Bates to boost presence in retail, new media

Bates Enterprise will be strengthening its presence in the retail and new media categories in 2007. This comes after the company acquired a 74 per cent stake in Sercon, a marketing services firm in India which would be integrated with its below- the- line firm, 141 Worldwide. Subhash Kamath, CEO, Bates Enterprise said retail branding and identity and new media were two segments where the group would beef up its presence next year.

"We are open to both organic and inorganic growth in these segments. We will build the business on our own, but if we find a suitable opportunity in either segment, we would look at it," he said, adding that they had already started putting together a core team for the retail initiative.

New media would cover the entire digital platform from mobiles, gaming to the internet and was likely to be launched in the first half of 2007.

"With Sercon we become stronger in marketing services like activation and promotions, events and exhibitions. After that, retail and new media are the two areas which are going to be very big in India," said Kamath. "These present a great platform and opportunity to bring in brand connectivity," he added.

Kamath said the immediate focus would be to smoothly integrate Sercon-141 Worldwide, which would now have a staff strength of about 130 people across India.