Chennai, Feb 12: Bates Clarion has mopped up business worth Rs 50 crore courtesy its affiliation to Bates - an over 80 per cent jump from the current Rs 60 crore.Six months after the $7-billion Bates International forged an alliance with Clarion Advertising Services, it has swung the Indian arms of some of its international clients towards its Indian joint venture Bates Clarion.
Three major accounts handled by Bates Worldwide - ITC cigarette brands 555 and Benson and Hedges, Warner Lambert (the company which manufactures Clorets) and Nokia Communications have been bagged by Bates Clarion in the last month or so.
At a time when advertising agencies are groping for new accounts to stay afloat, Bates Clarion has thus "mopped up a business of Rs 50 crore through the three new accounts," general manager Sandeep Pathak said. This is an over 80 per cent jump from its current capitalised billings of Rs 60 crore.
"This new business did not come to us automatically," he said. "We had to prove that we werecapable of handling it. Not all Bates accounts have come to us."
While ITC and Warner Lambert India were being handled by Contract Advertising, the Nokia account was being managed by Ogilvy & Mather earlier.
Though it is five months since the tie-up was announced, the equity participation of the two partners has not been announced. Sources in the industry, however, say that Bates is likely to have a majority stake.
As a result of this tie-up, six divisions have been created within the organisation. "This a move towards offering specialised services," said Pathak. "These will be separate profit centres and each division will be empowered to offer its services individually even on a one-time basis."
* `ClarioNet' - one of the six divisions - will handle new media like interactive touchscreen kiosks (a touchscreen kiosk has been done by ClarioNet for HDFC, Chennai) and Internet.
* `C.Mass'(Clarion Marketing Support Services) has been set up to handle promotions, events marketing and directmarketing.
* `CostPlus' is the audiovisual production division which will handle audiovisuals for television commercials and documentaries. "As audiovisuals are handled independently of the total ad package, there is scope for greater transparency in accounting," said Pathak.
* `Resource' is the recruitment communication division which will not only place advertisements for its customers but also shortlist candidates.
* `Calibre' or the `eye-share' division will specialise in outdoor advertising as well as merchandising and packaging. n `Inroad' is a division dealing in rural marketing.
Clarion has recruited around 30 people for these new divisions.
Along with Bates, McCann Erickson was in the race to pick up a stake in Clarion and finally Bates tied up. In the Advertising & Marketing rankings, Clarion stands 15th. Some of its clients are BPL, Hindustan Lever, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC. Bates International had a billing of $6.3 billion in 1996 with operations in 65 countries.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
