OgilvyOne ties up with Avhan for single window solutions

Lalitha Srinivasan in Mumbai

OgilvyOne Worldwide, a part of Ogilvy & Mather Ltd which specialises in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) planning and communications, has recently tied up with CRM technology and call center specialist company Avhan Technologies Ltd. According to Mr Harish Vasudevan, country head of OgilvyOne, the objective of the tie-up is to offer a single window solutions to its clients.

Adds Mr Vasudevan: “With this tie-up, we have appointed Avhan Technology as Ogilvy’s exclusive ‘call center technology partner’. Technology is not our core competence. Hence this tie-up will help us meet the evolving needs of our clients.”

In addition to this tie-up, OgilvyOne is exploring opportunities to tie up with other technology companies in India. “We are already in talks with four leading companies in the area of technology, so that we can expand our CRM services. Set up in 1987, our agency was called—Ogilvy Direct—and was rechristened as OgilvyOne in 1997,” adds Mr Vasudevan.

At present, OgilvyOne’s clients include, Hutchison, American Express, Welcome Group, Asian Paints, Siemens and Hindustan Lever Ltd. The agency currently offers services which include CRM consultancy across various media like direct mail, Websites, e-mail marketing and some SMS initiatives.

As for the rationale behind the selection of Avhan as techno-partner, Mr Vasudevan explains: “Because of the tremendous rush of interest in setting up the telephone as the primary customer interaction medium across businesses. And there’s a fair bit of technology involved in the telemarketing space. We evaluated a number of players in the market and selected Avhan, as beyond the technologies there was a matching of business philosophy”.

At present OgilvyOne has 4 offices in India and employs 75 people.
According to Avhan technologies CEO Anand Awasthi, it is obvious that technology, while vital, should come at the back end of a clear business and communications strategy. “It is in this context that we believe that partnering with a leading CRM communications agency like OgilvyOne was the natural way forward for both of us,” adds Mr Awasthi.

Avhan Technologies Ltd is an Intel Technology Partner and Exclusive Call Center Technology Solutions Partner for Siemens.

Mr Awasthi informs that Avhan has built various products for handling high traffic on communication media and for various business functions.

According to Mr Awasthi, Avhan has been involved with the development of communication solutions and call centers for some of the largest telecom users such as RPG Cellcom Ltd, DHL India, Hindustan Lever Ltd, Aditya Birla Group, JM Capital Management Pvt Ltd among other. Adds Mr Awasthi: “Avhan, is a solution provider in the Call Center, CTI -Interactive Voice & Fax Processing, CRM industry has offered solutions to the leading media/publishing groups and other service oriented companies in the financial sector, consumer product manufacturers etc.”