Key media mandate wins of 2019

 A slow market or not, 2019 saw some major account movements in advertising.  Ranging between Rs 300 crore and Rs 800 crore, media pitches by major corporate saw a lot happening, especially in terms of companies finding new agencies or staying back with the old one. Here is a list of key media pitches during the year.

 Marico

The year started with the news of a loaded account Marico, which invited a media pitch worth Rs 500 crore in January 2019. Madison Media won the media mandate of the FMCG giant, taking over from the incumbent Lodestar UM in this multi-agency pitch.

 Samsung India

After a year-long competitive pitch in May 2109, Lodestar UM of IPG Mediabrands retained Samsung India’s media duties estimated to be around Rs 500 to 600 crore. As per industry sources, Cheil has retained the digital duties, whereas Lodestar UM has won the media and other offline duties.

 Casio India

Mid-year in June 2019, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi won the brand mandate following a multi-agency pitch for Casio India’s creative duties. The agency is said to be managing Casio India’s integrated communications mandate for their entire watches portfolio.

Hero MotoCorp

In July 2019, the two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp Ltd., formerly Hero Honda, called for a multi-agency media pitch. In December, it was announced that the account was bagged by Publicis Media, who formed Team Hero MotoCorp to handle the account for the brand's mainline and new-age mediums. 

Spicejet

In August this year, domestic airline Spicejet called for a pitch for its creative and digital businesses. As per industry sources, the account was pegged at Rs 1- 1.25 crore.

 The Titan Group

The Titan Group called for a digital media pitch for all its businesses -- including Titan watches, Fastrack and Tanishq -- in October this year. Sources close to the development told exchange4media that the size of the account is believed to be approximately Rs 40 crore.

 Reckitt Benckiser

Reckitt Benckiser (RB), one of the leading multinational consumer goods company, awarded its media mandate to dentsu X of Dentsu Aegis Network. The Rs 500 crore-account was being handled by Initiative of IPG for the last six years. As per sources, RB picked up the new agency after a month-long pitching process. Industry sources say that the pitch was primarily a ‘pricing review’.  

 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

IPG Mediabrands leading agency Lodestar UM  retained the media duties for the leading car and SUV manufacturing company Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. The vehicle giant had called for a media review more than four months ago. The account size is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore. Leading agencies were in the race for the account until the end.

 Disney-Star India

Towards the close of the year, in November 2019, the country's leading media house Disney-Star merged entity was said to have retained GroupM’s Mindshare India as its agency of record. The decision is crucial because it was part of a global pitch. And in most other markets, the account is said to have moved to Publicis and OMD. The account size of Disney-Star India is estimated to be around Rs 350-400 crore. However, globally it is said to be around $2.2 billion.