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Victoria

JWT: J. Walter Thompson, the most venerated of all the agencies operating in India, and the No.1 agency by lengths, has decided that in order to be more creative and meaningful it cannot be called J. Walter Thompson. The firman was delivered to all the country heads by a relatively new Creative Director who made a presentation on this subject at Miami.

Young Colvyn Harris, who took over the reins of J. Walter Thompson just two months ago, will have to implement the name change from J. Walter Thompson to JWT.

Old industry hands are obviously saddened by the thought that a name that meant so much to so many is being consigned to the rubbish heap of history.

Incidentally, J. Walter Thompson had changed to Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA) and then back to J. Walter Thompson. Now it will be known simply as JWT. And will be back to winning Abby awards. And being more meaningful to its clients.

HLL: Hindustan Lever Ltd is also undergoing a change of identity. It seems the present name and logo will soon be a thing of the past. Unilever will be the name of the new game. And the "U" will take centre-stage. It is reported that work on this new identity is on, and formal announcements will soon be made.

And then they will go back to selling more soaps and detergents.

If only poor Vindi Banga had been told that this was all that was necessary to boost sales, he would have done it four years ago. And might have still been around.

AAAI: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is not to be left behind in the race for a new identity. At a media conference, President Srinivasan (Sundar) Swamy unveiled a new logo for the Association. In typical ad style, a well-composed rationale for the logo was presented to the media. Putting it in a nutshell, the logo is a drum. And I would have described it as "back to the future." But who asked me?

Anyway, in its sixtieth . year, the AAAI decided to sport a new look. It seems the process of deciding on the new logo took almost one year. What else could you expect with 15 advertising agency heads all utilising their one opportunity to act like clients? It seems the agency which volunteered to do the job threw up its hands in sheer desperation. (I am sworn to secrecy on which that was.) Wondering how they agreed on this one?

Well, it seems, ultimately Shanta Kumar took it upon himself to get his former colleague Elsie Nanjee to do the trick. Elsie's formidable reputation (and, of course, her talent) ensured that it was a unanimous choice. Pity she didn't turn up at the media conference. It would have brightened up the room.

Well, Shanta must have a kind of a record. He is "guilty" of branding the AdClub awards as the Abby and now he has set up the drum to tom-tom the message of the AAAI. You think that deserves a special commendation?

Diamond Jubilee Year

Well, in its Diamond Jubilee Year, the AAAI seems to have landed a big bird. Sir Martin Sorrell (in the picture), whose WPP owns most of the large agencies in India (JWT, O&M, Contract, Rediffusion, Bates and so on), has agreed to fly down to rainy Mumbai in July and be the keynote speaker at an international advertising convention to be organised by the AAAI. The organisation also got the worldwide CEO of BBDO as another keynote speaker. Pretty impressive beginning.

At least it has also ensured that half the agencies who count will land up for the convention in force. Now it needs some big advertisers and media moguls.

It also spoke about attempting to bring out a book about the advertising industry. "Attempting" is a word I have slipped in. Honestly, we have been hearing about such a book for donkey's years. First from the AdClub and now from the AAAI. Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate that it is a Herculean task, but you really can't blame me for saying, "I'll believe it when I see it."

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