MUMBAI:Sonear, earlier known as Donear, decided to hike its annual ad spend by 50 per cent this year to over Rs 150 million.

The company has also awarded its media planning and buying duties to Carat Media.

Sonear is the flagship brand of Sonear Industries, apart of the Jitendra Kejriwal Group with a turnover of over Rs 1.70 billion, and is among the top three players in the premium decorative veneers segment in India.

Sonear Industries CMD Jitendra Kejriwal said that the brand is keen to announce the name change in the marketplace and reassert itself as the supremo in the veneers, laminate and ply industry. It’s also willing to invest whatever it takes to be the No.1 player in the category.

Donear has been a known brand of plywood and laminates for over two decades in the country and recently changed its name to Sonear. It has about 1,800 outlets across India.

Carat Media Sr VP Vidhu Sagar said, “We are delighted with the confidence reposed in us by Kejriwal and his team. We do look forward to partnering them in building the Sonear brand in India through our integrated communication planning process. We would be providing solutions for Sonear across all media forms through all our Aegis Media partner agencies, Isobar, Posterscope, Carat Fresh and iProspect.”