Ambience Loses Rs 15 Crore Godrej Account To Hta

Advertising agency, Ambience D'Arcy has lost the Rs 15 crore advertising account of Godrej Appliances to India's largest advertising agency Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA).

However, as of now, only the refrigerator business of the Rs 450-crore Godrej Appliances has moved from Ambience to HTA.

Whether or not the washing machines business will also move out of Ambience remains to be seen. Godrej's refrigerator portfolio comprises brands such as Pentacool, World Series Cold Gold and Ultra.

"We bagged Godrej's refrigerator business last week. We have not yet been asked to make a pitch for the company's washing machines business," Tarun Rai, senior vice-president and general manager of HTA, said.

Godrej Appliances executives were not available for comment.

Interestingly, this is the second time that HTA has bagged the Godrej Appliances account. About three years ago, the entire Godrej Appliances account was handled by HTA, before it moved to Ambience.

"It feels great to have an ex-client back, especially today when (capturing) refrigerator (companies) is a very competitive area," Rai said.

Incidentally, when HTA lost the creative part of the Godrej Appliances account to Ambience three years ago, it also lost the media planning and buying part of the business to Starcom (Leo Burnett's media buying arm).

However, last year, HTA managed to win the business back from Starcom. Godrej Appliances' media planning and buying business is now handled by MindShare, HTA's media buying outfit.

Apart from washing machines and refrigerators, Godrej Appliances also makes air-conditioners.