Shah Rukh Khan may feature in Ogilvy & Mather's Ad for Brand Bengal

KOLKATA: While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has locked horns with PM Narendra Modi on the political front, it seems both share a lot of affection for a single advertising agency in the country Ogilvy & Mather. While O&M's India chairman Piyush Pandey and its sister agency Soho Square built Modi's election campaign that led him to the historic win; the West Bengal government has just signed on O&M for a major brand-building exercise that will also include a 360 degree campaign with possibility of Shah Rukh Khan featuring in it.

O&M won the account following a multi agency pitch that was conducted in phases. The brief, as Navin Talreja, president, Mumbai and Kolkata, O&M explained is about “Establishing Bengal as the most preferred tourist destination in India, attracting international tourists across the globe. The prime focus, however, was on its unique selling points (USP)-diverse natural attraction from mountains, forests to beaches and mangroves.“ “It will be a 360 degree campaign including all the mass media and digital touch points,“ he added. The campaign will be headed by Talreja himself and Sumanto Chattopadhyay , executive Creative Director, South Asia, O&M. O&M is known for creating several iconic tourism campaigns including the prestigious Incredible India campaign and the Gujarat tourism campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan.

Destination East is a very important vehicle for attracting investments in resorts, cruises, rope ways, etc according to West Bengal tourism secretary Ajit Ranjan Bardhan. “We will offer cash-based incentives on projects,“ he said. Bardhan also said that in six month's time, the state government will build motel-cum-wayside facilities every 30 km along the routes to major tourism destinations, including Digha and the Sunderbans.