Campaign India Agency Report card 2010: Mudra/DDB mudra

Type of agency Advertising & Media

Company ownership 90% ADAG Group and 10% DDB Group (Omnicom)

Key personnel Madhukar Kamath, group CEO and MD, Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Group and CEO, Mudra Max and Ignite Mudra, Jude Fernandes, executive director,  Mudra Group and CEO, Mudra India, Sandeep Vij, executive director and chief knowledge officer, Mudra Group and CEO – DDB Mudra, Bobby Pawar, CCO, Mudra Group, Ajit Menon, executive director, organization development, Mudra Group, and Dilipkumar Upadhyaya, CFO, Mudra Group

Accounts won Mudra India: L&T Mutual Funds, Kalpataru, Philips Electrolux, Kerala Tourism (empanelled), GIC, Femina,  Lonely Planet, Huawei, VIP Ultra, Emami and Jos Alukkas, Emirates

DDB Mudra: Olive Telecom, Oviesse, Reliance Capital, Thomas Reuters, Standard Chartered Bank, KDA Hospital,  E-Merck, Bajaj Allianz and General Life Insurance, J&J MD&D, Lipton  Ice Tea, CFA, Gulf Oil, Platinum Guild,  Dr. Reddy’s Velocit & Nise, Financial Times.com, UNICEF-Right to Education & Census, GE Health Care, MSD, Intuit, IDBI Federal  and Paramount FarmsIgnite Mudra: Crystal Ceramics, Dudh Sagar, Bharat Forge, Knowledge Academy, Vinsura Wines, Dishman Pharma, Mehsana Dist. Co-op Milk ProducersAccounts lost    Paras Pharma (Recova and Livon), Godrej Nupur 

A new eight-floor office and a new brand identity were just two of the developments that marked a relatively good year for the Mudra Group. The group picked up a total of 26 metals, including four Golds, nine Silvers, and 13 Bronzes, at Goafest, Bronze and Silver lions at Cannes, and was second runner up at Effies 2010. The prized Volkswagen business saw new campaigns being released – ‘Curves are back’ and a talking print innovation. The senior level appointments included Ajay Naqvi as EVP & Head, Mudra North & East, Arijit Ray elevated to President - Mudra West, Gopal Krishnan as VP, Mudra North & East, and Nirmal Pulickal as Mudra North & East as ECD. At DDB Mudra, Mitali Srivastava joined as AVP Strategic Planning, DDB India, Hanoz Mogrelia as CD, DDB India, and Prem Nagrath as finance director, DDB Mudra. On the downside, the departures included Joono Simon, Anil Verma and Sanjay Sharma, Nishant Mehta and Rachana Roy. Also, losing the Reliance Communications pitch to Grey, is something that should give the agency heads food for thought for things to get right next year.  

How Campaign India rates the agency: 8

How Mudra Group rates itself: 9

This year Mudra Group unveiled its new brand identity, the Group strengthened its capabilities through its 4 agency structure to deliver Inventive Brand Solutions. Mudra has carved in several iconic and landmark campaigns this year.    Mudra India offers clients a unique understanding of brands and creativity through its SBUs – Mudra India (Advertising), Water (Strategy & Design Consultancy) and Maatra (Localization & Pre-media services). The agency continues to have enduring relationships with its clients like LIC, Future Group, Godrej Group, Union Bank, USL, TTK Prestige, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Federal Bank, Malayala Manorama, HCC, Amrutanjan, HBO and Hindustan Petroleum. It has added significant new accounts such as L&T Mutual Funds, Philips Electrolux, Kerala Tourism, Huawei and VIP – reaffirming the fact that clients see value in the agency’s unique creative voice. Some of the notable campaigns this year have been – Economic Times - Power of Ideas, Lonely Planet – Travel Well and Electrolux – Amazing, Femina – What do Women Want, All Things Beautiful and What to Wear, and Lavasa – Future Cities. Mudra India had reason to celebrate on the awards front as well, with 2 Bronzes at Cannes, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze EFFIE, One Grand EMVIE, and a Silver and two Bronzes at Spikes Asia. DDB India keeps surprising everyone with their various path-breaking innovations. Over the past year, DDB India has created path-breaking innovations for Volkswagen like the Print Roadblock, Polo launch campaign with cut-outs in The Times of India and a heli-banner, and the recent Vento launch - the talking print advertisement. A fine example of our work talking for itself – literally. DDB Health & Lifestyle exhibited remarkable campaigns for social health and communication issues like census, mother and child care, polio eradication, girl child and social upliftment, Right to Education etc. Adding to the tally RAPP has won 9 accounts this year. Tribal  DDB India’s  campaigns titled ‘Use Mobile Save Paper’ and ‘Idea Mobile Roadie Challenge’ for Idea Cellular bagged 6 metals at the ‘Campaign Digital Media Awards’ and also bagged the Bronze for ‘Digital Agency of the Year’. Ignite Mudra has produced some memorable campaigns for Nilon’s pickles, Paras Pharmaceuticals’ DermiCool, Krack and Livon. It continues to keep the promise of delivering the best with recent campaigns also scoring high in this respect. Some of the successful campaigns include Elite Food, Zydus Cadilla (Nutralite), Nirma (Nutrasweet, Nirlife), YoBykes, Krack (Soft Heel Gel) and Moov (Janani).Big ideas being replaced with experience andengagement ideas, collaborative productions and influence rather than control, majority of our campaigns are in-built with the thought of curiosity, empathy, imagination and experimentation. This is the branding platform we use to integrate these 4 architectural standpoints in our work in such a way that the Group not only wins accolades, but ensures 100% complacent clients.