Inter Public plans to hike stake in Ulka

InterPublic Group (IPG), a global player in the field of communication and advertising, is in the process of further consolidating its operations in India. After picking 100 per cent in Lintas India, the company is now in talks with FCB Ulka to hike its stake in the agency.

Plans were already afoot to rename FCB Ulka as Draft FCB, Stephen Gatfield, executive vice-president, network operations, IPG and CEO, Lowe Worldwide said. Apart from giving FCB access to Draft's clients, the move will also provide the agency with international expertise in integrated marketing, retail and customer relationship management techniques.

IPG is also looking closely at leveraging synergies between its two media buying companies "" Universal and Initiative "" in India.

In 2006, IPG merged the media buying divisions of ad agencies McCann Erickson and FCB Ulka "" Universal McCann and Lodestar Media respectively "" to form a consolidated media entity called Lodestar Universal. At that time, the merger left out Initiative Media, which belonged to Lintas India.

Gatfield said merging Lodestar Universal with Initiative was not the natural choice for IPG. While size of the media agency led to buying efficiency, it did not necessarily help in chalking out a better media strategy, he added. In India, media buying companies such as the Publicis Groupe have also considered setting up a unified buying house while keeping planning functions separate. Gatfield said the IPG group was looking at all options.

The group is also ensuring that several companies with distinct expertise across the IPG network work cohesively. "We are looking at greater synergies between our various companies in India as we are looking at doing more global work from India," said Tony Wright, chairman, Lowe and Partners Worldwide.

According to Wright, the agency is also working on a system where experts across different functions and countries work on a single project that help in harnessing the best global strengths on client projects. This will lead to a big change in attitude on how the agency thinks about the brand, he stressed.

"In an agency today, one will find people with varying backgrounds working together. This is the only way to fulfil the needs of the clients," said Wright.