MAM

The sunny side of corona outbreak

Published

6 years ago

March 21, 2020

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Lunching together digitally; employees taking ownership of their work with a lot of seriousness and passion; and people getting plenty of time to be with their families…

These are some of the positive outcomes of the impromptu and mostly self-imposed work-from-home system put in place by companies all over India in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Across the country, central and state governments are taking measures to limit people from travelling and encouraging companies to offer work-from-home options. Large technology firms were among the first among the lot to switch to remote working for all their staff.

Indiantelevision.com asked industry experts about their work-from-home measures during this critical time.

Dineout co-founder and CEO Ankit Mehrotra said: “In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve been actively implementing social distancing, sanitisation and even self-quarantine policies for the last two weeks. Our teams across all cities will be working from home until 31 March 2020. Our sales teams have also been advised to focus on virtual training and client support for the next two weeks. In fact, our teams are also having lunch together digitally! In such challenging times, we continue to work together to overcome operational hurdles by leveraging technologies like Google Hangouts, Slack and Google Meets to stay connected virtually and ensure continuity of work.”

For many, work from home is a completely different experience altogether. There is an overload of screen time, dozens of hangout calls, and a few dozen more WhatsApp groups. However, in these testing times employees are taking ownership of their work with a lot more seriousness, dedication and passion. “The reporting structures are well defined and there is a seamless flow of information because of the SOPs set. We, as founders, have a bird’s eye view of who is working on what and what project is consuming how much time. Ease of allocating time commitments to projects is easier. More importantly, the world was greener and cleaner this week and team got a lot of time to spend with their families,” says White Rivers Media chief executive officer and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi.

Big Trunk Communications managing director Bharat Subramaniam thinks that as the coronavirus has taken the world by storm, businesses all over the globe are resorting to innovative ways and acting responsibly to prevent the spread of this infectious disease. He believes that it is their duty as leaders and entrepreneurs to thoroughly understand the risks involved in continuing operations without taking any stern and serious measures.

“In times when communication mediums have strengthened fourfold with the advent of digital transformation, it has facilitated great opportunities in the WFH model. We follow the "Make Big Happen Everyday" culture and believe in going the extra mile for our esteemed clients in challenging situations like these. All in all, work-from-home has worked well and has been a win-win situation for both employees and employers,” he says.

According to Alchemy Group chief business officer Pankil Mehta, the COVID-19 crisis has brought a change to everyday routine. However, there is no hindrance in terms of work getting done.

“Speaking specifically about Alchemy Group, we have consciously invested time and effort in ensuring our technology and processes are such where teams can work efficiently even when they are not sitting under the same roof. However, from a morale perspective, things have slowed down and one can tend to feel a little less productive considering they are at home all day. We, as a team, ensure we maintain daily routines and try and stick to deadlines like any other day in the office. In the current scenario, I have also urged the team to take sufficient breaks and rests throughout the day and most importantly stay safe.”

There, however, is flip side to it. While there is a lot of buzz about the advantages of work-from-home, such as spending more time with family, focusing on other priorities, and less unproductive travel time, the reality of business seems to be different. People will engage less with each other, critical decisions will be deferred and strategic investments will be reassessed until the impact and the scale of the slowdown is understood in the weeks and months to come.

According to Update Geotarget chief strategy officer Samarjeet Reen, this time can be utilised to upskill yourself, learn something new about your industry, exercise, read books. And more importantly, practice societal empathy.

He adds: “We have a very large count of informal blue-collar services and micro/small retailers, which includes home delivery, house maintenance, etc. All of them add to our personal productivity, and they are at extreme risk. While we look after our own health and business, we must ensure that small service providers and retailers get adequate support to deal with containment due to Covid-19, and income sustenance, so they can get back on their feet quicker. Societal empathy and responsibility should be the highest priority, more so for the better-placed industry leadership.”

In Mumbai, all private corporates and establishments will be completely shut for the next couple of days. Production/manufacturing processes which require continuity may function at 50 percent staff strength. Those who do not comply by the order will face action under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. In fact, those who flout the ordeal can be jailed for six months or fined, or both.

On a similar note, the Karnataka government had issued an advisory, asking companies to adopt work-from-home policies whenever possible in view of the COVID-19. In the wake of this, FCA India has asked over 50 per cent of its staff to work from home.

ITC has asked a certain section of its staff, majorly from the novel coronavirus-affected regions like Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, to work from home.

Earlier, Hindustan Unilever asked its 4000+ employees globally to work from home as well. It, in fact, advised on-field sales employees to virtually connect with customers.

(If you would like to get featured in our range of positive stories during the COVID-19 crisis, reach out to us right away!)

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Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 hour ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 hour ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

1 hour ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.