After a multi-agency pitch called by Reckitt Benckiser a few months back, the company has decided to appoint MPG India as its media agency for Indian and South Asian markets. Earlier also, the account was handled by MPG. MPG India is the media arm of Havas Media.

Internationally, Havas Media and Publicis Group are the agencies handling the 17 brands owned by Reckitt Benckiser. The FMCG Company spends approx 12% of its revenue every year on media buying.

Confirming the news, Rakesh Kapoor, executive vice-president, category development, Reckitt Benckiser, said “Two global media partners will bring new consumer insights, better capabilities in technology and systems and superior skills in ensuring for better consumer engagement, strategies and executions.”

MPG (Media Planning Group), the media arm of Havas, has two more fresh faces in their senior management. We are talking about Mahima Bhanukumar and Abhishek Jain who have been recently appointed by the company. Mahima Bhanukumar joins the media agency as South head; while Abhishek Jain joins as investments director in Delhi. Both the senior executives will be reporting to Anita Nayyar, CEO, MPG India.

Bhanukumar started her career with O&M where she worked for 6 six years. She also has had the opportunity to work with JWT-Chennai, Media Vision (a unit of JWT), Initiative Media and last but not the least Dentsu Communications….phew…a great career graph. In her entire career she has worked on brands like Titan, Brook Bond Lipton Beverages of HLL (now HUL), Pond’s, Citibank and Parry’s Confectionery, Ford, Bajaj Auto, Parle and The Media Edge.

Abhishek Jain, on the other hand has been part Dentsu as media director. He has about 12 years of marketing experience spanning Dentsu, Zenith Optimedia, Cheil Communications and Mudra. He has worked on a variety of clients like Honda, HP, Hyundai, Nestle, Samsung, McDonalds and Mother Dairy.

The company officials feel that getting a professional team on board is a great differentiator and helps them perform better.