Mudra Max wins BPCL pitch; account size upwards of Rs 100 crore

The win is the result of a closely fought media pitch held in Mumbai. Previously, the media mandate for the account was with Lintas Media Group (LMG).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has awarded its media mandate to Mudra Max. Industry sources estimate the size of the account to be well over Rs 100 crore. The agency's Mumbai branch will handle the business.

Previously, the media mandate for the account was with Lintas Media Group (LMG); the agency had won the account in 2008. Prior to LMG, the mandate was with MEC (Mediaedge:cia).

The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch that was initiated around August this year, and was held in Mumbai. The pitch was apparently part of a statutory review process that the company has been following. The statute requires the company to review its media duties every three years.

According to sources, around 11 media agencies approached the company, of which nine were invited to make presentations. Agencies that made it to the final round include the winning agency Mudra Max, the incumbent agency LMG, Maxus, and MEC.

It is further learnt that towards the end, the competition was down to Mudra Max and LMG. When contacted, NP Sathyamurthy,president and chief operating officer, LMG, conveyed, "Unfortunately, LMG did not qualify in the last round due to a technically incomplete bid (that is, the commercial terms quotation)." Referring to the account's creative roster, he goes on, "However, Lintas continues to be one of the empanelled agencies for BPCL."

On the creative front, it may be recalled that in May this year, after reviewing its three existing agencies, BPCL added a fourth agency to its roster. As a result, besides retaining its existing roster agencies -- Lowe Lintas, Euro RSCG and Saatchi & Saatchi -- the company added Law & Kenneth. In November 2010, Scarecrow Communications was appointed by BPCL to handle its retail initiatives.

It may be noted that Mudra Max recently bagged the media mandate of World Gold Council, the market development organisation for the gold industry. The incumbent agency on this account is Starcom.