OMS South adds business worth Rs 20-25 crore; bags ACC Cement and Nutrine

For DDB, the south rocks. Just yesterday, agencyfaqs! had reported the news of Mudra South winning business worth Rs 10 crore. Now, OMS South has also made a couple of juicy acquisitions. These include the media duties of Nutrine, as briefly reported by agencyfaqs! yesterday and ACC Cement.

The media agency has also picked up the Rs 12-crore ACC Cement AOR in a three-way pitch that also involved Madison Media and The Media Edge. For the record, the creative responsibilities of ACC Cement were awarded to Lowe recently, as reported by this website.

Elaborating on what may have influenced ACC's decision in the agency's favour R Subramaniam, regional director, OMS South, says, "I believe it was our ability to produce better planning inputs, identifying the target group and providing intelligent analysis on that group, coupled with some ideas on innovative application of media to promote the brand, that worked for us."

Having got the business is not even half the job done. The media task for OMS is to create a brand distinction for ACC Cement in a commodity-driven market. "There isn't much of a brand differentiation among cement brands, and the fact that ACC has kept a low profile poses quite a challenge," explains Subramaniam. "Thus, the mandate is to create a strong brand positioning for ACC Cement."

Acquiring confectionery brand Nutrine's business was relatively easier. While Mudra South had to contend with other agencies in the fray, OMS made a direct presentation to the company. And as the media agency was already handling two of its brands, Nutrine Naturo and Nutrine Maha Lacto, the company had a good knowledge of what the agency could bring to the table.

"The advantage we had was our experience on the brands. But the experience was just not limited to giving the brand the right media exposure. It was to the extent that we advised on market approach and formulating strategies for promotion of the brand," Subramaniam adds, even as the agency is rolling up its sleeves and plunging into action. © 2004 agencyfaqs!