Advertising agency Mudra and its overseas equity partner DDB, the $2 billion global agency, have shelved their plans to start a new advertising firm in the country.
DDB's Chairman Keith Reinhard, who is on a working holiday to India, said the proposal has been dropped for the time being.
"We would be alive to any such opportunity in the future but there are no plans to bring in a new agency under the DDB banner to the country," he said.
Last year Madhukar Kamath, managing director, Mudra Communications, had talked about starting a second agency in association with DDB. DDB is part of the world's largest advertising and media conglomerate, the $9 billion Omnicom, and owns a 10 per cent equity in Mudra.
In 2003, the Mudra-DDB alliance launched Rapp Collins, a relationship management company, and Tribal, a digital branding services company from DDB's global portfolio. Instead of starting a traditional advertising agency, DDB would look to expand its presence in the country through allied services.
"Tribal and Rapp Collins are best in class companies in their respective areas and Mudra will have access to the full international network of these two firms," Reinhard said.
Globally DDB is known for its cutting edge creative work and ranks No.1 on the Gunn Report which ranks advertising agencies based on their creative output.
DDB plans to send in some of its best global creative directors to work closely with Mudra and help better its creative work.
"In the next three years Mudra would be among the best agencies in terms of creative work," said Reinhard who is one of the founding members of Omnicom.
On Omnicom and DDB's strategy to counter the growing influence of rival conglomerate WPP in the fast growing markets like India, Reinhard said, "We are not looking to challenge them in size but we'll fight them with strategy and superior creative work."
A clutch of WPP-owned ad agencies control nearly 45 per cent of the Indian advertising market.
And despite being bigger than WPP on the global stage, the share of Omnicom's associate companies in India (R K Swamy BBDO, TBWA Anthem and Mudra) is a mere 12 per cent.
