Britannia confirms call for credentials; insists "no issue" with incumbents

Biscuit major Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL) has confirmed that it has invited advertising agencies in Bangalore for a series of credentials presentations. For those who came in late, this website had carried a story (based on agencyfaqs! sources) yesterday, announcing BIL's decision to call some eight agencies - including O&M India, McCann-Erickson India, Rediffusion | DYR and Orchard Advertising - to make presentations.

However, in response to the same story, the company has clarified that the call for presentations "is just to keep us on our toes and ensure that we are not missing out on something", and that "there is nothing wrong with our agencies" (incumbents Lowe and Grey Worldwide).

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, yesterday afternoon, Naveen Chopra, general manager - marketing, BIL, said, "We have the best of relations with Lowe and Grey Worldwide, and there is no issue with either of them whatsoever. They have been the custodians of our brands, and our businesses have grown very well with their support."

Specific to the objective behind the current round of credentials presentations, Chopra said, "We tend to keep an open mind on all that we do, in every department in this company. We want to keep ourselves abreast of the work in the market, and these presentations are one way of seeing the work being produced in agencies."

He adds that credentials presentations allow agencies to show clients the work they are capable of doing. "If we see some great work, we might decide to award the agency with some business. On the other hand, we might decide that we are already working with the best agencies and not move anything," he said. © 2004 agencyfaqs!