MAM
Red Digital wins Mirinda’s social media biz
MUMBAI: Red Digital has bagged the social media mandate of Pepsico’s Mirinda.
The agency will build and execute social media strategies that will help Mirinda brand reach out to their audience on social media platforms. It will play a key role in creating online buzz about the brand’s new offerings along with launching various campaigns and building engagement across social networks.
For Mirinda, Red Digital’s immediate mandate on social media is to create an impact for its latest campaign, with which it has launched two new flavours, Mirinda Orange Masala and Mirinda Orange Mango, while continuing with the base Mirinda Orange flavour.
Red Digital founder and MD Harsh Jain said, “Social media provides seamless opportunities to build interest groups. Digital is no longer just about showing banners and clicking on them. It’s about generating engagement, activation and creating convergence between the online and offline worlds. We are glad to have an innovative partner like PepsiCo onboard and look forward to creating path-breaking innovations in new media in the near future. The new activities for Mirinda brand emphasize our continued focus on digital innovation aimed at bringing value to our clients.”
PepsiCo India EVP- marketing, beverages (flavours) Ruchira Jaitly added, “Social Media has become a very important tool for engaging with consumers and having a dialogue with them on a constant basis. We are pleased to have Red Digital on board as our social media partner for this initiative. Their prior experience in handling leading brands coupled with a deep understanding of consumer behavior in the digital space will ensure there is a high level of engagement and traction for Mirinda’s campaign on 3 Flavors.”
The launch of new flavours is supported by a 360-degree campaign called the taste twister challenge, supported via radio, outdoor and on-ground activation along with social media. Red Digital will help in bringing the experience of this program me to Facebook and on-ground.
Red Digital will also exploit new disruptive full sleeve packaging that captures the taste and fun experience of drinking Mirinda through applications on Facebook. These applications use the prominent aspect of the packaging: the emoticons, to bring alive the new flavors. The applications range from allowing fans on the Mirinda India Facebook fan page to enter into an augmented reality world and play with the emoticons to classifying friends in various taste categories. The agency will also be creating an augmented reality iPhone and Android application.
The campaign will also see Red Digital creating TweetMobs though the duration of this campaign. These will be high impact subjects being Tweeted by Mirinda and re-tweeted by a group of people within a specific time frame.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
