Creates dedicated media agency for the business house
MUMBAI: Mudra Group has launched a dedicated agency called Radar to look after the media needs of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).
A second agency, Connext, will look after the rest of OMS’ businesses.
The two independent agencies have been carved out of Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), the group’s media offering, and placed under an umbrella brand called Mudra Max.
According to Chandradeep Mitra, president, Mudra Max, “Reliance is huge, just by itself, and needs a specialised agency dedicated to its needs. A senior official from the client side was indicating that, in some time, about 5% of India’s advertising spends can be attributed to the ADAG.”
Reliance ADAG is the biggest client for Mudra Group and “potentially the largest advertiser in the country,” according to group officials.
Radar would be led by L S Krishnan, who will be its president.
“We have a team of 60-odd people divided into various groups, each doing media planning for a different ADAG vertical. The structure would mirror that at the client side,” Krishnan said.
The buying function would continue to be handled directly by ADAG’s in-house team, he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the restructuring exercise, Madhukar Kamath, MD and CEO, Mudra Group, said, “We have registered a growth of about 25% in the financial year just ended. We are looking at a growth above that next year. Very quietly, we have been building our media practice, and now, it is time to consolidate our position and aim for the future growth.”
The concept of single-client agencies is nothing new. Other media agencies like Group M have specialised cells handling big advertisers like Unilever and LG.
Meanwhile, erstwhile OMS clients like Spice Mobile, ICI Paints, Amway, ACC, Yatra.com, HBO and Zenith Computers would be shifted to Connext, whose 70 member-team across six cities would work on these clients.
Post the recast, the group will consist of Mudra Advertising, Mudra Marketing Services and Mudra Max.
n_john@dnaindia.net
