Alokananda Chakraborty
Media

Britannia reviews media buying and planning on bakery business; six agencies to pitch

Naveen Chopra, general manager – marketing, BIL, has confirmed that the media portion of the bakery business is under review

In what could be one of the biggest upsets, if a decision contrary to the current arrangement is taken, Britannia Industries (BIL) has invited six agencies to make pitch presentations for the media portion of its bakery business, which is presently in the custody of Initiative, Bangalore. Naveen Chopra, general manager - marketing, BIL, has confirmed the piece of news, stating that a brief has been given to the respective agencies, with the first week of March set for the final presentations.

Though Chopra declines to point out who these agencies are, informed sources indicate that Madison Media, Maximize, Mediacom, Optimum Media Solutions and incumbent Initiative have been invited to make presentations. The name of the fifth agency could not be ascertained.

For starters, Britannia's decision to review media buying and planning on the bakery business, considered to be the bigger of its two product lines - dairy and bakery products - that make up its portfolio, comes in the wake of a creative review announced by the company. Its creative duties currently rest in the hands of Grey (dairy products) and Lowe (biscuit and bakery). agencyfaqs! diehards would recall our stories earlier this week, which stated agencies such as O&M India, McCann-Erickson India, Rediffusion DYR and Orchard Advertising have been invited to present their credentials for the creative duties.

On media, however, the company has opted to bypass the credentials stage, and directly focus on the pitch process. Says, Chopra, "We have evaluated them on certain parameters and then arrived at a decision."

Estimated to be more than Rs 30 crore in total media billings (dairy and bakery products put together), Britannia, point out industry sources, is one of the biggest clients based in Bangalore, making it almost imperative for agencies stationed in the city to gun for the business.

Meanwhile, Chopra indicates the outcome of the final presentations will be clear "soon enough", probably by mid-March. © 2004 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com