GM to shuffle creative biz; new media agency will be Starcom

After the contract with Leo Burnett expires in December, it is learnt that Publicis India will handle the brands that were formerly with Burnett, which accounts for about Rs 25 crore in advertising

Well-placed sources in the industry tell afaqs! that there is a change on the agency front for General Motors (GM), yet again. Publicis India is believed to have cornered the portion of the GM business that was so far in Leo Burnett's custody. Additionally, Starcom Worldwide has most likely bagged the media business. However, the transition will take place over a period of few months.

Five brands will thus move to Publicis – Chevrolet Spark (one of the brands that clocked good sales figures), Tavera, U-VA, Aveo and Optra. The latter three came to Leo Burnett after McCann was replaced in September. Additionally, Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) stepped in then, to share the portfolio with Leo Burnett.

GM to shuffle creative biz; new media agency will be Starcom

Sources peg the size of the account that is now with Publicis, to be in the region of Rs 20-25 crore.

Speculation is rife that since Starcom and Publicis India are part of the Publicis Groupe, they could have struck a deal that led GM into a partnership with both agencies.

When contacted by afaqs!, Ankush Arora, vice-president – marketing, sales and service, General Motors India, denied the developments. However, he confirmed that W+K would look after Beat, the company's new launch slated for 2010. The new entrant is an updated version of Spark.

GM's contract with Leo Burnett will expire in December this year. Therefore, though it was re-considering agencies, a fresh pitch wasn't called for. The pitch that was called for the Cruze in April this year, served its purpose not only for the brand, but also enabled the company to align agencies for its other brands.

McCann Erickson, Leo Burnett, Publicis India, W+K and D&H Blurb Communications (the outfit by Abhinav Dhar, Ajit Hoon and Future Brands) participated in the pitch. While W+K drove away with the Cruze business in September, McCann was out of the picture, and Leo Burnett stayed back.

On the media front, Starcom has been GM's global media partner. However, in India, up till now, Madison Media was the custodian of the media duties.

afaqs! also spoke to Ravi Kiran, CEO, South Asia, Starcom MediaVest group, but he denied the development. Hemant Misra, COO, Publicis India, also denied any confirmation on this.

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