MTS' Rs 200 crore advertising business up for pitch....

MTS' Rs 200 crore advertising business up for pitch

Antara Ghosal | afaqs! | New Delhi, July 15, 2010

MTS India, the CDMA mobile telephony brand, is on the lookout for a creative agency, after the contract with the incumbent agency, Saatchi & Saatchi has expired. The company is now on the lookout for a fresh creative approach and idea.

Advertisement

Five leading agencies are in the fray, along with the incumbent, which is trying to retain the business. The size of the business is estimated to be more than Rs 200 crore.

Prasun Kumar, director - brand and marcom at MTS confirms the development. Kumar says, "This is a process driven pitch-process called for a review of the business after expiry of contract. The brief given to the participating agencies is to come up with creative solutions for certain strategic requirements before us."

The first round of presentations is over, and the results of the pitch are expected by August 10.

MTS' media duties are handled by Media Planning Group (MPG) India, the media buying arm of Havas Media.

MTS, which is a joint venture between Sistema, a Russian telecom company, and Shyam Telelink, has licences for 22 circles in India. Of this, it is operational in 12 circles with a customer base of 4.5 million. The coming year will see the telecom player entering other circles as well.

Shyam Telelink started with a brand, Rainbow in Rajasthan. The business was handled by Lintas Pickle then. Later, when it was entered into an JV with Sistema, the brand was renamed as MTS, and the creative duties were awarded to Saatchi & Saatchi.

The brand is known for disruptive marketing. To create a buzz around its launch in the Capital, the telecom player arranged for a free entry on DND Flyover - the main route to enter Delhi from NOIDA for all vehicles - to convey the message of a congestion-free network.