Piaggio brands return home to Soho Square India

Soho Square India has been handed the creative duties of Piaggio brands, Aprilia and Vespa, after a hard-fought pitch involving multiple agencies, over several rounds. This comes on the back of recently-acquired Nicotex – Cipla’s brand of smoking cessation gum.

Piaggio though, isn’t entirely new to Soho Square. The agency earlier re-launched Vespa in India. However, due to a global re-alignment the account had to be moved. This time though, the Piaggio India team was specifically looking for a local agency with a deep understanding of Indian markets.

Although the pitch was only for the Aprilia account, the Piaggio management eventually decided to award the entire two wheeler business, including Vespa, to Soho Square.

Ashish Yakhmi – Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd’s (VP and Head – Marketing) said, “After several meetings with multiple agencies, we realised that not only is Soho Square the best fit for our brands, but that they also have the necessary skill-sets to achieve our strategic objectives in India.”

Samrat Bedi, Head of Office, Soho Square, Mumbai (pictured above) said, “This is a homecoming of sorts… We were well and truly disappointed when Vespa moved out two years ago. More than the fact that this is a big win, we are elated to have Piaggio back in the fold.”

Shashank Lanjekar, Senior VP – Strategic Planning, Soho Square, Mumbai added, “Vespa is a strong global brand. In India too, it has had quite a long heritage. Aprilia on the other hand is relatively unknown, although it is very famous globally. Our challenges will be to capitalise on the strengths of either and carve a clear niche for ourselves… I am glad that Piaggio has placed their trust in us.”