In what could be termed as a stunning win for Mindshare India, the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) has handed over the media duties of almost its entire portfolio of companies to the WPP agency. The ATL and BTL account, estimated to be worth Rs 400 crore ($110 million), is believed to comprise: Birla Sun Life; More (Aditya Birla Group's retail venture); Madura Garments; Hindalco; Grasim and Birla Cellulose. It is still uncertain if the brief also includes Idea Cellular and Ultra Tech.
The marathon four-month review saw Mindshare edge out all the incumbents: Lodestar; Media Direction; Madison and Insight, who were also involved in the pitch process. Till now, Mindshare did not handle any part of the ABG's business. The conglomerate is believed to have called for a review to consolidate the media duties of its various group companies, hitherto divided between a large numbers of agencies, under one roof. Mindshare's experience with handling sizeble accounts like Unilever, Pepsi, ICICI, GSK, etc. seems to have worked in its favour.
Mindshare is expected to start work on the account by August this year. Gowthaman Ragothaman, managing director, Mindshare, was unavailable for comment.
