Madison
Madison Media bags McDonald’s media account
MUMBAI: There seems to be just no stopping Sam Balsara’s Madison Media this year. McDonald’s is the latest on Madison’s chomping block having just won both its media planning and buying duties.
Madison Communications CMD Balsara had this to say about the win, “We are happy to add McDonald’s to our limited but select roster of clients at Madison Media and are confident that our experience and expertise will help us effectively address the needs of McDonalds”.
Amit Jatia, joint venture partner and managing director, McDonald’s [Western India] said, “We are happy to have Madison Media on board and look forward to working with them.”
The McDonald’s account, which industry sources say was worth Rs 80 to 100 million in the 2003-4 fiscal, is expected to grow upwards of Rs 120 million in the coming year. The account was previously with Optimum Media Solutions.
In it was only very recently that McDonald’s moved its creative duties to Leo Burnett switching over from Mudra, which managed it for the last eight years (ever since the fast food major entered the Indian market actually).
It was just last week that Madison Media won the Marico account. The Marico account was worth Rs 288 million in the 2003-4 fiscal and is expected to be worth anywhere in the region of Rs 350 in the coming year, industry sources say.
Other accounts recently won by Madison media include Asian Paints, Cadbury and Hyundai.
MUMBAI: Sam Balsara’s Madison Communications has announced its entry into the field of in-film advertising and marketing of films and music.
For the same, Madison has acquired a new firm operating called TeamWorks fp&e. The new company with an authorised share capital of Rs 10 million will operate under the name of Madison Teamworks FP&e (MATES).
TeamWorks FP&e, which was the brainchild of Darshana Goradia (ex-Sony TV) and Sooraj Bhalla (executive producer of the film Sharaarat), already has business in hand of over Rs 30 million and has 14 clients like LML, Frito Lays, Reebok, Castrol, etc.
TeamWorks FP&e is currently working on several films including AB Corp’s Virudh, Creative Eye’s Aabra-ka-Daabra, Entertainment One’s Waqt and various films from Ram Gopal Varma’s – The Factory.
Says Balsara, “We and our clients are constantly looking for new ways to reach the consumer in an impact full manner and with least cost. The high cost of conventional media accompanied by the growing clutter has made in-film advertising an exciting and viable opportunity. On the other hand producers who are also constantly under pressure of making more lavish productions and then finding ways and means of meeting such expenditure are now more open to commercial exploitation of their properties. In keeping with the Madison philosophy, we will offer a highly specialised expert service in this area in a completely transparent manner, which should be welcome by both clients and film producers.”
He further added, “Between Madison, Darshana and Sooraj, I believe we have what it takes to make a successful foray in this area: An understanding of brands and their requirements, client trust and confidence, creative abilities to weave brand stories into film plots, an understanding of producers’ concerns and beliefs, a knowledge of what is happening in the film market and finally selling skills. Over the last few months we have had several discussions with Darshana and Sooraj and I was extremely impressed with their entrepreneurial spirit and with what they had achieved in a short time with very little resources.”
TeamWorks FP&e has successfully managed to get Shahrukh Khan to wear Levis jeans with Reebok shoes and have a cup of coffee at Café Coffee Day or bite a pizza at Pizza Hut. All this happened in the film Main Hoon Naa, where the mentioned advertisers experienced the medium called cinema through the relevant in-film advertising.
Consider another example of their work, in a film called Kyun Ho Gaya Naa, where Vivek Oberoi is shown as a rally enthusiast and hence his introduction in the film is wearing an Overall with Lancer, Castrol, Ceat and Cafe Coffee Day logos. The extensive rally sequence saw Oberoi zooming ahead in an interestingly designed Mitsubishi Lancer Car, with a pit-stop where the Ceat Radials were changed and Castrol GTX Magnatec was poured into the winners car with close shots of the product pack and the logos.
MATES is planning on rendering its services in the area of film promotions and marketing as well. Says Goradia, who will head MATES as CEO, “I am sure that advertiser spends in this area are going to grow by leaps and bounds in the near future and our joint venture with Madison enables us to operate on a wider canvas and with adequate resources to get a good share of this market. Madison is like a dream come true, not only because of its enormous size and reputation but also because of its liberated entrepreneurial ideology. I have dealt with Madison Media when I was with Sony and know the organisation and have got to respect it for its objective and professional outlook with a focus on deliveries.”
Bhalla, who will be director – content, says, “I believe the new venture will turn under-utilised resources of content into profit for a large number of producers and they should welcome our move. Also, we will be now in capacity to inculcate a corporate and professional culture in the fraternity, which is much needed. On the whole, the marriage with Madison will facilitate entry into untapped areas and markets, quicker and at less cost.”
MATES will be the seventh specialised unit of Madison; other units being Creative, Media, Outdoor, Rural, PR and Retail.
