The agency pitched against Starcom, FCB's Lodestar and Madison Media.
The pitch was whittled down to a final round between MPG and Madison Media, according to V Ramani, CEO - South Asia, MPG. "What gave us the edge as far as my feedback from the client is concerned, was a better understanding of the business, specifically the current task at hand," he said.
The final decision was however a close call. Paul Thachil, CEO, Mother Dairy, added: "Madison was outstanding especially on TV, but we are at a stage of growth were we felt the focus and attention that MPG would give us would be higher."
Another criteria that swung the pitch in favour of MPG was the size of the business - Mother Dairy will be one of the biggest clients at the agency's Delhi's office.
A subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board, Mother's Dairy's major products include Dhara and Safal, and its ice cream brand, which claims a market share of 41 per cent in Delhi and has a significant presence across North India. While Mother Dairy's creative agency has handled media work in the past, Thachil said, "The NDDB group felt it was time to consolidate media under one house with spend on it increasing."