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Bata to shift its creative duties; Saatchi ready to grab
The footwear brand is currently reviewing its creative duties and plans to have a new agency on board. Company executives say that Saatchi is a strong contender
Bata India, the 76 year old subsidiary of the Switzerland based Bata Shoes Organisation, is keen on hiring another advertising agency. The business is currently being handled by FCB-Ulka. At the moment, Bata India is evaluating various agencies and will be in a position to announce the name of the new agency by the end of this month. Five agencies are known to be participating in the pitch process, but the names of these agencies could not be ascertained.
The development has been confirmed to agencyfaqs! by Manoj Chandra, vice-president, marketing and consumer services, Bata India. Says Chandra, “Bata is in dialogue with various agencies. We are looking at a lot of partners to work with us. The evaluation process is on, but so far, Saatchi & Saatchi has emerged as a top contender.”
Set up in 1931, Bata India is a major manufacturer and marketer of footwear in India. It is still one of the largest players in the Indian shoe market. Though Bata India has seen lean times in recent years, it has managed to generate high recall for the Bata brand. It boasts of a retail network bigger than any other in the country. In fact, recently, there has been a buzz about a possible tie-up between Reliance Retail and Bata.
For the record, Bata India recently received the Retail Award for its dynamic makeover at the Images Retail Awards 2007. Bata turned around last year with a Rs 40 crore profit on a turnover of around Rs 800 crore. In February 2005, the Bata balance sheet was inked in red. The losses were about Rs 63 crore and the company was facing operational problems.
Bata plans to leave the lean patch behind and increase its spends on advertising. It is learned that in 2004, Bata India spent close to Rs 12 crore on advertising. The advertising spends are expected to go up from this year.
Says Chandra, “The idea is to ensure that the Bata brand is back in the mind. Working on a decent budget, we wish to give the Bata brand a lot of visibility. There will be a lot of action in the future. The focus will be on below-the-line activities, but an above-the-line component will also be there.”