The selection of JWT comes closely after the appointment of Ashutosh Bishnoi, (ex-VP - marketing, OM Kotak Mahindra), as chief marketing officer at UTI Mutual Fund earlier this year.
"As a company, we need to create a stronger brand and a clear personality and it can't be done with too many agencies. It's simpler to do with one agency and brands should be built by one single team," said Bishnoi.
The Government-owned UTIMF had a clutch of agencies handling its various brands. FCB Ulka, Ad Factors, Gold Mine, Fortune, Apex, Concept and RK Swamy BBDO were working on the creative side, while media was consolidated under Insight, Lowe's media buying arm.
This step of appointing a single large agency is expected to help the mutual fund win back customers it has been losing to the smaller but new and more aggressive private-sector funds.
A new ad campaign is expected to launch in September this year, as the retail investment market picks up between September and March. While Bishnoi would not disclose details of the campaign, he said UTIMF was looking at introducing an "aggressive campaign to strengthen our core image as the largest retail house".
In the meantime, UTIMF has launched a campaign welcoming its new customers from IL&FS Mutual Fund, which it acquired earlier this year. The creative for this campaign was handled by JWT.
JWT lands US$7.6m mutual fund biz
The largest mutual fund in India, Unit Trust of India Mutual Fund (UTI MF), has appointed J. Walter Thompson as its creative agency. The account, worth about US$7.6 million, had FCB Ulka, Grey Worldwide, Lowe, RK Swamy BBDO and JWT pitching for it in late April.
