In a hotly contested pitch in which leading media specialists participated, Madison Media has won the Rs 1,000 million media account of the Rs 45,000-million Essel Group.

The size of the account has been valued at Rs 1000 million after factoring in the just launched Super Lotto on-line lottery of Playwin Infravest Pvt. Ltd. which contributes substantially to the billing, an official release states. Madison will also be handling the Zee bouquet of 13 channels as well as Agrani Convergence Ltd.

The lottery business in India is already very huge and is estimated to be worth Rs 500 billion. With on-line lotteries coming in, this business is bound to expand and Essel Group's Playwin through aggressive advertising in press, television and outdoor hopes to enlarge the market and win a substantial share of the enlarged market. On-line lottery is a huge business globally with a market size of $125 billion and an estimated 80 per cent of the UK population participates in on-line lotteries.

The group companies have separately also decided to place all outdoor business through MOMS, the independent specialist outdoor unit of Madison.

Says Punitha Arumugam, COO of Madison Media (West) who led the pitch: "We will make media a key driver to build the various brands of the Essel Group."

The big clients that Madison Media handles include Coca Cola, P&G, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Sara Lee, Kinetic, Maruti and BPL. Madison Media is a part of Madison Communications, which has specialized units in Creative, Media, PR, Rural and Outdoor.