Indian Oil empanels Dentsu, AMO and Inter Publicity

Sumedha Srivastav - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has empanelled three creative agencies – Dentsu, AMO Communications and Inter Publicity for its communication needs. The incumbent agencies on the corporate business were IBD India, Goldmine and Foresight.

The ad spends for the coming year are pegged at around Rs 110 crore; of this, 80 per cent will be given over to above-the-line media (television, press, radio and outdoor), and the remaining 20 per cent to below-the-line activities.

The pitch for the corporate duties of the brand was called in February 2009. About 26 agencies participated in the pitch process. After one round of creative presentations, the three agencies were selected. The brief circulated amongst the agencies focused on the company's completion of 50 years.

The lock-in period for the empanelment is two years; however, the term of the agencies depends on the terms of the contract, which may vary between two and three years.

Lodestar Universal continues to be the media agency for the company. The media agency has completed two years in the role of the media agency for IOCL and the media duties may go up for pitch after a year.

For the record, Indian Oil Corporation was formed in 1964 through the merger of the Indian Oil Company (established in 1959) and Indian Refineries (established in 1958). Its brands include Servo, Indane LPGas, Indian Oil Aviation, Autogas, Xtra Premium, Xtra Mile Super Diesel, Xtra Power and Xtra Care.

Indian Oil is also 153rd on the prestigious Fortune Global 500 list of companies. It is the 18st largest petroleum company in the world. It had a sales turnover of Rs 2,47,479 crore and profits of Rs 6,963 crore for the year 2007-08.

Several attempts were made to contact the Indian Oil officials which went futile.