Aditya Chatterjee
Media

Carat impresses Pantaloon, walks away with media AOR

Presentation on media ROI helps Carat Media win Pantaloon account

Carat Media Services has won the media AOR duties of Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. According to sources, the account is pegged between Rs 35-40 crore and was earlier with Insight.

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Sanjeev Agarwal, head, marketing, Pantaloon Retail, said that the company was impressed by Carat's presentation, particularly on media return-on-investment (ROI).

"Though there was no formal pitch as such, Carat has been pursuing the account for a fairly long time and after numerous rounds of presentations and demonstrations, we decided to shift our account to the agency.” The creative duties are with Mudra and Percept.

By virtue of its presence in over 13 cities, Pantaloons India is one of the largest value and lifestyle retail chains in the country. It operates through Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Gold Bazaar, Footwear Bazaar, Pantaloon and Central. "We had a very good year and are looking to touch a turnover of Rs 1,100 crore by the end of the current financial year,” Agarwal confirmed. Last year, the company recorded a turnover of Rs 658 crore.

"We have always been very aggressive on the marketing front, and this shift in the media AOR will not affect our marketing game plan,” Agarwal pointed out.

The new year, he said, would see the retail chain expand its business within the existing formats. "Our marketing and advertising strategy will continue to lead the process of getting in touch with the consumer's needs.”

For Carat Media, it has been a well-planned pitch. According to Shripad Kulkarni, CEO west and south, the agency conducted an extensive consumer research "to identify the core audience and define the psycho-demographic cluster”.

With some help from Carat Retail, the international division of Carat Media deployed to this sector, the agency worked out a "sophisticated response modeling”. "With this tool we can measure the effectiveness of media and predict footfall,” says Kulkarni.

Carat's subsequent demonstration justified every single insertion. And that perhaps impressed Pantaloon and helped the agency clinch the deal. According to Charles Jenarius, group CEO, Carat, adapting the company's international retail solutions to the Indian context helped win the client's confidence.

Carat's Kulkarni said that the first task of the agency would be to "understand market dynamics and work in tandem with the marketing team”. And the other will be a greater focus on ROI.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!

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