Onida's devil to retire, brand to be relaunched news

Onida's attention-grabbing devil is being put to pasture after 26 years. After more than two decades, Onida the electronics and home appliances maker has decided to drop the Devil and relaunch its brand. Noted ad veteran Prasoon Joshi and his team are helping the company in the brand re-birth process.

This is not the first time the devil is being retired. Once discontinued in 1998, it was brought back by the company in 2004.

The devil was originally created by Gopi Kukde of Avenues in 1982. The first devil was acted out by model coordinator David Whitbread who played devil for 14 years.

After its resurrection, well known model Ashish Chaudhary has been seen in the garb of a softer, gentler devil since 2005.

A new ad campaign is being launched by September-end. The Onida account also has seen frequent change of hands. From Advertising Avenues, it moved to Ogilvy, then to Rediffusion and now, McCann Erickson handles the creative duties for the brand.

The devil and the tagline were conceptualised by Advertising Avenues, with Gopi Kukde handling art and Ashok Roy and Goutam Rakshit the copy and marketing, respectively.

David Whitbread, a model co-ordinator and stylist of the 1980s, played the first Onida devil, while freelancing for various advertising agencies in Mumbai. Thereafter, actors such as Rajesh Khera, Ashish Chaudhary and Amir Bashir have played the part.

The company felt that the devil for years personified the concept of envy but now consumers no longer benchmark their neighbours with their choice of appliances. There is a level of individualism that has crept in.

The company's devil ad campaign, whose tagline was 'neighbour's envy, owner's pride, was a rage at one point in time since owning a television was a matter of pride for Indians. The brand image will be revamped across all appliances such as air conditioners, microwave ovens and washing machines for consumers who associated Onida with only TV.

The media mix used will involve television extensively, along with print and outdoor media. Onida spent Rs 45-50 crore on advertising last year and pegs its ad spends at Rs 80 crore for the current year. Mindshare will handle the media duties for Onida.

Onida, established in 1982 as Mirc Electronics, today enjoys a strong equity among consumers making it one of the leading brands in India. It offers a wide range of household appliances, including air-conditioners, washing machines, DVDs, Plasma & LCD televisions and home theatre systems.

The new campaign will be unveiled on September 15, just ahead of Navratri and following festive season, which is usually the time when consumer durable brands step up their advertising campaigns.