MAM

Group M’s game plan

Published

21 years ago

October 16, 2004

The media business on an average has been growing at about 10 per cent per annum. Last year, saw a little more optimism with the growth mark pegged at 12 per cent. With inflation under control and a very need based business market, Group M, the media investment arm of the WPP conglomerate, bagged almost 75 per cent of the in transit accounts it pitched for last year. HSBC, ICICI Prudential, LG Electronics, Britannia are just a few of the notable clients that came on board.

Andre Nair

That was on the business front. 1 October 2004 saw a significant change in the working of the management of the Group M companies. The handing over process has actually been in the making over the last four months. It was in early May that the announcement was made that MindShare South Asia and Group M India CEO Andre Nair was being elevated as chairman and CEO of Mediaedge:cia (MEC) Asia Pacific. He, however, has not severed his links to India in that he remains the chairman of Group M India.

Ashutosh Srivastava and Vikram Sakhuja

The men in charge in India of WPP’s media investment arm are Ashutosh Srivastava – Group M South Asia CEO, Vikram Sakhuja – Mindshare South Asia and Mindshare Fulcrum MD and CVL Srinivas – Maxus MD.

Zenith Media also now a part of the Group M fraternity after its acquisition in some countries last year was renamed as Mediaedge:CIA Specialist units within the group being ATG, Broadmind and mOne will be headed by V Balasubramanium, M Suku and Tushar Vyas respectively.

Apart from that, specialised units peculiar to India delving into below-the-line (BTL) activities, micro marketing and film marketing are units called Dialect (micro marketing) and D’Mart (retail ambience), both of which were launched last year.

Group M today commands a significant share of what it estimates is a Rs 80 – 85 billion media market. So, clearly the challenge from 1 May 2004 was for the group to trace the map of the future business model. Expanding on the same Srivastava says, “The challenge from 1 May was to figure out the future business model because that’s pretty much what we have faced in mature markets like the US or Europe. We may not have great expertise in analytics or in sports sponsorship management but in India these are the nascent markets. Whereas media planning and buying is a very mature market especially for someone like us as we entered the market with a very large share of the business. So, the mandate was ‘how do we develop the business as we needed to build ourselves as a complete media solutions company.’”

The transition from a straightforward media buying agency to a one stop shop that Group M agencies have evolved into happened when they started pioneering talk about brand insight and consumer insight – terms that one usually hears only in creative agencies, says Sakhuja. “In fact some of the large pitches we have won this year are due to our adopting these strategies. Britannia for example, was a pitch with seven other agencies and what came through finally in the end as the biggest differentiator was that we didn’t go to them as a media agency; we went to them as a communications agency. Today a media plan – as to which channels and which programmes to have the spots on, is just one of the many outputs that we give our clients,” he stresses.

The areas that Group M agencies operate in on the planning side are as follows:

What is the right budget?
Who is the right target audience?
Which market to prioritize?
What is gong to be the role of different communication mediums – television, print, radio etc?
How money spends will be divided across the 52 weeks of the year?
What is going to be the channel mix?

“Therefore, what we do has a direct and quantifiable link to at least 10 per cent of our clients’ sales,” reiterates Srivastava.

New and key strategic business units (SBUs): Capacity building is essentially the key task at hand at Group M. “We have achieved whatever we wanted to in terms of creating a house of media proposition and capabilities over the last three years and now our aim is capacity building in each of those,” explains Srivastava. More people, more clients is primarily what the focus is going to be hereon.

Some of the best communication and ROI work has already happened in India in a big way, says Sakhuja. Two examples he cites Gillette and Frito Lays. The work that was done by ATG and MindShare is supposedly showcased to clients as global standards of excellence. It has also resulted in setting up of the Global Analytics Center with Balasubramanium heading it. Also, another point of note is that MindShare offices around the world have started backending their analytic work to India. A few examples in case are Gillette and Motorola. “This unit has been a tremendous success. This a classic BPO model with a value add; in the sense that we have a huge database and we can add our own perspective to the numbers. The same with Dialect, which was conceived here and has now began global operations,” says Sakhuja.

In the retail space Group M has come up with a work model called D’Mart and mOne, which focuses on understanding how channels work with consumers and therefore where, how and what the spends should be. mOne will cater to the Internet, mobile and offline space in an alliance with Active Media which will act as a technology partner to ensure building this platform across the country.

Broadmind, a specialist in non-traditional media solutions has progressed to dealing with almost every content provider in the country today. “A lot of group synergies already exist, so all we need are software and hardware solutions, which is what Active Media is bringing in. The property that we have taken up is 3636 which we are building as a property across the country,” says Srinivas.

The 3636 property will be incorporated in any communication that is done for clients. Publications like the ‘Dainik Jagran’ or ‘The Hindu’ will carry this number and if it is a response ad then will enable consumers to respond to that number and hence in the process create a database.

This year was marked as a landmark for content integration. Although, cinema per se has seen a lot of headway in this area, television seems to have been less receptive in adopting this phenomenon. “Sony’s Kunal Dasgupta, for instance, doesn’t believe in the concept of content integration, although his marketing team seems to be fighting tooth and nail to incorporate the same. Star India, on the other hand has commissioned a research with us in an attempt to figure out how to monetize this process and what should be the value ascribed to it,” says Srivastava. This market still is in its nascent stage and is a disorganized sector, which is currently in the process of ratification and an attempt to ascribe a value to the same is in the pipeline. Markets like Hong Kong, although have progressed to a rate card for services like these.

Key concerns at the media pad: One of the biggest challenges that the media industry seems to be facing today is the three per cent game. “If you take a FMCG company, they have a carrying and forwarding (C&F) agent who doesn’t take ownership of the stock and just pushes it to the go-downs and then forwards it to the stockists, charging three per cent is acceptable. But applying that same analogy to the media houses is ridiculous,” says Sakhuja.

Interestingly, the allegation across media agencies towards Group M was their slashing of rates when they made their foray in the Indian sub-continent. There definitely seems to be a realisation within the industry about their under priced commission rates. “We realized the rut from day one. It was the expediency of getting the company started as there was a lot of resistance towards us setting up. The focus initially was having to rate this game and that’s where all our energies went in the first two years,” says Sakhuja. The aim, now evidently seems to be a transition from being a C&F agent to a full fledged communications planning agency.

“It has to be over three per cent. There is a problem here, as all the other agencies that are coming in are undercutting,” gushes Sakhuja. Incidentally, this was exactly the game plan followed by Group M agencies when they entered the market.

“Our vision to get out of the rut will be aided by our tangible proof of reaping better returns from your marketing dollar or rupee from us. Secondly, this is a one stop shop, so as a mean average the best rate to be profitable is three and a half per cent. We do work at this rate across Asia Pacific. From three per cent (2.8 per cent is the actual mean) then it is just an increase of half a per cent but if you look at it holistically then it is an increase of 20 per cent,” points out Sakhuja.

Group M’s focus this year in moving forward will be making media real for decision makers and thereby get out of the 2 ? per cent – 3 per cent rut.

Holistically speaking, 2004 for the media industry has been essentially trying to raise the bar. On the other hand, this industry has failed to attract talent and is not being looked at as a great career option. “There is a limited amount of talent available today and hence a lot of ‘musical chairs’ are happening across agencies. One of the related benefits of the house of media is that we can actually give our staff career options and career plans unlike most other agencies where you have a burnout after seven – eight years. In our agency we have our SBUs where people can actually choose an alternate career after four five years in media. The specialist units that we have account for 90 per cent of home grown talent that we moved from the media space into the special units,” says Srinivas.

The primary reason for this talent paucity is media agencies not being able to offer good salaries at the entry level unlike corporates. “So, people tend to spend two or three years here and then move to a channel or a client’s marketing side. Also, we can’t afford too many people so the same person has to do much more work and the nature of grunt work is also quite high here,” adds Sakhuja.

Coming to key revenue drivers this year, telecom, services, automobiles and two wheelers seem to be rated as the aggressive players aiding in sizable growth of the overall industry. Print this year will see new entrants from retail, real estate, housing and education sectors. “Typically, print seems to be a precursor to television. Today the growth happening in print is at a very fragmented level basically due to local players. If some major players at the national level come in then we will probably see a much larger revenue jump,” says Sakhuja.

All in all, making media real and demystifying it making it more relevant for people is going to be the order of the day at Group M. Being the preferred marketing partners to clients and capacity building will ensure Group M’s further dominance and success ratio in days to come.

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 month 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 month 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 month 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.