Brands

Havas takes ‘Play’ brand global

Published

3 years ago

March 23, 2023

Mumbai: Havas Group has unveiled Havas Play, a new global network that will earn consumers’ attention and create enduring business impact through meaningful experiences at the intersection of entertainment, sports, technology, and fandom.

Havas Play is founded on the belief that activating where consumer passions are at play drives more meaningful engagement and increased purchase. This global network will empower all brands to activate in consumer passion points– from the arts and tech to healthcare and consumer goods. As a dedicated network within the Havas ecosystem, Havas Play will unify existing agency brands and expertise within the organization, scaling across all of Havas’ major markets and retiring the Havas Sports, and Havas Sports & Entertainment brands in markets where they currently exist.

In India, three entities, Havas Sports and Entertainment and Havas Content, both of which are part of Havas Media Group India, and Cake India, which is part of Havas Creative India, will combine and rebrand as Havas Play.

Havas Play

Havas Media Group India president and national head of investments R Venkatasubramanian has been given the additional responsibility to lead Havas Play in India. Havas Play will be part of the Havas Media Group India network, which is led by Mohit Joshi as its chief executive officer. Under the new structure, senior vice president Arun Kumar Rao, vice president Prachi Narayan, and managing partner Rajika Mittra will report to Venkat and will manage Sports, Content and Entertainment mandates, respectively.

The launch simplifies existing services the network offers to clients under various marques today. Havas Play leverages, upskills, and expands upon existing talent to provide strategy, ideation, creative, production, project management, and distribution across a range of core services: partnerships, influencer marketing, experiential & live events, sponsorships, social media activation & amplification, and branded entertainment.

HARMAN INTERNATIONAL – having appointed Havas as global agency of record across media and creative at the end of 2022 – now also becomes Havas Play’s first global client, with an expanded remit that appoints Havas Play as global gaming agency of record. Havas Play builds on agency experience across local markets in sports, gaming, music and entertainment for Puma, Jameson, Axa, L’Enfant Blue, and more.

“Only Havas can maximize the real opportunity of Play for brands. The launch of this global network to activate consumer passions is something we are truly best positioned to do through our Villages in bringing together the range of skills, tools and services needed to succeed in activating brands in meaningful ways, and our completely unique position within Vivendi as a global leader in entertainment. Clients of Havas Play will have unparalleled access to create meaningful experiences in collaboration with the cultural influencers that command their consumers’ attention and passion,” Havas Group Chairman and CEO Yannick Bolloré comments.

Havas Play, already established in Havas’ HQ market, France, will continue to differentiate in three ways: optimizing activation through a deep understanding of what makes brands ‘Meaningful’ based on over 12 years of research; a unique commitment to ethics, sustainability and inclusivity through the Institute for Advertising Ethics; and a bespoke approach to measuring brand experience powered by Havas’ global data platform, Converged.

“Havas Play will enable brands around the world to Play like never before, creating moments that break through to consumers in booming concert halls, cheering sports crowds, the bustle of Paris Fashion Week, and the virtual Sandbox. The connection between Havas Play and Vivendi is a true symbiotic relationship, and a shining example of how our organization works cohesively as an integrated network to generate greater value,” Bolloré added.

Havas Group India Group CEO Rana Barua said, “At Havas, we are constantly striving to assist clients in navigating the ever-changing and dynamic advertising and marketing industry by breaking down silos and creating more integrated solutions. The launch of Havas Play is a significant step in that direction. Havas Play will leverage Vivendi and Havas Group resources and has a distinct advantage that shapes core components of the planning process, such as custom data and insight from across Vivendi on fan behaviour, global music, film, gaming, and publisher IP access, and collaboration with top talent from the culture and media sphere. We saw a huge opportunity in sports, culture, and entertainment in India over the years and launched Havas Sports and Entertainment, Havas Content, and Cake India.

I am confident that by joining the forces of these three entities, Havas Play becomes a first-ever and one-of-a-kind offering in India.”

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.

Brands

BCCL profit jumps 53 per cent in FY25 as tax bill shrinks

Revenue rises 4.3 per cent to Rs 10,209.33 crore while deferred tax gain lifts bottom line sharply

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: Bennett, Coleman and Company (BCCL) has posted a sparkling set of financial results for the year ended 31 March 2025, proving that there is still plenty of ink and gold left in the ledger.

Revenue from operations climbed a steady 4.3 per cent, reaching Rs 10,209.33 crore compared to Rs 9,786.44 crore the previous year. When you sprinkle in other income, which rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 949.36 crore, the total income for the media behemoth hit a healthy Rs 11,158.69 crore.

While the income grew at a modest pace, the bottom line tells a far more dramatic story. The real headline is the 53 per cent surge in annual profit. How did they pull off such a feat? While Profit Before Tax (PBT) saw a gentle nudge upward of 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,610.00 crore, it was a vanishing act by the taxman that really did the trick.

Total tax expenses plummeted by 32.4 per cent, dropping from Rs 468.76 crore down to Rs 316.97 crore. This was largely thanks to a swing in deferred tax, moving from an expense of Rs 156.02 crore in FY24 to a benefit of Rs 39.44 crore this year.

Total income rose from Rs 10,658.55 crore in FY24 to Rs 11,158.69 crore in FY25, marking a 4.7 per cent increase. Total expenses grew at a slower pace, up 3.0 per cent from Rs 9,306.06 crore to Rs 9,581.45 crore. Profit before tax inched up 2.7 per cent, moving from Rs 1,567.02 crore to Rs 1,610.00 crore. However, the standout figure was net profit, which jumped sharply by 53.0 per cent, climbing from Rs 1,042.03 crore in FY24 to Rs 1,594.73 crore in FY25.

Despite the rising costs of doing business across the globe, BCCL kept a tight grip on the purse strings. Total expenses rose by just 3.0 per cent to Rs 9,581.45 crore. By keeping costs lower than the rate of income growth, the company ensured that the final figure, a net profit of Rs 1,594.73 crore, was nothing short of a front-page sensation.

In a world of shifting digital tides, it seems the BCCL ship is not just steady, but sailing into significantly wealthier waters.