Digital marketing, that’s the buzz word for every marketer these days. Joining the bandwagon is none other than Parle. The company has signed Law and Kenneth as its Digital Media Agency. The move has been taken in a bid to stay ahead in the competition and make its presence felt in the online world.

Pravin Kulkarni general manager marketing, Parle products, said, “We will be increasing our focus on digital marketing. Parle will use all kinds of digital marketing formats to boost the visibility of the brand. The digital market is growing rapidly in India and the awareness level is quite high, especially in metros, mini-metros and tier I cities. It is the medium youth are engaged intensively in; and kids have also got into this media increasingly. So, we would like to make the most of it. Law & Kenneth has understood the mandate for our portfolio of brands. We will also launch the first digital campaign soon.”

Law and Kenneth would be responsible for Parle’s products like Digestive Marie, Melody, Monaco Smart chip, Hide & Seek, krackjack, and Parle G.

Anil K Nair, Managing partner for Digital Law & Kenneth also said, “We will look after the overall digital media strategy and will be responsible for conceptualization and development of the creative aspects of online advertising.”

Though Digital Law and Kenneth will take care of digital media strategy, online media buying will not be its concern.

Voltas India has appointed Lintas Media Group to take care of its media duties. The account is estimated to be worth Rs. 40 crore. Earlier, the account was handled by MPG India (the media agency of Havas Group).

Sudha Natrajan, president and chief operating officer, Lintas Media Group spoke about the win, “Our team is a good mix of brand and communication strategists. Our recommendations seemed holistic and robust to the company. Our aggressive stance for the company helped us win the account.”

She further added, “”While Voltas is one of the more popular brands, we found that it was losing out on mindshare among emerging consumers.”

Pradeep Bakshi, senior vice president and deputy COO, Voltas said, “The brand has been through challenging times. Having launched a new range of 50 exciting room airconditioners, keeping in mind the market’s heterogeneous nature, the brand is keenly looking at capitalizing through a blend of innovative solutions in media to woo every customer segment. We found a good partner who will walk this journey with us, in Lintas Media Group.”

V S Mani, senior vice president and general manager – Lintas Media Group, Delhi also added, “The kind of in-depth work on consumer and market segmentation that was presented to the client was highly appreciated.”

Emami Group recently launched branded edible oil ‘Healthy and Tasty’ thus strengthening its foray into Food and Beverages sector. The creatives of the brand ‘Healthy and Tasty’ have been done by JWT, O&M and On Ads.

The mass media campaign for the oil brand is already in place. MS Dhoni and Preity Zinta have been roped in by Emami for the brand communication. The ad film has been directed and conceived by Prahlad Kakkar and Adi Pocha, respectively.

Aditya Agarwal, Director of Emami group said, “We have entered the edible oils market. We plan to produce many items which are needed in the kitchen like masala and biscuits.” Agarwal further added that the brand would be available in variants like soyabean oil, sunflower oil, palmolein, mustard oil, soyabean blend and palmolein blend.

The campaign will also have other promotional activities like mobile kitchens and cookery workshops. It will also have aggressive BTL activities.

Agarwal further spoke about the celeb endorsers, “Emami for the last 36 years has been associated with celebrities. All its power brands have been able to connect to the masses well because of the celebrity faces. In this case too, MS Dhoni and Preity Zinta are not only youth icons, but represent two sport teams. This will definitely enhance the fitness quotient of the brand.”

In the first year, the company plans to clock a turnover of Rs 300 crore from the edible oils business. The company plans to introduce many more brands in the F&B sector, thus becoming synonymous with the Indian kitchen.

TBWA India has partnered with Ignitee Digital Solutions to offer digital marketing solutions to its clientele. According to the deal, both agencies will be working together and TBWA India will utilize the digital marketing resources of Ignitee Digital.

TBWA\India Group CEO Shiv Sethuraman said, “Unlike other companies that bolt on a ‘digital specialist’, we are using the partnership to create digital capabilities at the core of TBWA\India and Tequila\India. We see this partnership as the means to create a digitally fluent communication group. We have already started working alongside Ignitee on some of our clients and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Keith Smith, President, TBWA\International also added, “Digital is at the heart of everything that we do, be it advertising, events or retail activation. As such, it is essential that we have the strongest possible digital operation available in the market. This partnership should enable us to do that throughout our India group.”

A team will be formed at TBWA India, to look after client servicing as well as coordinate with the team at Ignitee Digital.

Lowe Lintas has bagged the creative rights for Mayden Pharma India. It is a Cochin-based company which deals with herbal medicines. Lowe will take care of strategic planning and brand launches related to the brand’s communication.

Tarun Chauhan, senior vice-president, Lowe Lintas said, “It was more of strategy-based pitch, rather than creative. Lowe’s ability to think out of the box helped us win the business.”

Sujit Nair of Lowe Lintas spoke more about the account, “The category is exciting and Mayden Pharma’s plans are ambitious. It’s a massive opportunity for the brand. We are all charged up to make the most of it.”

The account was won after a multi-agency pitch. The team handling the account will be headed by Sujit Nair along with Arun Raman (the strategic planner. Subramani Ramachandran and Rajeev Hajare will head the creatives and client servicing.

Navin Nair, executive director, Mayden Pharma, also added, “Lowe’s strategic approach towards the brief, creative solutions to building the brand and 360- degree capabilities helped to swing the decision in their favour. With the brand insights from Lowe Lintas, we also intend to introduce a number of significant innovations in our ayurvedic range of products.”