MUMBAI: General Motors has left Madison untouched to handle its media account in India while deciding to have Aegis Group’s Carat Media as its global media partner following a full-agency review during the fourth quarter of 2011.
“GM India‘s media buying contract continues to be with Madison at this point of time and the creative account is with McCann Erickson. GM‘s India operation is not impacted in any manner by Carat Media’s global contract. This is completely an independent one,” General Motors India vice president P Balendran told Indiantelevision.com.
Madison had won GM’s media duties in 2010 for three years through to March 2013.
Aegis Group chairman India and CEO South East Asia Ashish Bhasin told Indiantelevision.com that India and China were not part of the global pitch, but declined to disclose other details.
The appointment of Aegis Media carries an anticipated annual media spend of $3 billion worldwide, General Motors said.
The global realignment will cover all three Aegis’ reporting regions - EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific. It follows Aegis Media‘s appointment as GM‘s media agency across Europe on 1 January 2007. The contract includes duties in media planning and buying, search, social media and mobile communications and will be managed and co-ordinated through Carat‘s global US team.
The market is speculating that a second phase of the realignment may take place in future which may include India as well.
Though he refused to reveal GM’s media spends on advertising in India, Balendran said that the focus is on print and electronic (media) including online activities. “Since the non-metros and rural areas are showing good growth for the last couple of years, we focus on advertisements catering to the masses of these areas as well.”
General Motors vice president and global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick said, "We wanted a media agency partner with the sophistication to leverage global marketing opportunities. Carat has an innovative approach to drive significant marketing value and their service model has been tailored to align well with our global and regional brands. They are uniquely positioned to help us form strong media partnerships and drive significant global efficiencies."
Operating in 120 countries around the world, Aegis Group is a leading media and digital communications group and holding company for Carat, Vizeum, Isobar, Posterscope and iProspect.
