Madison Media beefs up Delhi team

Madison Media has beefed up its Delhi team with two senior level appointments recently. "In the last year or so we have acquired a host of new businesses including Domino's, ABN AMRO, Ozone etc and we felt the need for strong hands to work on these accounts, as well as plan for the future," CVL Srinivas, COO, north & south, Madison Media, told agencyfaqs!, talking about the new appointments.

Soumendra Rath (better known as Teetoo) has joined the agency as media group head. He will head the Ozone Ayurvedics media account, which is estimated at Rs 20 crore. Ozone Ayurvedics has brands like Nomarks cream, Kwik and Itis eye drops and is drawing up plans to take on the challenges posed by larger Indian and multinational companies operating in this turf.

"Madison has been on the lookout for a suitable person to head this account for some time," says Srinivas. "We wanted a sound media mind, a person who is in tune with ground realities. In Teetoo we found the perfect fit, given his work experience with media departments of O&M and Contract, as well as a four-year-stint with CavinKare, Chennai, as media manager. Increasingly, media managers are expected to be as close to the customer and the harsh realities of the market as is the client. We are glad to have found a person with this profile."

On his part, Rath seems quite upbeat about his new role. "We are very serious about developing Ozone. It is a very innovative client, trying to bring in new products in the market. Sam (Sam Balsara, CMD, Madison Communications) and the team believe that this client can grow real big. We are investing a lot in this client in terms of media marketing inputs," says 38-year old Rath, who set up the in-house media division of CavinKare about two-and-a-half years ago. CavinKare Advertising is now an independent company handling media planning and buying for the Chennai-based company.

The other person to join the Madison Media team is M Sajeevan, who comes on board as senior manager, operations. Forty-one year old Sajeevan moves from Zenith Media, where he was group head, print buying. "I was with the Saatchi group - working for Saatchi and Zenith - for about 17 years. It has been a very long stint and I thought it's time to move on," Sajeevan explains his decision to quit Zenith.

Srinivas is clear about the roles the new recruits in Delhi would play. "We are looking to beef up the buying and operations strength of our Delhi office," he says. "Sajeevan has impeccable credentials in handling big brands like Hyundai, LML, Nokia, National Panasonic etc, and I think that is the kind of expertise we need to strengthen this branch." © 2003 agencyfaqs!