Contract which was the creative agency in charge of the Vatika portfolio (the personal care range) of FMCG major Dabur till date has lost the business (except for the anti-dandruff shampoo product of Vatika).
The news has been confirmed by reliable sources from the industry.
Currently, out of the Vatika portfolio, the creative duties for Vatika Hair Oil have been awarded to Ogilvy India, which is beleived to be done without a formal pitch process. The shampoo brands (apart from the anti-dandruff shampoo range, which Contract has retained), namely the Henna cream conditioning shampoo and root strengthening shampoo, will be up for a formal pitch.
Contract had clinched the entire Vatika portfolio in 2007 following a re-alignment. The range included Henna cream conditioning shampoo, anti-dandruff shampoo, root-strengthening shampoo, hair oil and soap.
However, Dabur is pleased with Ogilvy India’s work, even though the agency has not been able to pick up a lot of business from the various pitch processes that have been taking place due to the realignment. “The company may have felt that Ogilvy India is equipped to meet the challenges that the brand is facing, and so the decision was in favour of the agency,” says a source close to the development.
For Contract, it’s almost like coming a full circle – it started off with winning the anti-dandruff shampoo business in 2005. In 2006, it won the Henna cream conditioning shampoo and root strengthening shampoo businesses. That brought the entire shampoo range under Contract’s purview.
With Dabur venturing into the skin care business with soap and fairness packs in 2006, Contract came into the picture as well – it won the creative duties for the soap at the time of its launch. The face pack business was awarded to the agency as part of the re-alignment that took place in 2007. Now, it is left with the very same product it began with.
Some of the other agencies on the Dabur roster are Lowe, McCann Erickson, Mudra, TBWA and Law & Kenneth.