MAM
After GM loss, Interpublic creates post of media business CEO
MUMBAI: Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc., which just lost its media buying busines for General Motors Corp., is makings its best attempts to bounce back. The company has created a post of chairman and chief executive media business and has filled it up by roping in former MTV Networks executive Mark Rosenthal.
Apart from General Motors, Interpublic agencies have recently lost some other crucial accounts like Nestlé and Unilever. What is worriying the company most now is forecasts that other accounts held by Interpublic agencies, might follow General Motor’s course. Rosenthal’s appointment is being seen as a confidence building exercise among existing clients.
To be based out of New York, Rosenthal will oversee all of the company’s worldwide media operations, including Initiative, MAGNA Global, Universal and a number of leading specialist media agencies, with capabilities that range from programming and content development to interactive, retail and media barter, states a media release issued by the company on yesterday.
Rosenthal will also work directly with Interpublic chairman and CEO Michael Roth to refine and implement a strategy that aligns all of the holding company’s media assets and maximizes the benefits they – working together with other Interpublic assets in areas such as sports, entertainment and event marketing – deliver to clients.
Interpublic has played down the GM account loss saying the US account accounted for only 1 percent of Interpublic’s 2004 revenue, as well as $5 million in profit. But according to reports, the company is gripped by financial and operational problems which have led it to restate earnings and delay its recent quarterly reports.
In a filing on 13 May with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Interpublic said it still had not completed the reports and did not know when they would be ready. This was the third time since March that the company had expressed its inability to file the reports.
Meanwhile, the fate of the 200 employees at GM Mediaworks, the company floated by Interpublic exclusively to deal with the GM media business, hangs in the balance. The theory that, Publicis-owned GM Planworks, which has now replaced Interpublic’s GM Mediaworks as General Motors’ media buying agency, might hire some of those ‘out of work’ is also gaining ground.
GM Planworks president Dennis Donlin has been quoted in media reports as saying that he would look inside the GM system, Publicis’s own Starcom MediaVest and elsewhere for additional staff members while confirming that there will be an increase in body count.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI:Â Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
