Publicis secures Tata brief
Tata Steel, the world’s sixth largest steel company, has appointed Publicis to handle its £10m branding account. The agency won the account after a four-way pitch thought to include two management consultancies.
It is understood the company is keen to build its global brand and drive awareness of it. Tata started talking to agencies about the brief in the summer (MW August 28).
Indian-owned Tata Steel has a presence in Europe and Asia and has a strong position in the construction, automotive and packaging markets.
The company has recently introduced several branded steel products, including Tata Steelium – a branded cold-rolled steel – Tata Pipes and Tata Bearings, in an attempt to “decommoditise” steel. It says the branded products were the driving force behind a 26% increase in sales revenue between 2006 and 2007.
Tata’s move to appoint an agency comes two years after it bought Anglo-Dutch company Corus for £5.1bn in 2006. The merger made it the sixth largest steel company, with an annual output of 22.6m tones. Corus’ main operating divisions include strip products, long products and a distribution and building systems division.
