Coca-Cola India hands US$44m media account to Lodestar Universal McCann

The pitch, which sees incumbent Madison Media ousted after 11 years on the account, also included Starcom, Carat and TME.

Madison has handled the business, worth a reported US$44 million, since 1999. Coca-Cola currently works with Starcom in China and UM in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Korea. Carat handles the account in New Zealand.

The account shift from Madison to Lodestar UM will be completed by the end of the year.

Lodestar UM will be reponsible for providing integrated communications planning, media execution, strategic analysis and media tracking capabilities for Coca-Cola's entire portfolio of beverages.

According to a Coca-Cola India spokesperson, Lodestar showed the highest potential out of all the agencies that participated in the review process.

 "We are very excited about this partnership and are confident that Lodestar UM will add value to our business," said the spokesperson.