Ankit Ajmera
Advertising

IB&W claims 50 per cent growth in billings

In the last three months, the agency says it has won seven new businesses worth Rs 125 crore

IB&W and its media arm, AK&I, had billings of around Rs 250 crore in the last financial year, 2006-07. Now, in the first quarter of 2007-08, the agency seems to be on a winning spree. In the last three month, IB&W’s chairman and managing director, Mukesh Gupta, says his agency has added new businesses worth Rs 125 crore, which is expected to increase its yearly billings by almost 50 per cent.

In the last three months, IB&W has added around seven businesses from different sectors such as FMCG, real estate and government. Among its significant wins are the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), Ministry of Food Processing and India Post. India Post alone is a Rs 50 crore business, says Gupta, while the other two government clients will add up to some Rs 10 crore.

Besides, IB&W will also handle the advertising for an FMCG brand called Oxywash, which is owned by Enzyme Technologies, a Thiruvananthapuram based company. The brand already has a presence in Kerala and now it plans to go national with an advertising budget of Rs 20 crore, says Gupta.

The other significant win for the agency is Kode Healthcare, which is worth Rs 15 crore. The company plans to launch in India a premium range of hygiene products for women, such as sanitary napkins. IB&W has also added the SRK Group, a Pune based real estate company, to its client roster; the group has extended its base to Bangalore, Mumbai and Kerala in addition to international destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain and Doha, London, Hong Kong and the US. This piece of business, Gupta says, is worth another Rs 20 crore.

The other real estate account that the agency has bagged is Metro Corp., a Bangalore based real estate company; the account is worth Rs 5 crore.

The agency has already started working on the government sector accounts. IB&W plans to promote the various events ITPO organises both nationally and internationally. It has already started a hygiene campaign for the Ministry of Food Processing; the campaign is targeted at street hawkers to get them to serve food in hygienic conditions.

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