Contract wins JK Tyres, but is O&M pained?

O&M has lost the Rs 20 crore advertising account of JK Tyres to Contract Advertising

N. Shatrujeet

agencyfaqs!

NEW DELHI, December 7

Barely eight months ago, amidst much hoopla in advertising circles, tyre manufacturer JK Tyres divested its long-standing agency, Interact Vision, of its advertising account, in favour of O&M, Delhi. Naturally, this development was preceded by a big pitch that involved more than a handful of heavyweights - HTA, SSC&B, TBWA Anthem, RK Swamy/BBDO… and, of course, O&M.

Cut to end October. O&M was shown the door - a mere six months after winning the business - and JK Tyres appointed Contract Advertising, Delhi, to handle the Rs 20-crore account. The question is, what happened in the six intervening months that made JK Tyres get a new agency for itself?

When contacted, Sanjeev Wadhwa, chief manager, advertising, JK Tyres, had this to say: "We had selected O&M over the other agencies because their presentation was better than the others. But the chemistry between the two organizations never really worked. So we amicably decided to part ways." Wadhwa wouldn't reveal the exact nature of the ‘missing chemistry'.

Not only was the chemistry missing, other agencies seemed to have an inkling of it. Contract, for instance. Admits Ashish Dabral, vice-president, Contract Advertising, "We were not involved in the first pitch. But we came to know from the market that JK was scouting for a new agency. We moved in, made a presentation and got the account."

In the case of the October pitch, JK Tyres did not go through the rigmarole of calling a formal pitch. "We simply short-listed three-four agencies that seemed to show the potential of understanding our market," says Wadhwa. "We then called them for a full-fledged presentation, before awarding the business to Contract."

While Contract has won the account, Wadhwa says that some of the work done by O&M - a commercial, for instance - will be released shortly. Interestingly, very little of O&M's work for the JK Tyres brand has been on view. Which, in itself, has raised quite a few eyebrows. "O&M has been sacked even before its work was released. What criteria has the client used for evaluating the agency's performance?" asks a copywriter in a Top 10 agency.

Not everyone is surprised, of course. "Knowing the client, it had to happen," says one ad man who had once helped service the JK account. "To begin with, O&M got the account for all the wrong reasons," he adds. According to him, JK Tyres' decision to dispense with Interact Vision was coloured by its eagerness to be serviced by an ‘MNC agency'.

"Interact Vision had helped build the JK Tyres brand, but after a point of time, the company was loath to be associated with a sister agency of an Indian agency (Mudra). As it was competing with the likes of Bridgestone, the name Interact Vision didn't sound too nice in the cocktail circuit." He also insists that agencies such as O&M can never hope to service the account, as "a certain type of client understanding is required to service JK".

For his part, Wadhwa maintains that JK Tyres moved the account from Interact Vision as it was felt that the brand had reached a stature that required a new level of thinking and creative interpretation. In the same breath he agrees that JK Tyres' association with Interact Vision was "quite fruitful".

Incidentally, a report in The Economic Times' web site mentions that recently, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) had issued a notice to the effect that JK Tyres had defaulted payment to the tune of Rs 1.8 crore. The agency pleading the case - O&M. agencyfaqs! tried its best to get a confirmation of the report, but officials at O&M, Delhi, were not available for comment.

Although Wadhwa appeared clueless about the report and dismissed it forthwith, it doesn't come as a surprise to some. "JK Tyres has a history of being a poor paymaster," avers a senior account executive with quite a few years of JK Tyres experience under her belt. "Its outstanding payments run into lakhs of rupees. I know of cases where agencies have had to write-off dues. I think JK Tyres has done O&M a big favour."

All in all, the issues might get clearer once the dust settles. And once O&M chooses to clear the air. But for now, Contract is busy at work on the account. The agency has already released its first promotion for JK and Vikrant truck tyres - ‘chakke pe chakka, inaam pakka' - that has been pretty successful in the market. Both Contract and JK Tyres say so.

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