Make in India is an ambitious campaign initiated by the Government of India in September 2014. The campaign was launched with great fanfare by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi amidst the major bigwigs of India Inc. The primary objectives of the campaign are to promote India as an investment destination, transform the country into a global manufacturing hub helping large scale job creation among others.
[orc]The campaign also made its place into a Republic day parade tableau this year. A stall was also setup in Davos at the World Economic Forum. But which creative agency is driving the campaign? How did they win this deal and how much is being spent?
Information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotions (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that a creative agency by the name M/s Wieden + Kennedy India Pvt. Ltd (WK), a subsidiary of the American consultant firm Wieden + Kennedy has been engaged as the creative agency for this campaign. The firm has been engaged by DIPP as its creative agency for promoting India as an investment destination through a letter dated 27th August, 2014. The firm will be paid a total sum of Rs 4,32,50,000/- for a period up to 31st March, 2015. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 1,83,70,860/- has already been released to the firm. The said contract lasts up to 31st March, 2015.
Given the concept and objectives of the Make in India Campaign, it is ironic that the campaign has been designed by an affiliate of a foreign firm. To their credit, WK has done a commendable job with the logo and other creative works. It is to be noted that their clientele are some of the biggest names in the Industry like Nike, Chrysler, Coca Cola, Facebook to name a few. Four of their clients’ commercials were telecasted during the American Football Super Bowl 2015 (the most watched American television broadcast and is known for high profile commercials).
Two other firms also applied for the creative agency with the DIPP. They are:
M/s The India Works Design and Strategy (P) Ltd: We could not find any firm with this name.
M/s Promodome Communications (P) Ltd: Based in New Delhi, this firm has an impressive client list that includes Bata, Intel, Maruti Suzuki etc. They also provided consulting services for Public Sector units such as Delhi Police, Uttaranchal Tourism, HP Tourism, Delhi Tourism etc.
Among the three firms, the DIPP has selected M/s Wieden + Kennedy based on their proposal and quotation according to the RTI response.
2 Comments
The reply given by Ministry of Commerce is not true. The second company was IdeaWorks Design and Strategy Private Limited. This company won the first round of bidding. The bid was cancelled because the MD of W&K in India, V Sunil was a friend of the Industries Secretary. They roped in Promodome as a dummy bidder and gave the project away to W&K through a fake tender. The second committee consisted of all yes men and class mates of Secretary DIPP. Mr. Sunil and Amitabh Kant worked out the contours of the campaign in June 2014, long before the first tender was floated in August. That is evident if one looks at the http://www.makeinindia.com domain, which was registered in May 2014. How can an agency start building a website for a project even before the tender is out?
Thanks for the details Shyam. If you have relevant documentation, we would be glad to update the story.