Mindshare to handle media buying account of Reid & Taylor

Our Convergence Bureau
01 September 2003

In a competitive pitch among various media buying agencies, Mindshare India won the Reid & Taylor account, which is estimated to be in excess of Rs 25 crore, for the year across multimedia platforms.

Says Tarun Joshi, the communication custodian for Reid & Taylor: "It''s an extremely interesting brand strategy that Reid & Taylor is set to don. With Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador, and Rakesh Mehra of Aks fame shooting the commercial, we have big plans for the brand. The campaign strategy will be revealed at a suitable date. Suffice to say that our campaign will take this brand into an entirely different orbit."

A month ago, Reid & Taylor had announced Bachchan to be its brand ambassador of the premier suitings brand. Nitin Kasliwal, the managing director of S Kumars Nationwide, the parent company, had then said that Bachchan''s appointment will take the brand Reid & Taylor from the context of ''India to Bharat''.

Kasliwal, now, says: "What impressed us most about Mindshare is that apart from a very scientific thought process they blend common sense and market realities into their planning and buying process — very much the factors Reid & Taylor has used in buying media so far."

Founded in 1998 on the merger of the media operations of JWT and O&M, Mindshare is part of the WPP group network of over 60 communications companies. In India, it operates virtually on an autonomous scale. Of late, Mindshare has been grabbing several prestigious accounts.

Early this year, Business Today, the premier business magazine in India, picked the WPP Mindshare as ''Agency of the Year''. "It isn''t size alone that qualifies Mindshare for this honour; the company''s entry into the staid calculator and spreadsheet heavy world of media planning has revolutionised the discipline. Self-respecting media pros are no longer keen to be part of traditional full-service agencies…"