Anjali Soni/Exchange4Media

The Ministry of Tourism has appointed Crayons Advertising and Ignitee Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd to handle the all-India online mandate for the Incredible India campaign. The account size has been pegged at Rs 20 crore. The two agencies will work in tandem for the domestic and international leg of the campaign. In all, the Ministry has allotted Rs 220 crore towards print, electronic and below-the-line activities. 

Elaborating on the brief, Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee Digital Solutions, said, “The brief was simple – to make the Incredible India portal the one-stop information provider for tourism in India. They were mainly looking for an agency having a good background in terms of strong digital and financial capabilities. We were chosen since we are a digital marketing company.” Hegde further said that it would be a 360-degree initiative in terms of digital media. 

Hegde added that while the print and TV campaigns had already broken, the digital campaign would break in a week’s time. A TVC featuring actor Aamir Khan is already on air. 

Sharing more about the campaign, Ranjan Bargotra, President, Crayons, said, “We all are aware of the impact of the economic slowdown as well as terrorism on the tourism industry. Hence, knowing that tourists might have apprehensions, we have tried to convey the message in a very subtle and reassuring way, which is that India is a large country and that life still goes on.” 

He further said, “Despite the odds, India still has its mass appeal and is still a safe place to visit with numerous interesting destinations.” 

The Incredible India international campaign will focus on the idea of having one reason to visit India in 2009, whereas the domestic campaign will focus on the concept of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’, welcoming tourists to India. 

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