BMB London enters India in partnership with Madison

Madison India has announced a 50-50 joint venture with the UK based creative agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB). This enterprise will provide creative services to advertisers. As part of this JV, a leading Creative person from BMB London will be based here in Mumbai to offer BMB India clients a global - standard creative product.

Madison World's current advertising business of mc2 will be merged into this joint venture. BMB India will be led by Prabha Prabhu as CEO and a Chief Creative Officer from UK will be appointed imminently. Talking about the new partnership, Trevor Beattie, Founding Partner, BMB, said, "India has long held a special place in my heart. It's perhaps always been BMB's destiny to spread our wings to Mumbai and beyond. We can't wait to get started. We have esteemed partners in Madison and nothing short of a media superstar is Sam Balsara. There's always been a strong cultural bond between the ad communities of India and the UK. I think this brings us even closer. It's a perfect fit."

The joint venture is an effort by Madison to spread its identity outside the media space, and to establish itself in various aspects of communication. Speaking exclusively to Adgully, Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World, said, "For a long time now we have been exploring various options to beef up our creative offering. We want to be more than just being Madison Media, and one very key focus area is obviously creative service. We thought we needed an external partner with a strong presence that could match Madison Media's reputation."

He further added that, "We have to be realistic and hence we came to a conclusion that lets team up with someone and make rapid progress, since we desired to have a strong and credible offering in the creative area."

BMB is co-owned and headed by the Trevor Beattie. During a decade-long stint as Creative Director and Chairman of TBWA/London, he produced award winning work for clients as diverse as PlayStation and Playtex. He set up Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) on Election Day 05.05.05. BMB now lists McCain, Carling, ING, Samsung, Ikea, Selfridges, TUI Travel and Virgin Money among its clients. BMB now will have offices in UK, USA and India. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]