Campaign India Agency Report Card: Madison Media

Type of agency: Media
Company ownership: Independent
Key personnel: Sam Balsara, chairman and MD, Madison World, Punitha Arumugam, CEO,  Madison Media Group, Basabdatta Choudhury, CEO,  Madison, Media Plus, CEO -  Designate Platinum Media
Accounts won: Airtel Digital TV, Bharti AXA General Insurance, Bharti AXA Mutual Fund, Bharti Retail, Indian Oil, Levi’s, Max New York Life, Petroleum Conservation Research Association, SpiceJet
Accounts lost: None

A big year for  Madison Media. Sam Balsara shocked the  global media fraternity with the MediaCom  deal, a strategically brilliant move which saw the new outfit land the lucrative and prestigious P&G AOR.
Madison consolidated its hold on  the Bharti business,  with new businesses from the stable being added.
The overall breadth of categories that it handles makes for safety during difficult times. Madison Media has no great dependence on a single sector, most useful at times such as this.

Recognitions at the Emvies included three awards for Saffola and one for Cadbury.

Balsara’s penchant for retaining his key people is underlined by the fact that no significant executive has quit the organisation in the year under review.

Balsara’s high profile and his reputation as a thinker and a speaker have also added to the easy recognition that Madison enjoys.

Overall, a terrific year for Madison Media.

Campaign Score: 8

How MADISON MEDIA rates itself: 9

2008 has been our best year ever. We started off with a bang retaining the P&G Media AOR and the jaw – dropping  deal with MediaCom in India. We opened an office in Sri Lanka. We are launching a second agency in Platinum Media. Our long standing clients continued to grow and support us. New business brought in about Rs 500 crores.

We did not lose a single client, nor did we lose senior people. For the first time, we offered our new client Levi’s an integrated service of media, outdoor, entertainment and PR.

In terms of ranking we could not have asked for more. On the ET Brand Equity Agency Reckoner, the agency sharply rose from No.3 to No.1, thus the agency has been ranked No.1 twice over a 4- year period. We had our fair share of awards though we should have done much better on this score.
 As our New Year card says, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going” so in spite of the environment, with our guts and wits and a little resource we look to make 2009 our best year ever.