McCann Erickson pockets creative duties for DS Group's Rajnigandha and Meetha Maza

The agency won the business following a closely fought multi-agency pitch, which was held in the National Capital Region (NCR). With the win, the agency will get to manage a majority of the pan masala business of the DS Group. A small fraction of the business, which includes Tansen, Tulsi and Baba, could go to some other agency.

McCann Erickson has won the creative duties for Dharampal Satyapal Group's (DS Group's) pan masala brands, Rajnigandha and Meetha Mazaa. With the win, the agency will get to manage a majority of the pan masala business of the group. A small fraction of the business, which includes Tansen, Tulsi and Baba, could go to some other agency.

The official spokesperson from the DS Group has confirmed the news to afaqs!. The company began its hunt for a creative partner to handle its entire pan masala range in March. The decision on the flagship brands in this category has been taken.

The agency won the business in a closely-fought, multi-agency pitch which was held in Noida, part of the National Capital Region (NCR). The other agencies in the fray were Dentsu Marcom, Lowe Lintas, JWT, DDB Mudra and Ogilvy India.

The size of the business could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report. However, it is considered to be substantial.

Last year, D S Group had appointed Dentsu Marcom as the creative agency to handle two brands, including the mouth freshener brand PassPass and the newly launched chewing gum brand, Chingles. The agency won the business through a multi-agency pitch that saw participation from agencies such as Law & Kenneth, Euro RSCG and Publicis.

The group has more than 24 manufacturing units spread across Delhi, Noida, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura.

The DS Group was founded in 1929. It is a Rs 2200-crore multi-diversified conglomerate that has strong presence in sectors such as F&B, hospitality, mouth fresheners, tobacco, packaging, agro-forestry, rubber thread and infrastructure (including steel, cement and power). Recently, the group has also forayed into the dairy business.

The pan masala range falls under the mouth freshener category of the group.