The economic slowdown is not deterring advertising agencies from venturing into new areas to expand their business. The Mudra group has entered into a 51:49 joint venture with London-based Portland Design to provide design and branding solutions, largely for brands in the retail and leisure space.
The new entity, which will be called Portland Mudra, will begin operations in July. Mudra and Portland are in the final stages of completing the formalities for this Mumbai-based JV.
Lewis Allen, director, Portland Design, has been in Mumbai to meet potential clients with Pratap Bose, COO of Mudra group. "We are looking at the broad range of retail, leisure, hospitality and food and beverages sectors. We are speaking to some of our existing clients, and also want to bring on new clients too," Mr Allen told ET.
All existing Indian projects of the two partners will now be serviced by the new firm. Portland, on its own, has already executed some design projects in India, which include four department store concepts for Shoppers’ Stop in Hyderabad, in addition to the branding and retail for Bangalore and Hyderabad airports and Café Coffee Day.
Both partners will be making a significant investment in the JV, a bulk of which will go into training of manpower and technology. While the workforce will be assembled from Portland and Mudra’s existing employees, the new JV is looking to hire experts in the realm of design too.
Portland will bring its expertise in translating a brand into a 3D experience to the venture, while Mudra will bring its understanding of the Indian market.
Source: Economic Times