Birkin makes Omnicom's first major India buy

Omnicom has acquired a majority stake in Indian field marketing player Gotocustomer Services. <BR><BR>The deal marks the group's first major Indian acquisition since Michael Birkin relocated to head the region in 2005, with a mandate to boost Omnicom's presence in China and India.<BR><BR>According to Birkin, the acquisition signals Omnicom's intent in India, which he described as "of equal importance to China" to the group.<BR><BR>"We are growing very strongly in India and looking to develop India in the same way we are developing across the region," said Birkin. "We have taken some time to investigate the market, and we decided to build a relationship with certain clients such as Microsoft."<BR><BR>The Microsoft relationship, according to Birkin, led to Gotocustomer, which handles field and retail marketing services for the software giant, along with a blue-chip client roster that also includes Pepsi, Philips, Intel and Idea Cellular. Gotocustomer has eight offices across India.<BR><BR>"We believe in the importance of marketing products using retail," he said. "India is an increasingly affluent market and the actual distribution of products and services is vital. You can't have that scale of an opportunity and not have control of what's going on at point of sale."<BR><BR>Birkin also believes there is plenty of growth left in the field marketing sector. "India is as far ahead as anything I've seen globally, but the market has a long way to go."<BR><BR>Gotocustomer will sit inside the Diversified Agency Services (DAS) division, which is the largest contributor to Omnicom's global revenues. Birkin declined to disclose the deal's value.