Kotak Mahindra appoints Maxus as media AoR

The account, worth Rs 35-40 crore, will be handled by the agency's Mumbai office.

Kotak Mahindra has appointed Maxus India as its media agency of record (AoR).

The agency has won the account on the back of a multi-agency pitch. Its Mumbai branch will service the account.

As per sources close to the development, the size of the account is estimated at Rs 35-40 crore.

Kartik Sharma, managing partner, Maxus, says, "Kotak Mahindra is a very important and significant addition to our portfolio. They are as Indian a company as we are at heart. Kotak is very ambitious and has plans for growth. We will work to help them grow."

In the other recent developments at the agency, Ajit Varghese (managing director of Maxus South Asia) has been promoted to the role of CEO, Maxus Asia Pacific, effective January, 2014.

January onwards, Sharma will fit into Varghese's shoes to take over the responsibilities of Maxus South Asia. He will now be a part of GroupM South Asia EXCO.

In an earlier interview, Karthi Marshan, EVP and head, group marketing, Kotak Mahindra Bank had said that the overall challenge for Kotak is to ensure that it comes at the same level of recall with its other counterparts. The aim is to reach 500 bank branches by March, 2014.

For the record, Maxus India was recently appointed as the media agency of record (AoR) for Ruchi Soya (Popular Division), including brands Mahakosh, Sunrich and Ruchi Gold. It was retained as the AoR for L'Oreal and the agency won several new businesses including Tata Tea, redBus and Musafir.com in 2013.

Maxus is a global network of local media agencies with services including communications strategy, media planning and buying, digital marketing, social media strategy, SEO, PPC, direct response media, data analytics, and marketing ROI evaluation. The company has a 2,000 member team across 55 markets worldwide and is a part of GroupM.

Kotak Mahindra, meanwhile, is a bank established in 1985 and was the first non-banking financial company to be turned into a bank. It offers complete retail financial solutions for varied customer requirements. During FY 2012-13, the bank grew by 44 per cent.