Let's reach for the sun, says VGC's new TVC for Aditya Birla Group

Campaign India Team, 08 March, 2010 Mumbai

CREDITS

Project Let's reach for the sun
Brief To highlight that despite the diversity of 30 nationalities, the Aditya Birla Group is one Group, one team, with once voice, with the stretch aspiration of 'reaching for the sun'
Client Aditya Birla Group
Creative agency Vyas Giannetti Creative

Click here to see The Aditya Birla Group's Epic Commercial

The diversity and ethnicity that our Group represents is very large.
 

We needed to capture this aspect. Importantly we wanted to highlight the fact that despite this diversity – 30 nationalities, we are one Group, one team with one voice; with the stretch aspiration of ‘Reaching for the Sun’.

This was our brief to the agency. At the same time, we were keen on continuing the surreal imagery of our earlier campaigns, which gives us a unique visual style.”

Vyas Giannetti Creative has once again admirably executed our brief using the metaphor of music to drive home our message.”

Says Preeti Vyas, CEO Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC), “Our task was to incorporate the shift of strategy into a superlative creative language which whilst maintaining the thematic visual continuity with the previous films, yet had to speak a fresh story. Using music as a metaphor we created a board that brought to life the essence of the brief.”

VGC scouted for the right director around the globe and eventually, with the help of Aditya Birla Group, selected Mathias Zentner, a Graphic Designer turned into an acclaimed Director.

Zentner has many awards under his belt, like, The New York Festivals, London International Advertising Awards, Saatchi and Saatchi Young Guns Award, Cannes Lions, ADC Germany, ADC New York, Promax & BDA to name few.

True to the global theme of the film, the entire talent pool of over 200 people came together from all parts of the world. Whilst the director was German, the cast was from China, India, Thailand, Europe and United States.

The key piece of the film; the spell binding musical orchestra, was composed by Adelphoi Music – a London based music and sound design production company. Their body of work has ensured them awards from D&Ad, Clio, Promax, Emmy, NY Festivals and Mobius, to name a few.The film was shot in various locations in remote parts of Thailand recreating geographic diversities representing different cultures. The sets were designed by Suchartanun 'Kai' Kuladee – a Hollywood based Art Director who has earned the distinction of working on two Oscar nominated films – Rocky and The Beach.

The costumes were styled by Daniela Benzalla of Italy, OMG the production Design Company was Indian along with a team of designers from Singapore, rigs and specialized equipment from China and a German post production company made the film truly a multinational creative expression.

Coverage on how VGC and flex will redefine structural packaging in India.

Shreevar Kheruka, Director – Borosil, said “With Borosil charting out aggressive expansion plans, it is important to find the right partners to help attain its goals. We decided on VGC considering its reputation and expertise in corporate brand building. We are happy to have VGC on board as our brand custodians”.

Speaking on the occasion, Preeti Vyas, CEO and Chief Creative Officer – VGC, said “We are extremely delighted to work with a household brand like Borosil. Borosil has been a pioneer in specialty glassware. As the market evolved, Borosil needed to synergize its design and communication strategy to stand out. VGC is working to create strategic creative solutions for the brand communication across media using a specific set of design methodologies.”

According to industry estimates, the size of the account is pegged to be in the region of Rs 100 million.

Said VGC CEO and chief creative officer Preeti Vyas, "VGC is working to create strategic creative solutions for the brand communication across media using a specific set of design methodologies."

VGC has launched a bouquet of specialist international design and communication verticals in association with global specialists in varied domains from Holland, the US and the UK.

VGC had earlier worked with Borosil, to help it take strategic advantage of the market topography in the early half of the decade.

Shreevar Kheruka, director, Borosil, said, ''With Borosil charting out aggressive expansion plans, it is important to find the right partners to help attain its goals. We decided on VGC considering its reputation and expertise in corporate brand building. We are happy to have VGC on board as our brand custodians''.

Borosil Glassworks was established in1962 in collaboration with Corning Glass Works of the US to manufacture borosilicate low expansion glass. This glass has applications in a variety of uses from the laboratory in high-end research institutes to the microwave in every household. Most recently, borosilicate glass is also being used in the solar thermal industry for heating water as well as for generating electricity.

The Borosil brand name is synonymous with high quality, durability and trust in the minds of all its consumers.

According to Preeti Vyas, CEO and chief creative officer, VGC, ''Borosil has been a pioneer in specialty glassware. As the market evolved, Borosil needed to synergise its design and communication strategy to stand out. VGC is working to create strategic creative solutions for the brand communication across media using a specific set of design methodologies.''

Borosil exports to several countries in America, The British Isles, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East and South Asia.

DixonBaxi talks about collaboration with VGC and the opportunities in the Indian market.

Vyas Giannetti Creative announced a collaboration with London based creative shop Dixonbaxi in January this year. The creative duo of Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi, behind the London agency, were in Mumbai recently to put together their game plan for the collaboration ahead.

Speaking to Campaign India, Dixon commented on the reasons behind their interest in the Indian market, “There were a couple of reasons. On one level, it was a scale thing. Our company works around the world, but when it comes to this burgeoning and growing market place, I felt that we can bring our experience to a market that is really expanding and we can bring that back to Europe. The blend of both those together will be really interesting, it’s what we create on a business level. Creatively, we are interested in inspiring ourselves and if we bring back something that can affect Asian and European clients, it would be great.”

Among the areas of collaboration that Dixonbaxi are looking to tap, through this partnership with VGC is in the interactive and strategic branding space, reveals Dixon. “Some of our expertise in interactive and digital is valuable, also branding and strategy, the positioning of companies and how you can execute that through different mediums,” he adds.

Regarding the exclusivity of the partnership, Dixon comments, “Preeti has a clear vision for her company and how she works with clients and we like her thinking. We are here to understand what this relationship can mean because there is a lot of potential to it. It’s a more exclusive relationship, we will all benefit by focusing on it.”

On her part, Vyas added, “For us, it’s a much larger canvas. What I had felt about two years ago was that India was no longer a small market that spoke to itself. If you look at businesses here, not only are they talking to a new age consumer who is very international and wants to be spoken to in a new language. Also, Indian businesses are looking outwards, they are acquiring companies abroad, expanding abroad or even recruiting from abroad so the boundaries are getting fuzzy. We felt that there were a lot of sciences that existed abroad that we didn’t have here. We thought it made sense to work through collaborations with like-minded people who also want creative excellence.”

After making news for inking six specialized global collaborations in Design and Communication, VGC hits the headlines again. This time, for being the only non-network agency to have earned No.3 position in the Bestadsontv ratings. Other agencies who share the No.3 ranking with VGC are Leo Burnette, Mumbai, RK Swamy BBDO, Mumbai, Rediffusion DY&R, Mumbai and Saatchi & Saatchi, Mumbai.
 
The Best Ads Rankings rate the world's leading advertising agencies, clients and TVC production companies according to the quality of their creative work during the year.

Agencies across the globe submit work to one of five categories which are judged weekly (TV, Outdoor and Print) or monthly (Radio and Interactive). Each week, the best TV, Outdoor and Print is critiqued by a leading international creative expert. Every ad that makes it into the Week's or Month's Best is showcased online and all companies and individuals involved are awarded points. These are then tallied up to give the year's overall rankings.
 
BESTADS TOP INDIAN AGENCIES 2008

1. Leo Burnett, New Delhi (4 points)

2. Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai (3 points)

3. VGC, Mumbai (2 points)

3. Leo Burnett, Mumbai (2 points)

3. RK Swamy BBDO, Mumbai (2 points)

3. Rediffusion DY&R, Mumbai (2 points)

3. Saatchi & Saatchi, Mumbai (2 points)

 

For more info, click here  www.bestadsontv.com

Vyas Giannetti Creative has announced collaborations with six different design and branding agencies from across the world. These agencies are Flex/The Innovation Lab; Lava Graphic Studios; Indeed; Wally Olins' Saffron; Dixonbaxi and Ryan + Deslauriers.
For Vyas Giannetti, these collaborations will essentially look at tying into each agency's specific area of expertise. Flex is a well known product design firm, while Lava's collaboration with VGC will be in the area of editorial design. Wally Olin's Saffron is a branding consultancy while Dixonbaxi is a creative and strategic consultancy offering 360 degrees solutions. Ryan + Deslauriers is a specialized agency in the field of real estate branding.
 

Speaking about the objectives behind the initiative, Vyas commented, "Design is no longer a decorative activity or, a below the line topping, but a significant partner to enhance the businesses of the New Age Corporate. It is beginning to be perceived as good business. It became evident to us that specialist Design verticals with significant global expertise in diverse domains were needed to respond to the needs of Indian businesses. We realized that the route to achieving this was by collaborating with best of class international design agencies that specialized in different communication and marketing domains."

While branding consultancies and pure design shops are aplenty in the country, product design has generally been a niche sector in India. Vyas says, "There is tremendous potential for product design in India, with the large SME sector, FMCG and manufacturing requiring this area of design. Flex is known for their consumer insight based research and we would bring the cultural insights into the partnership."

Flex/the innovative LAB is a globally acclaimed strategic design firm, while Lava Graphics Studios is an editorial design and brand identity firm from Holland. Saffron is a renowned branding consultancy. InDeed focuses on marketing, sales and strategy consultancy, while Dixonbaxi offers creative and strategic solutions for print, TV and the Internet. Ryan+Deslauriers looks after real estate strategic branding, marketing and creative communications.

The six international firms, along with VGC, will deliver specialised solutions to clients. Two of these firms, InDeed and Saffron, have offices in India. The others do not have an Indian presence and have no immediate plans to set up shop in India.

The collaboration is such that work will be handled on a project basis through online correspondence. As required, VGC staff will be stationed at the specialised firm and vice versa for the stipulated project time.

Preeti Vyas, chairperson and chief creative officer, VGC, tells afaqs!, “The outlook India has towards business has been changing. It is expanding and getting expertise from international agencies. VGC's association with international agencies will bring in the best of both worlds and provide a specialised platform.”

She reveals that VGC's speciality has always been design and communication and it didn't want to move away from that vertical. Hence, it has decided to associate with firms that specialise in the design and communication vertical.

VGC has been in talks with some international agencies for more than a year. As of now, it is in the process of forming an association with three more international firms, which will also be players in the design vertical. Although the design firm is a separate unit, it is not being promoted as a separate entity yet. However, there is the likelihood that it will have a new identity and a new name soon.

The year 2008 may not have had the best of news coming from Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC), but 2009 has begun on a good note for the agency. Following two new business wins, VGC is now set to spread its footprint in the design domain. The agency has launched a specialised Design and Communications Cell in collaboration with six international design agencies.

The six agencies that VGC has partnered with are specialised units in design in their respective domains. Flex/the Innovation LAB specialises in structural packaging design, durable consumer products and professional systems. Lava specialises in editorial design and dynamic brand identity. InDeed connects with the consumers, drawing them through brand strategy and marketing. Saffron is a branding consultancy that identifies industry gaps and formulates strategies based on it. Dixonbaxi is a London-based creative and strategy company. Ryan+Deslauriers is acknowledged in real estate strategy, branding and creative firm.

Of these, Saffron already has presence in India, but the differentiation comes in the area of specialisation that VGC is partnering with. It has taken nearly two years for VGC to set up this specialist platform.

Preeti Vyas, Chairwoman and Chief Creative Officer, VGC, who has spearheaded this cell and is taking it forward, sees this move as a step in the direction of the reinvention of the agency.

Elaborating on the thought process behind this move, Vyas explained, “Design is a very important aspect today. Things are beginning to change. Just about everyone wants to be holistic, but we all know that there is a lot changing in media, and we cannot be generalists anymore. The need of the hour is to be a specialist, and we feel that clients are asking for that. We have to wake up to this new era, and if we didn’t have this specialisation, we needed to acquire it.”

That is what VGC set about to do and the route was international collaborations. VGC chalked out six verticals that it wanted expertise in, and then set about finding the right partners. The agency spoke to a few people before zeroing on its current set of partners. The nature of the deal is simple at present. Vyas elaborated, “In spirit, these companies are working with us exclusively in India, but we have not put anything down in paper on that, since that creates certain expectations. The endeavour right now is to work together, and we aspire to grow these relations further as we progress ahead.”

For Vyas, good design is as sacrosanct to business as any other management tool. “Advertisers want attention to design, but unfortunately, agencies today are not delivering on that for various reasons. Working on design is to partner with the CEO’s vision; marketing comes later,” she explained.

She further said, “It is actually in VGC’s heritage of being in communication arena that we had embraced to delivering cutting edge creative solutions. Combined with international agency’s global experience, we now seek to deliver local-global expertise for the design needs.”

Vyas pointed out that many agencies had spotted the demand for good design expertise now, and that was one reason why she saw agencies either bringing in their international design brands in India, or launching design units of further focussing on their present design offerings.

Vyas also believes that the current economic slowdown is the right time for an announcement such as this, as an offering like this allows an agency to bring innovation at various levels of communication.

Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC) has launched a specialised design and communications cell in collaboration with six international design agencies. It has taken nearly two years for VGC to set up this specialist platform.

Preeti Vyas, chairwoman and chief creative officer, VGC, will spearhead this cell, which has the folowing alliance partners:

• They are Flex / the Innovation LAB which specialises in structural packaging design, durable consumer products and

   professional systems.
• Lava, which specialises in editorial design and dynamic brand identity.
• InDeed connects with the consumers, drawing them through brand strategy and marketing.
• Saffron, a branding consultancy that identifies industry gaps and formulates strategies based on it.
• Dixonbaxi, a London-based creative and strategy company.
• Ryan+Deslauriers is acknowledged in real estate strategy, branding and creative firm.
 

Saffron is the only one with a presence in India.

Vyas explained, "It is actually in VGC's heritage of being in communication arena that we had embraced to delivering cutting edge creative solutions. Combined with international agency's global experience, we now seek to deliver local-global expertise for the design needs."