bags UrbanClap media mandate

Equinox will handle the media planning and buying duties for the brand, including out-of-home and digital.

ZenithOptimedia Group's Equinox has won the entire media planning and buying mandate, including out-of-home and digital, for the services marketplace UrbanClap, which operates in the metros of Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad. ZenithOptimedia Group will play a pivotal role in the services major's expansion plans.

Hari Krishnan, managing director, ZenithOptimedia, says, "The digital medium has re-wired the relationship between consumers and localised service professionals. UrbanClap is ambitious and future-facing and is looking at extensive expansion across geographies, categories of services, and talent. We will provide it with the right scale, insights and touch points in order to fuel its growth plans."

Varun Khaitan, co-founder of UrbanClap, says, "We started this company with the vision of making localised services accessible to the Indian consumer in view of a fragmented and unorganised industry. UrbanClap is about convenience and comfort, and more importantly, about trust. We needed a credible media partner, one that understands our zeal and approach to the services business and is able to bring in the same kind of fresh thinking to our media plans. ZenithOptimedia has proven expertise in the e-commerce area, and brings in rich consumer insights and data driven planning in order to strengthen our brand further."

ZenithOptimedia, part of the Publicis Groupe, is a global media services network with over 7,500 people working in 262 offices across 74 countries. ZenithOptimedia Group's key clients include Nestle, Micromax, LVMH Group, Jabong, H&M, Truecaller, and Fitbit. It also handles through Performics and Resultrix, the digital duties of companies such as Air Vistara, Airtel, Olx, ICICI Bank, Star India, Standard Chartered Bank, Birla Sun Life Insurance, and Tata AIG Life Insurance.

The mobile services marketplace UrbanClap provides services across 60 categories. These include the services of photographers, electricians, home cleaning and repairs, yoga and guitar instructors. UrbanClap claims to have 36,000 professionals on the platform, servicing 4,000-5,000 requests each day, across 125 categories. It is expected to venture into newer cities such as Jaipur, Chandigarh and Kolkata.