Media Edge grabs $41m Tata business

NEW DELHI: India's leading conglomerate, the Tata Group, has

appointed The Media Edge (TME), Young & Rubicam's media company, as

agency of record for its business worth US$41.7 million.

TME won the account after a nearly 10-month battle with The Madison

Media, Zenith Media, Carat India and FCB-Ulka. The appointment is

effective from January 1, 2002.

TME's chief executive, Divya Gupta, said: "Apart from gaining an

important media-buying assignment, the association with Tata Group in

itself is a moment of pride."

The 96-company Tata Group, which has businesses in seven key industrial

sectors, has centralised media buying for 14 companies under its Group

Synergy Project.

Companies covered by the buying deal include Tata Tea, Indian Hotels,

Tata Internet, Tata Finance, Tata AIG, Voltas Limited, Titan and Tata

Chemicals.

Gupta added: "The payment would still be on the traditional basis (12.5

per cent for creative agency and 2.5 per cent of media spend to TME)."

Tata works with a number of creative agencies, including FCB-Ulka,

Ogilvy & Mather, Bates India, Contract Advertising and Triton

Communications.

The win is expected to propel TME to the second spot in the country's

media agency rankings behind fellow WPP group agency MindShare.