Maruti hunts for a creative agency for its upcoming brand

Maruti Udyog has called for a creative pitch for its upcoming brand – MR Wagon. As per media reports, this new model will eventually replace Maruti Zen.

There are more than four creative agencies in the fray for this business. Sources close to the development have confirmed this to agencyfaqs!. Among them Bates Enterprise, Capital, O&M and Lowe are already in the run for this new business. Some of these agencies such as Bates and Capital have already presented their creative strategy. However, the names of the other agencies who are also in the race couldn’t be ascertained.

Lowe, Capital and O&M are already among Maruti’s roster agencies, each one handling different brands. For instance, Maruti Alto, Maruti Omini, Maruti Esteem and Maruti Versa are handled by Lowe, while Maruti Baleno is handled by O&M. The latest Maruti brand ‘Swift’ is under Capital’s custody, while Wagon R and Maruti’s base model 800 are with Hakuhodo Percept.

Lintas Media Group’s Initiative is the AOR on all Maruti brands and it is learnt that the media duties for the new brand will also fall under Initiative’s portfolio.

The new brand MR Wagon is expected to be launched by this year end which will cost between Rs 3-4 lakhs.

Several attempts to contact executives at Maruti Udyog went futile as none of them were available to comment on this development.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!