The Hindu Business Line : Fortune Comm sees biz from non-financial clients growing

Mumbai May 11 Graduating from being a full-fledged financial services oriented agency, Fortune Communications has added 30 per cent of its billings turnover from non-financial clients.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of JWT got a new lease of life nearly 14 months ago after it was re-positioned as a full service agency.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Suranjan Das, Managing Partner, Fortune Communications, said, "In the past 14-15 months we have picked up new businesses and today we have clients across categories. While financial clients still comprise the majority of our business, today we have added about 30 per cent of non-financial clients in our agency."

From media to food court brands, Fortune Communications expects to segregate its businesses under different brands as its agency expands. Adds Mr Das, "We might be re-branding our business in terms of financial and non-financial clients. At present , the operations are separated but in future there may be brands to represent the different businesses."

Big-ticket accounts

Having added clients such as Chateau Indage and the Alcon Victor Group, it continues to service its big-ticket financial accounts such as UTI and Morgan Stanley.

But going forward, the brand name of Fortune is expected to stand for its non-financial clients who are expected to generate nearly 60 per cent of its business.

Looking at solving communication problems of its clients from a different perspective, Fortune expects to target `new media' with its strategies.

Explains Mr Das, "Rather than suggesting clients to begin with television campaigns and print ads, we would look at new media options from where their brands could get extended."

Different approach

Offering solutions in `new media' such as the Internet, mobile phones and social networking sites for its clients, Fortune expects its `young team' to give a different approach to communication strategies.

"Our young team's approach to problem solving is going to be different and we would look at areas such as wireless telephony and blogs, and the whole gamut of new media," explained Mr Das.

In fact, the agency has also created its own blog to create a community for its employees.