Neha Kalra
Media

Gati account moves to MindShare Chennai

The incumbent agency on the media business was Mindset, a Hyderabad based local agency, which was also handling the creative duties for the brand. Saatchi & Saatchi (then Sistas), RK Swamy/BBDO and Dentsu have also worked on the business earlier

Gati, a leading provider of delivery and distribution and supply chain management solutions, has appointed MindShare Chennai as its media AoR (agency of record). This decision comes after a multi-agency pitch, in which, apart from MindShare, two other agencies took part.

Anil Atri, chief sales and marketing officer, says, “MindShare has been brought on board because they lived up to our expectations – their understanding of our product portfolio and delivery has been bang on the brief. We have launched a new service, Air Express, and truly, it was great to see that the agency actually had a sales-led plan in place for the brand, which caught our eye.”

Gati account moves to MindShare Chennai
Anil Atri
The pitch was called for Air Express, a new door to door service launched by Gati for commercial consignments, samples and bulk packages. The service is multi-mode (air, road, rail, etc.). The company is looking at a media mix of television, outdoor and print, and is going beyond just press ads for its various products. The target audience for the brand, Gati, and its various products are essentially business executives, corporate decision makers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The incumbent agency on the media business was Mindset, a Hyderabad based local agency, which is also handling the brand’s creative duties at present. Saatchi & Saatchi (then Sistas), RK Swamy/BBDO and Dentsu are some of the other agencies that have worked on the business.

With the entire category growing, Gati is in an expansion mode. The company went in for a new corporate identity in 2006, and launched its campaign in late 2007. Gati, which functions on a financial year of July to June, spent Rs 3-3.5 crore in the last quarter (January-March 2008); with two months to go for the current quarter to end, it has around Rs 2 crore planned for its communication.

In terms of the strategy and positioning for the brand, Atri reveals, “Connectivity and timely delivery will be the essence of our positioning; through a study, we have found out that the Indian trade needs more emphasis on these two factors. The need to reach the secondary markets is more pronounced now than ever before. We are no more confined to metros, but helping Indian trade and commerce to reach out to every consumer, wherever he may be. With a coverage of 594 districts of the total 608, our brand is positioned as ahead in reach.”

Gati was launched in the country in 1989 as a cargo management company. It has extended itself into various cargo and logistics management services over the years. Headquartered in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, the company also has an office for its international services in Singapore, under the banner, Gati International.

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