MUMBAI: DDB Mudra Delhi has been awarded Marico Livon‘s creative mandate after a multi-agency pitch. The size of the account is pegged at Rs 400 million.

Livon is one of the brands that Marico acquired from Reckitt Benckiser in Februsry this year. The incumbent on the account Cut the Crap had been working on the brand before Marico acquired it.

DDB Mudra Group chairman and CCO Sonal Dabral said, “Livon presents us with a wonderful opportunity to take the DDB ideology of social creativity forward. A brand that talks to audiences that live in a connected world, we look forward to creating ideas that have an inherent ‘talk value‘ that drives the brand forward. Besides, with Marico, we are really excited about partnering with one of the most professional Indian multinationals.”

DDB Mudra Group Delhi president Vandana Das said, “It‘s a great starting point and very encouraging for all of us to be associated with a brand from Marico‘s stable. Having won Livon, we are all really delighted and geared to have a long innings together. We look forward to doing some path breaking and exciting work on the business in months ahead.”

MUMBAI: FMCG major Marico has increased its advertising and promotional spends by 48.62 per cent for the three-month period ended 31 December compared to the year-ago period.

On a consolidated basis, Marico spent Rs 1.34 billion in advertising and sales promotions in Q3 FY’12, comprising 12.5 per cent of net sales. In the earlier year same quarter, the company spent Rs 901.1 million, or 11 per cent of net sales.

The spends on advertising also resulted in increasing the company’s turnover by 29 per cent. Net profit rose 21 per cent during the quarter.

Marico’s net sales during the quarter under review was at Rs 10.58 billion, compared to Rs 8.18 billion a year ago.

The company’s net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 841.17 million, as against Rs 695.28 million.

For the nine-month period ended 31 December 2011, the spends on advertising increased by 18.52 per cent to Rs 3.30 billion, compared to Rs 2.79 billion in the same period last year.

The promotion activities included the The Saffola life World Heart Day Campaign 2011, which started in Q2 and continued in Q3 of FY’12.