The Hindu Business Line : Triton Comm plans alliances, buyouts to foray into events

TRITON Communications, the Rs 175-crore ad agency, will announce a strategic alliance or buyout in the areas of events and promotions in two months, besides eyeing Chennai, as part of its expansion plans.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ali Merchant, Director, Triton Communications said, "Events and promotions have a great potential, and we are considering a strategic alliance or equity buyout to harness this potential. There are other areas we would like to charter like setting shop in Chennai, provided we bag enough clients there."

The agency ventured into Hyderabad for its client, Netherlands-based SHV Gas, but the expansion plan was put on the backburner, as the city did not offer much scope in terms of new business. Currently, Triton serves most of its Chennai clients, including Godrej Storage Solutions, through its Bangalore office.

Vikings, the television serial marketing agency of Triton, will foray into marketing the television rights of cricket telecast. The agency had a stint in marketing serials like Chandrakantha for Doordarshan. The other serials that were marketed by Triton include Shaktiman, Jai Hanuman and Great Maratha, Mr Merchant said.

The agency was on a business acquisition spree this month with a host of new accounts such as Karnataka Tourism, Kajaria Ceramics and Yes Bank, following a change in implementation strategy.

"The implementation strategy now has the business head of each branch reporting the status of business in each city every fortnight. The format is more like the canal system, which eyes potential clients. If we bag an account, we stand to gain; but if we lose a pitch, we see the relationship with the client is maintained," said Mr Merchant.

Each business head client keeps in touch with such clients every month, Mr Merchant said, adding that Triton for the first time has started making cold calls for potential clients.

Triton Communications will soon adopt knowledge management processes in the areas of health, direct selling and finance portfolio to build cross-functional synergies in the agency and consolidate the advantage over its competitors.

"Our experiences with our clients, especially Wockhardt and Yes Bank, have resulted in identifying the need to pursue knowledge management in these areas," Mr Merchant said.