MAM
JWT B’lore adds Knorr Annapurna in its roster
NEW DELHI: JWT India, Bangalore office, seems to have hit the purple patch.
Continuing with its winning spree, JWT has won the creative account of Hindustan Lever’s Knorr Annapurna range of cooking aids. This win follows the creative business of Levi’s Strauss India, won in the recent past.
“Knorr Annapurna range has been allotted to JWT Bangalore. There was no pitch for this account. This was in accordance with the international alignment of the Knorr brand with JWT Worldwide. We will be handling the range of Knorr Annapurna brands here which includes the brands that were earlier handled by FCB-Ulka,” said JWT senior vice president and general manager, Dhunji Wadia. The media business will be handled by Fulcrum.
In the past, Unilever, Hindustan Lever’s parent company, had acquired Best Foods. Through this acquisition, Unilever added Hellmann’s, Skippy, Mazola, Entenmanns’s and Knorr product lines in its roster.
According to Wadia, the mandate includes mass media advertising including television, press, outdoor and below the line activities like launch conferences, direct mail, collaterals, salesman contests etc. “The brief from the client was to recommend a complete strategy and refreshingly striking creative to launch a new range of cooking aids in the Indian market,” said Wadia.
“The size of the account is yet to be finalized. The first television commercial and other mass media is scheduled to break in May this year,” said Wadia.
For the record, Annapurna brand is handled by another WPP Group agency, Oglivy & Mather.
For JWT Bangalore office, Knorr account is another big win in addition to the Levi’s Strauss business, which includes work on Levi’s, Dockers and Sykes. “JWT, Bangalore was awarded the Docker’s business in addition to the Levi’s and Sykes accounts. The client has cited JWT’s superior strategic understanding and creative quality as the reasons for this business being awarded to it,” said Wadia. The media business of Levi’s Strauss was allotted to MindShare following JWT’s win.
MAM
De Beers launches ‘A Diamond Is Forever’ centenary book
Visual retrospective traces 100 years of iconic slogan and cultural impact.
MUMBAI: De Beers just dropped a century’s worth of sparkle between two covers because when a four-word line becomes forever, even the book needs a forever title. De Beers Group has released A Diamond Is Forever: The Making of a Cultural Icon 1926–2026, a landmark visual retrospective celebrating 100 years of shaping the modern perception of natural diamonds. The book traces how the brand transformed diamonds from elite heirlooms into universal symbols of love, commitment and personal achievement, with rare archival material, campaign highlights and cultural commentary.
At its core is the legendary 1947 slogan “A Diamond Is Forever,” penned by N.W. Ayer copywriter Frances Gerety. The four words redefined diamonds as eternal promises, earning the title of the 20th century’s greatest advertising slogan from Advertising Age in 1999. The book explores how this idea and others like the “Two Months’ Salary” guideline and the “Right Hand Ring” influenced social rituals, female independence and consumer behaviour worldwide, including in India, where diamonds shifted from gold-centric traditions to emotionally resonant milestones.
Beyond marketing, it showcases collaborations with artists like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Raoul Dufy, alongside icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Later campaigns, including the 1990s “Shadows” series set to Karl Jenkins’ Palladio, reinforced diamonds as timeless and unique. The narrative also addresses today’s focus on provenance, sustainability and ethical stewardship, positioning natural diamonds as symbols of both enduring love and responsible luxury.
The book arrives as De Beers marks a century of innovation in luxury marketing, from the Great Depression to the era of conscious consumption, offering a rare window into one of advertising’s most enduring brand stories.
In a world where trends fade fast, De Beers didn’t just sell diamonds, it sold forever, and now it’s bound the proof in pages that will outlast even the hardest carat.
