After 12 years, India’s second largest IT services firm Infosys is planning to change its public relations agency, The Practice.
The reference for proposal has created a buzz in the PR industry with several of the top names in the industry already working on the contract. Infosys had come out with the RFP announcement a month back.
Both Infosys and The PRactice confirmed the development. The PRactice also confirmed that they will be participating in the RFP as well.
“As our business evolves , the scope of Public Relations to support our business needs is also evolving. As a result it is an opportune time to offer an opportunity to both our incumbent agency and other suitable PR agencies to showcase their capabilities to meet the expanded scope of our business and operations,” said Sukanya Ghosh, Global Leader, Corporate Communications, Infosys.
For both, the agency and the $7 billion IT services provider, this will be a first. Infosys has been working with The PRactice since 2000, and for the PR agency Infosys was a key win in its early days of inception.
“Infosys' has been a 12 year association, and a very special one at that. It was won at the end of the first year of our operation (The PRactice was founded in the year 2000). Today, it features among our top ten clients,” said Nandita Lakshmanan, CEO and Founder, The PRactice. The madate for the RFP is for India only.
While it could not be confirmed how big Infosys’ RFP would be, players in the industry said that a retainer fee of Rs 8 lakh to 10 lakh per month for a company like Infosys should be a fair range. That would take the annual fee to over Rs 1 crore.
Industry players said Infosys might be looking for a change due to the negative publicity it has received in the media over the past year.