25th February 2015: Greysell Marketing Promotions completed 15 years of its operations earlier this month. This Mumbai based agency specializes in advertising and marketing communications. It caters to the entire breadth of communication in marketing. Greysell uses the proverbial double-edged sword of Strategic Thinking and Aesthetic Designing to position brands; creating thought provoking communication, which brings about the desired change in the target segment.
Greysell specializes in Advertising, Brand Consultancy, Conventional Media Planning & Buying, Digital Marketing (Online Advertising/ Mobile Solution), Social Media Marketing and Events & Activation.
It’s strength lies in its emphasis on creativity, sharpened with strategic insights. It is focused on achieving its customers’ communication objectives. That’s the primary reason why, though it is an organization of just 75 people, 2 locations in Mumbai, it is working with and adding value to several leading Indian and multinational companies. Some of the agency’s esteemed clients are: Marico, ICICI Bank Ltd, JSW, Hershey’s India, JP Morgan and India Rating.
“There were ups and downs but most of it has been like a roller coaster ride. We were always on a rush with adrenaline pumping in!” says Sushil Banka, CMD of Greysell. The beginning wasn’t easy. He began this journey when he was 21 years old; he got on the road when the competition was intense. He had chosen a road not well travelled, albeit, what he had with him, an undying commitment along with the conviction to continue on what he had conceived.
It started by the name On-The-Dot from Mr Banka’s house balcony with 1 computer. The first job it did was the VC printing of individual names and gave it to NIIT. They used to take the order from NIIT and get it printed from vendors and deliver it.Around the year 2000 Digital flex and vinyl printing on large format machines had just arrived in India. Greysell executed its first real big order for Castrol.
In 2002 for Greysell its first designer came on board. The company moved to a larger office in Kalina.
By 2003 several designers were working for Greysell. Work had begun on Tata Teleservices and the agency was churning out communication for multiple segments of the market. Subsequently work begun on Tata Chemicals. Beside consumers here communication focused on Trade as well. In 2005 agency launched India’s first cooking soda for Tata Chemicals by the name, Shudh Soda.
Around this time the agency worked on its first National multi media campaign for HP Gas called “Suraksha Sanchetana Abhiyaan”. The objective was to educate and spread the basic elements of safety in kitchen in every household in India. At the end of the first year of activity the campaign had reached more than 100 cities in India, receiving 60000 customer feedbacks, airing 66000 Radio spots across 78 cities and staging 840 street plays!
In 2008 While working with Siemens India the agency won an award for their innovative communication on Sustainability. In 2009 agency started working with international clients in African countries and in USA. It adjusted its working hours to provide service to its international clients. This was a great push to Greysell.
Throughout the journey agency has paid a lot of emphasis on employee engagement through celebrations, parties, picnics and their general well being. The number of employees who have spent more than 5 years in Greysell itself also proves this! The longest stint is by the Creative Director and the CFO; they have been in Greysell for more than 8 years now!
Over the years the Greysell Calendar has really become an excellent marketing tool for the agency. Clients appreciate it and they look forward to it in the coming years. It has helped Greysell in garnering new business as well.
Through out this journey, emphasis has been on technology. Continuous investments have been made on technology to run and manage the business efficiently.
Greysell is proud about its association with ICICI and Hershey’s India. In 2013 it started working with ICICI Bank Debit Cards as their main agency on record. Greysell has launched several campaigns for them across media and geography.
Last year Greysell launched IceBreakers for Hershey’s India. This was done post an extensive market research. Trade launch followed and then the consumer launch happened across Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The brand is spreading out to other cities right now.
In recent times agency started bringing on board senior resources with extensive experience in brand communications. This has helped Greysell very well. Besides communication, clients have started taking the agency seriously on brand consultation, conventional media and their digital media requirements. This has been strengthened after Partha Ghosh came on board as a Director in Greysell. He has rich insight across media built over 25 years of working on some of the leading brands in the country today. He worked on Unilever brands alone for over 10 years both in India and abroad. At various points of time has been involved in the technical committees of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) He has contributed to products like IRS, NRS (Readership Surveys), TAM and INTAM (Television Audience Measurements) over the years. Greysell today offers 360-degree media solution across all significant consumers touch points, including Digital, Events, and Activations as well. Agency can provide Media Training as well.
For more information visit www.greysell.in