TBWAIndia now completely part of Omnicom

Anthem, the agency which K George John founded in 1988, and which later gave way to TBWAAnthem and then TBWAIndia, is now a 100 per cent entity of Omnicom.


TBWAWorldwide announced today the completion of its acquisition of 49 per cent shareholding in TBWAIndia, currently held by Indian shareholders. Following this acquisition, TBWA, together with Omnicom, will own 100 per cent of TBWAIndia, as it already had 51 per cent stake in the agency.

In an official communiqué, Keith Smith, president, International TBWAWorldwide, says, “The consolidation of our stake constitutes the closing of a very significant chapter in the history of TBWA in India. We have had a very successful new business run in the last two years, which has propelled us up the agency rankings list. Our ability to deliver truly disruptive solutions together with strong creative work has really seen TBWA arrive on the advertising map in India.”

In its early days, Anthem handled several brands, including JCT Fabrics, Weston TV, Limca, Electrolux, Escorts Ltd, Kelvinator, Yamaha and Amul Chocolates.

After 10 years as Anthem, TBWAWorldwide bought 51 per cent stake in the agency. At that time, John had 85 per cent stake; N Krishnan, the finance head, had 10 per cent stake; and Kurien Matthews had 5 per cent stake. John parted with 51 per cent of his stake and thus had 44 per cent in the joint venture. The rest of the shareholders retained their stakes as before.

In 2003, John took the decision to drop Anthem from the agency’s name and it became known as TBWAIndia. “I was planning to retire initially by 2006 and wanted TBWAIndia to gather its own standing,” John says

However, John did not retire in 2006 and was asked to stay on for two more years. Since the decision was made that all stakeholders would sell their stake, TBWAIndia needed a chief executive officer to head operations. Shiv Sethuraman was brought on board in June 2008 to fill that role.

George John, the largest of the three local shareholders, and Kurien Matthews, director, TBWAIndia, will remain with the agency until the end of September, after which John will serve TBWAIndia in an advisory capacity.

The third shareholder, N Krishnan, will assume an expanded role as chief operating officer, TBWAIndia Group.

Matthews will be with the agency until the end of September, but he hasn’t decided his next move. “I’ve been with Anthem and TBWA since the time it started off and was the decision maker there. Now, staying on as just an employee didn’t seem appealing,” says Matthews.

He tells! that since he’s been in the advertising industry for close to 25 years, that’s where he’ll be. Matthews is weighing certain offers. “In 1988, advertising was way different than it is now. But wherever I’d be moving, it won’t be traditional advertising,” he says firmly.

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