Grey Worldwide, Bangalore, cedes MTR to O&M

In a three-way pitch involving O&M, FCB-Ulka and Contract, O&M's Bangalore office has bagged the advertising account of MTR Foods from Grey Worldwide, Bangalore. The account is estimated at Rs 1 crore, "and has the potential to grow much bigger", claim company executives.

Confirming the development, J Suresh, CEO and executive director, MTR Foods, told agencyfaqs!, "We had briefed three agencies and O&M responded best to our brief. We had asked them to develop a master brand strategy and advertising concepts for two categories. As for Grey, we felt that there might be a clash of interests because sometime ago the agency picked up the advertising account of a competing brand Kitchens of India from ITC Foods."

But the good news for O&M does not end with the win of the MTR account. It has recently snapped up the small, but ‘potentially significant' account of Gokuldas Intimate Wear, which is part of the Weekender family from the Gokuldas Images group. Though not much is known about the company's plans for the Intimate Wear label, the agency confirmed that this should eventually be big as the company is planning to tap other markets by stepping out of Bangalore.

Interestingly, some observers feel that the MTR shift was triggered by changes in the management with J Suresh taking over the reigns of the company in mid-June. Suresh joined MTR after spending 17 years in Hindustan Lever in sales and marketing. At the time of leaving HLL, he was general manager, sales & customer development, beverages.

On their part, Grey officials have their own reasons to offer. Talking about MTR's decision to move the account to O&M, Anirudha Mukhedkar, associate vice-president, Grey, said, "We have been handling the ITC Foods brands for sometime now. And the new management at MTR felt that there would be a clash of interests if they stayed on with us (Grey). So the parting of ways was in the best interest of both as ITC Foods is growing rapidly and we are entirely committed to its growth."

For the record, Grey handles the entire range of gourmet cuisine from ITC Foods including Dal Bukhara, Dal Dakshin, Mirch Baingan ka Salan and Chicken Chettinad. The company has recently added three dishes to its portfolio - Khubani ka Meetha, Dum ki Khumb and Kundan Kaliyan. Of these, the last one, that is, Kundan Kaliyan has been restricted to the north of India. According to sources, the ITC Foods account is worth Rs 5 crore.

"The market for branded ready-to-eat foods is valued at Rs 5 crore, of which MTR commands 60 per cent share. We are hoping to build the MTR brand as a strong pan-Indian food label. We are expanding our distribution network to cover all urban towns in the south, all one-lakh plus towns in the west and five-lakh plus towns in the north and the east. Hopefully, by the end of the year we will be available in 800 towns," informs Suresh.

Meanwhile, ITC Foods is also going full steam ahead with its expansion plans. In a low profile move, it has set foot in the staples market with the launch of its Aashirwad brand of wheat flour in Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur. Besides the ready-to-eat and packaged staples market, the company is aggressively scouting for options in the ready-to-serve desserts, confectionery and snack food segments. In a related move it has bought out the Minto brand of confectionery from Candico and handed the advertising account to FCB-Ulka. However, with the company in the launch mode, ITC Foods executives as well as those associated with it from the agency side, refused to elaborate on its media plans. © 2002 agencyfaqs!