Jyothy Laboratories consolidates media mandate with DDB Mudra Max

The agency will handle both media planning as well as media buying for the account. The consolidation will be effective from March, 2013.

Multi business conglomerate Jyothy Laboratories (JLL), better known as Jyothy Labs, has consolidated its entire media mandate with DDB Mudra Max.

Earlier, the media mandate was divided such that the planning mandate was with DDB Mudra Max, whereas the media buying duties were with Lintas Media Group (LMG). As regards the latter, Brand Programming Network or BPN (the third agency of IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company of the Interpublic Group) handled this mandate.

This division was made in March, 2012 to best manage the then newly acquired Henkel portfolio.

Now onwards, both services - media planning and buying -- will be taken care of by DDB Mudra Max.

The consolidation will be effective from March, 2013. The development comes on the back of an evaluation process.

When contacted by afaqs!, S Raghunandan, chief executive officer, Jyothy Laboratories, confirmed the news.

Subsequently, in a press note, likening the development to putting all eggs in one basket, he said, "Consolidation with one agency partner will enable us to maximise efficiencies and effectiveness of our marketing investments."

Sathyamurthy NP, president, DDB Mudra Max, adds, "It is a delight to work with the JLL team and we are glad it has reaffirmed its confidence in the agency through this consolidation. JLL is poised to further fortify its brands in the next few years and we are glad to be its partner in this journey."

A few months ago, Jyothy Labs was in the news on afaqs! when Cut the Crap (CTC), the advertising agency founded by Jagdish Acharya, bagged the creative duties for liquid fabric whitener Ujala which the company built in the 1990s by investing in ad spends totally out of proportion to its sales.

The Rs 663 crore Jyothy Laboratories was established in 1983 by M P Ramachandran, the current chairman and managing director of the company. Today, JLL operates in the laundry, home care, cosmetics and toiletries segments.

Besides Ujala, other popular brands from Jyothy Laboratories include utensil cleaner Exo, personal care soap brand Jeeva, household insecticide brand Maxo, and the agarbatti (incense sticks) brand Maya, amongst others.

Jyothy Consumer Products (a Mumbai-headquartered subsidiary of JLL that comprises the brands acquired from Henkel India a few years ago) offers brands such as Pril, Henko, Fa, Margo, Mr. White and Chek.