Campaign India Agency Report Card: Mudra & DDB Mudra

Accounts won BSNL, Paramount Cables, MY FM, Rakindo Developers, Jockey, Lalwani Industries, Shanti Pan Masala, Dept. of Trade & Taxes (Govt. of Delhi), Femina, Filmfare, Mexus Education, Lonely Planet, World Gold Council, In Orbit Malls, HP, Tata Communications, Wrigley, Volkswagen, ITC, Neutrogena , Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis  (Calcium Sandoz and Otrivin) , Unicef, Times Of India, Johnson & Johnson MD&D, John Hopkins, Constella Futures, Vinsura Wines, Dishman Pharma, Okaya Batteries
Accounts lost Big TV, She Comfort

It’s been a learning for us at Campaign India: dealing with groups with a number of entities such as the Mudra Group has. The responses came clubbed, while we expected them to come in seperately. We’ll address this next year.

It’s been a busy year for Mudra, considering the number of specialist units the agency launched in 2009.  KB Vinod, Joydeep Dasgupta and Azazul Haque were brought on board in various capacities. Business wins included Inorbit Malls, MyFM, Femina magazine, Peter England, Vimal Pan Masala, Jockey and The Ministry of Civil Aviation, World Gold Council, Paramount Cables, and BBC’s Lonely Planet magazine. It was also empanelled for the Union Bank of India account.

The Mudra Group also ramped up its Ahmedabad office and rechristened it Ignite Mudra.

It sought out partnerships for each of  its specialist units,  in an attempt at building expertise and have an integrated offering.

The agency won a Globe at the MAA Globes Awards.

 As for DDB Mudra, 2009 had a quiet start, picking up by the middle of the year. The Volkswagen win was a significant win, both from a prestige standpoint as well as business viewpoint. The agency was busy hiring talent, bringing in M&C Saatchi’s Rajeev Sabnis, Michael Follet, Burnard Rajan,  Rachana Roy,  Anshumani Khanna and Timsy Gupta.  Manish Sinha, president, strategy, quit.

 DDB Mudra has won the Henkel India’s Fa Men’s Xtreme account. To continue with the good news, it hasn’t lost any notable accounts this year, either.

 Its campaign for Air India’s ‘Bangalore-Dubai’ campaign won a silver at Cannes. Its radio spot for the Islamic Research Foundation titled ‘Bush’, too won creative accolades at The One Show, Mirchi Kaan and Spikes Asia. It was shortlisted at Spikes for its ‘Opinion Poll’ campaign for Hindustan Times.

 A big, busy year for Mudra. We have no argument with their self-score.

Campaign Score: 9

How Mudra & DDB Mudra rates itself: 9

As a part of its new structure, the Mudra Group has strengthened its capabilities with the DDB Mudra Group, Mudra Advertising and Ignite Mudra. DDB Mudra Group has seen phenomenal growth and transformation over the past year. From the addition of an enviable group of talent to its senior positions (Hegerman, Sabnis, Follett, Mallik), to some huge wins in terms of power brands (VW, Neutrogena) and awards (One Show, Cannes, Abbies, LIA, MMA), DDB Mudra Group has been in the limelight for all the right reasons. The unique combination of DDB’s creative legacy and Mudra’s experience in the Indian market, have attracted clients from Unilever, Wrigley, Philips, Johnson & Johnson to the Reliance ADA Group and Infosys. DDB Mudra Group today boasts of the ability to offer unique integrated capabilities through its 4 SBUs- DDB Mudra, Tribal DDB India, RAPP India and Mudra Health & Lifestyle. And with Tribal DDB winningMedia’s Digital Agency of the Year, DDB Worldwide being named Campaign Magazine’s Network of the Year and Rapp winning Direct Marketing Agency of the Year by Marketing magazine in the UK, DDB Mudra Group is on track to being a large and an influential communications group.

 Mudra Advertising too has a lot to celebrate this year. With big names on the client roster, including LIC, Future Group, Godrej Group, Union Bank, USL, TTK Prestige, Aditya Birla Nuovo, Federal Bank, Malayala Manorama, HCC, Amrutanjan, HBO and Hindustan Petroleum, Mudra Advertising continues to partner not only large clients, but more critically, enjoys some of the most enduring client relationships in the business. Today, Mudra Advertising, with its three distinct SBUs – Mudra (advertising), Water (strategy & design consultancy) and Maatra (localization & pre-media services) - offers clients a unique understanding of brands and creativity. And as its many client wins in the recent months have shown - including Jockey, Femina, Filmfare, Lonely Planet, In Orbit Malls, BSNL, Paramount Cables – brands continue to show growing faith in the agency’s unique creative voice. Some of the agency’s notable campaigns this year have included Economic Times- Power of Ideas, Lavassa – Future Cities, Femina – What to Wear, Amrutanjan- Be Ready, Jockey- Just Jockeying and McDowell’s Friendzy.

Mudra Group also launched a specialist agency for the brand building needs of entrepreneurs- Ignite Mudra. With its legacy of launching several landmark brands like Vimal, Rasna and Paras Pharma, Ignite Mudra has the unique DNA to partner India’s next wave of entrepreneurial growth.