Campaign India Agency Report Card: Rediffusion Y&R

Type of agency Advertising
Company ownership Y&R
Key personnel Diwan Arun Nanda, chairman, Mahesh Chauhan, Group CEO, Ramanuj Shastry, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, chief creative officers
Accounts won LG, Tanishq, Marico among others
Accounts lost Colors, Tata Sky, ING Vysya, Franklin Templeton

Rediffusion has seen better years. 
The agency, for which 2008 looked promosing last year on back of high-ticket wins such as Tata Sky and Viacom 18’s Colors, saw the same clients look elsewhere this year. Losses of ING Vysya and Franklin Templeton must have hurt too.
LG  splitting its creative duties between BBH and Y&R globally came as a wind-fall for Rediffusion India. And Airtel provided the necessary spine for the agency to hold steady, alongwith some local wins such as Tanishq and a part of Marico’s business.
Work created for Airtel stood out created by the creative duo, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar and Ramanuj Shastry.  The film featuring Vidya Balan and Madhavan. tugged at the nation’s heart strings, as did one made for the Delhi Half Marathon. The agency rounded up the year  with a quirky one featuring the ‘in-couple’ Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in “I miss you so much it hurts” spot.
Rediffusion handled the creative part of the high profile launch of Tata Nano.
The agency beefed up its digital department by appointing the  star Arc head, Karl Gomes, , who brought Leo Burnett a coveted Cyber Gold..
  It also launched a new design unit which is headed by Siddhartha Singh (business head) and Kalpita Bose (creative head). In the creative department, Iqbal Raj quit the agency to join Percept H as NCD.
There was a restructuring exercise in the agency which saw Mahesh Chauhan being elevated to the position of group CEO. The brand image was also revamped as the brand moved from being Rediffusion DY&R to Rediffusion Y&R.
Campaign Score: 8

How REDIFFUSION Y&R rates itself: 9
The year began with a bang for us with the entire LG business moving into the agency as well as the Kingfisher Airlines account. The agency also executed the high profile launch of Tata Nano.
This momentum continued right through the year with several key people coming onboard as well as quite a few key businesses.  We will close 2008 with a top line growth in excess of 40%.  We are also extremely proud of the fact that our work has gone up a few notches especially on Airtel and Himalayan as well as the sensational launch of Colors.
The creation of the role of Group CEO and the subsequent coming together of the group companies sets the trend for 2009. The addition of digital and design capabilities round off 2008 as the year that could well be watershed for the agency.