Uni-President plans new flavour variants for iFirm brand

.Publicis has been handed creative duties for its premium Chai Li Won tea brand, previously handled by BBDO Thailand as well as its isotonic portfolio, iFirm. There was no incumbent on iFirm. The isotonic brand is the bigger of the two assignments and Uni-President will be investing in a fresh look for iFirm's communications. Ron Webb, Publicis Thailand chief executive officer, said: "It's more or less a relaunch for the brand as we will be giving the communications a fresh look, but there will be no revamp in the product or packaging." Planned for April, the relaunch comes as Uni-President plans to add new variants to iFirm's portfolio, which presently includes lemon, strawberry and the original flavour. Although it does not compete in Thailand's 15 billion baht (US$389 million) and growing energy drinks market, where Red Bull, Powerade and local brand Carabou Daeng battle for share, the size of this sector does provide a strong incentive for iFirm to extend its portfolio and sharpen overall branding for a move on this sector. The business was awarded based on a credentials presentation, with Webb saying Kitti's late 2004 hire as the office's first ECD had helped. The 31-year-old creative was a double gold winner at Cannes for BBDO Thailand with last year's Unif campaign. In a separate development, Publicis has hired SC Matchbox's client services director Pongsak Sanitwongse Na Ayudhya as managing director. Pongsak, who also worked with Y&R for six years in the late '90s, has been credited with winning a major creative assignment from Thailand's second-largest mobile telco DTAC, set to break in early March, for Publicis.