Dabur’s media duties under review

Dabur India is currently reviewing agencies for media duties across its entire portfolio of brands. The company spends around Rs 180-190 crore a year on advertising.

Currently, five media agencies handle Dabur’s planning function. These include Maxus, which handles the large chunk of the business, followed by Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), Universal McCann, MPG and Initiative. Dabur India has an in-house division for media buying.

If sources close to the development are to be believed, there are five-seven agencies in the fray, including most of the existing agencies, which have also pitched to retain the business. In addition, two new agencies have pitched for the business. The names of these two agencies couldn’t be ascertained.

The source told agencyfaqs! that this was not just a normal review, a practice adopted by many advertisers, but a full-fledged pitch.

There was no consensus on whether Dabur would consolidate the business with one agency or distribute it among several of them, but the source said, “Chances are that it will give the business to one or two agencies.”

Senior executives at Dabur India are silent about the pitch and refrained from commenting when contacted by agencyfaqs!

For the record, Maxus handles part of Dabur’s shampoo range, including Vatika, and a part of its oral care products (brands such as Lal Dantmanjan and Meswak). Initiative handles Dabur Honey and Hajmola.

Currently, Dabur India has products in the hair care, healthcare, oral care, baby care, foods and digestive categories. Its creative duties are not under review.

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