The Tata group's move to consolidate its media buying activities under Media Edge, has led to savings to the tune of Rs 5 crore in the initialising quarter of January to March this calendar year. The group is expecting savings of around Rs 25-30 crore this year. The Agency on Record (AoR) was given to Media Edge, the media arm of Rediffusion DY&R, for a period of one year, beginning January 1, 2002.

The ad-spend, which was in excess of Rs 200 crore last year, is expected to fall within the Rs 150-200 crore mark this year, said Tata group officials. Telco is participating in the AoR, but the company is still putting into place the required infrastructure and is expected to be a complete part of the group AoR in the near future.

According to Tata Services Ltd vice president (corporate affairs) Romit Chaterji, "The clubbing together of Tata companies gives us a voice in the market and a bang for the buck." With 23 companies now having joined the AoR as against the 20 odd that were present at the commencement of the program, the strength of the Tata brand seems to be reflected in the bulging muscles of its position as the second largest media buyer in the country.

According to Mr Chaterji, the almost 100 per cent unaided recall of the Tata brand across India was being strengthened by the new aggressiveness of the group towards brand building. Part of this brand building has come through the AoR which commenced in January 2002. As part of the exercise, advertising investments of the participating group companies have been integrated and channelled through a single source, namely Media Edge.

Brand driven contribution to sales for the company amounted to 41 per cent during the financial year 1999-2000 as compared to 19 per cent in 1991-92. For the current year the projection is 52 per cent. According to Mr Chaterji, the group companies are free to pursue their own advertising strategies, with tactical and strategic advise inputs from the AoR.

"The fuller picture of the benefit of the AoR will only be apparent after an extended period of time. In addition to the economic benefits, we are also looking at the AoR to add value to the Group by strengthening the its spirit through a cohesive media strategy," he said. The AoR is no different than the economic operations of the group with a 80:20 rule of thumb, with approximately 20 per cent of the Tata group companies contributing about 80 per cent of the advertising.