Media Edge grabs $41m Tata business

<p>NEW DELHI: India's leading conglomerate, the Tata Group, has </p><p>appointed The Media Edge (TME), Young & Rubicam's media company, as </p><p>agency of record for its business worth US$41.7 million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TME won the account after a nearly 10-month battle with The Madison </p><p>Media, Zenith Media, Carat India and FCB-Ulka. The appointment is </p><p>effective from January 1, 2002. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TME's chief executive, Divya Gupta, said: "Apart from gaining an </p><p>important media-buying assignment, the association with Tata Group in </p><p>itself is a moment of pride." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The 96-company Tata Group, which has businesses in seven key industrial </p><p>sectors, has centralised media buying for 14 companies under its Group </p><p>Synergy Project. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Companies covered by the buying deal include Tata Tea, Indian Hotels, </p><p>Tata Internet, Tata Finance, Tata AIG, Voltas Limited, Titan and Tata </p><p>Chemicals. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Gupta added: "The payment would still be on the traditional basis (12.5 </p><p>per cent for creative agency and 2.5 per cent of media spend to TME)." </p><p>Tata works with a number of creative agencies, including FCB-Ulka, </p><p>Ogilvy & Mather, Bates India, Contract Advertising and Triton </p><p>Communications. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The win is expected to propel TME to the second spot in the country's </p><p>media agency rankings behind fellow WPP group agency MindShare. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>