The first to bag a regional Coke India account is Equus Advertising Company, which will now look after Coke India's local advertising needs in Eastern India. The move marks the extension of Coke India's marketing strategy--think national, act local--evolved for 1998, to its advertising needs too.

Under the new arrangement, the regional agency, Equus, will be responsible for all regional marketing events and promotions, while Chaitra and McCann will be responsible for the respective brand advertising -- Coke and Thums Up for the former, and Fanta for the latter. To capitalise on the soccermania generated by World Cup '98 in Calcutta, for example, Coke India is sponsoring a Padar Worldcup from June 15 to July 15 in the metro. Thecreative for the print advertising, banners and other local media has been independently handled and developed by Equus.

While the arrangement with Equus is believed to be fee-based, it is estimated that the agency stands to gain billings of Rs 3 to 4 crore a year, by bagging the Coke India account.

According to the Coke spokesperson, ``More and more companies who have a national market, but whose consumer preferences vary, will opt for such an arrangement.'' The benefits of such an arrangement are clear. A regional advertising agency helps reduce, considerably, the response time needed to suddenly create excitement around a local event.

Also, the agency on the spot is able to provide a more focussed and relevant advertising strategy centred around local events.