O&M to pick up stake in Candid

O&M, the country's third largest advertising agency is likely to acquire a stake in the Delhi-based below-the-line promotions company Candid Marketing.

"Negotiations with O&M are on and an announcement will be made in the next few weeks," said Samarjeet Singh, chief executive, Candid Marketing.

Initially, the Candid officials claimed that the company wanted to remain independent and was only looking for an operational tieup with the advertising agency which has its own promotions arm, Ogilvy Activation.

However, Singh stated that "It will be more than just a tieup." He declined to comment on whether O&M will pick up a majority stake in the below-the-line company.

Candid Marketing has a turnover of Rs 20 crore and it works with companies such as PepsiCo, Hyundai, Cadbury and Hindustan Lever Ltd, offering promotions and direct marketing solutions. The company has a team of 100 people and employs more than 600 casual workers on the field.

According to Singh, the Rs 500-crore below-the-line promotions industry is growing at nearly 100 per cent. Currently, the advertising industry is pegged at Rs 9,000 crore with a growth rate of about 15 per cent. In the US, below-the-line promotions is a $ 350 billion industry and is bigger than the advertising market.

Unlike conventional advertising, below-the-line promotions try to reach out directly to the consumers through roadshows, events and product samplings.

"A lot of advertisers are now realising that below-the-line promotions are cheaper and they score over mass media advertising on all parameters like brand recall, enquiry generation and even sales," Singh said.

To increase awareness about below-the-line promotions, Candid has launched a programme wherein it has identified CEOs of nearly 500 companies to show that below-the-line marketing is more effective than advertising.