Sumita Vaid
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Dalmia Consumer Care appoints Maximize

The size of the AOR is estimated at Rs 4-5 crore.

In a significant development, Dalmia Consumer Care (DCC), the FMGC start-up from the Rs 1,200-crore Dalmia Group, has appointed Maximize to handle its media duties. agencyfaqs! learns there was no pitch preceding the development and the size of the account would be between Rs 4-5 crore "to begin with". "Based on our past relationship with Maximize we decided to give the business to it," says Kartik Raina, COO, DCC. For the record, the creative duties of DCC are split between Contract Advertising and Lowe.

Besides the experience of dealing with Maximize in the past, it is also Maximize's ‘unconventional' media planning that tilted DCC's decision in its favour. Raina says the task now for the new media agency would be to plan media with a view to reaching people with a rural mindset. He adds, "Rural mindset does not mean people living in the slums. These are people living in the urban areas, but with a rural outlook."

The company's approach becomes clear when one considers its product portfolio. DCC is a concept marketing company that would develop and retail packaged products in the Rs 45,000-crore oral gratification space. While the manufacturing facility is in place, DCC is open to outsourcing as well. And yes, the company will have a national presence. Regional offices are already in place in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

So, besides mass media, Raina indicates there will be a significant focus on below-the-line activities. Agrees Bashab Sarkar, managing director, Maximize. "The nature of the product category - which is in the oral gratification space - and the marketing strategy is such that it needs closer association with the target group. Which we plan to do through local area marketing and through the services of Broadmind (a WPP division) which handles events, sponsorship, traditional and non-traditional media."

Incidentally, DCC would be launching its first product in Delhi tomorrow. The product has been positioned as "a healthier alternative to tobacco". © 2003 agencyfaqs!

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