Elephant Strategy + Design adds new biz; S Asia expansion on the anvil

Elephant Strategy + Design, an independent strategic design outfit, has been on an account winning spree. The agency has added around 10 new clients in recent times, including Akzonobel-Dulux, Sakal Media Group, Allied Breweries & Distilleries, Ceat, Colgate Palmolive and Mahindra Powerol.

Commenting on Sakal Group’s association with Elephant, Abhijit Pawar, MD, Sakal Media Group, said, “There comes a point in every organisation, when one needs help to transform itself, perhaps to reinvent itself, in almost everything that one does. As far as editorial department in Sakal was concerned, I believe we had reached this stage, and in order to overcome this challenge, we were actively seeking change agents from within and outside the organisation. In Elephant Design, led by Ashwini and Partho, we found one such change agent, which I believe, will help us achieve what we desire to do in the near future.”

Hemant Somani, Head - Marketing, Akzonobel ICI Dulux, said, “We gave Elephant team two challenges over the last few months. The first one was to revitalise our leading luxury brand ‘Dulux Velvet Touch’ by positioning it on our new international platform of ‘Colours of the World’; the second was to transform our acrylic emulsion into Dulux Super Smooth and align it to its core benefit. Each challenge was complex in its own way as they had to use the global template and yet create significant differentiation without losing the core values of brand experience. Apart from their ability to comprehend and deliver brand promise, sheer graphic design quality of the output is outstanding as well. We love the way each brand has taken shape and raised overall equity of our portfolio in the minds of consumers.”

An innovative product design for mobile phone charger that works on the streets got this team several awards, including finalists at Sparks (USA) and Greener Gadgets (USA), while its Britannia Pure Magic work got the Indiastar for packaging excellence in the last few months. In a niche space of design research leading to strategy for emerging markets, the Elephant team delivered succinct insights to clients from the Middle East, Japan and the US.

Talking about future plans, Ashwini Deshpande said, “We are happy to co-create with our clients, where we address the toughest of challenges posed by crowded markets, transient consumers and shifting economic centres. We are considering a presence in South Asia for better alignment with our client base there. There will be a detailed announcement soon.”