MAM

When I write, I learn, it is a big inspiration: Ambi

Published

12 years ago

January 15, 2014

MUMBAI: In his three-decade-long career, chemical engineer-turned-adman MG ‘Ambi’ Parameswaran has handled a wealth of assignments across advertising, marketing and sales. The brain behind the transformation of Ulka Advertising into Draftfcb Ulka Group, this former IIT-ian not only knows his subject like the back of his hand, he has a sharp wit and a way with words to boot.

Ambi, who has a slew of articles and six books on advertising and brands to his credit, has just finished penning his seventh book titled For God’s Sake – An Adman on the Business of Religion slated to hit stands next week. He spoke to indiantelevision.com about his new book and what he does best – writing and advertising…

Why did you choose such a topic?

I did my PhD on Religiousity and Consumer Behaviour from Mumbai University and it took close to five years of research to file my thesis. In so doing, I read over 500 books and articles on the subject and thought it was an interesting topic. Besides, not much had been written on religion and consumer behaviour. So, I thought of converting my thesis into a book which people could use and appreciate.

What inspired you to write this book?

The fact that when I write, I learn, is one big inspiration for me. Secondly, one is adding in some way to the knowledge depository of the country. Unfortunately in India, we are very possessive about knowledge and information, so my books are all about sharing whatever little I know with people who are interested in knowing more.

How different is this book from your previous ones?

I have written several books on advertising, a couple of books on branding, and a book on the Indian consumer. This book cannot be slotted into advertising or branding categories because it is more of a neutral book which is more about business, religion and consumers. There is a lot of reference to advertising in the book, and there is also a lot of reference to a lot of business ideas that have emerged in the book. Also, there are a lot of consumer segmentation issues that I have raised in the book.

Whom are you targeting with this book?

It would be the 28 or 29-year-old executive who wants to understand a little more about the Indian consumer or the 31-year-old businessman who wants a new idea for a business.

This is your seventh book. What motivates you to write?

Well, I have always wondered why there aren’t enough books on Indian consumers and Indian brands. From a historical perspective, the first person to really write a book on branding in the Indian context was Subroto Sengupta of Clarion Advertising. He was also my professor at IIM Calcutta and after him, for many a year, no one really wrote on Indian brands or advertising.

My first book was published in 1999 and since then, we have had a lot of people like Santosh Desai, Rama Bijapurkar, Harish Bhatt and Anand Halve writing interesting books on such topics. It is a good and healthy thing that a lot of practising executives are putting down their knowledge and experience into books.

Just how easy or difficult is it to put all this into a book? In your case, are you usually content once you are done with the final draft?

I don’t think you can capture all the things you know in just one book because one is always reading and observing things all the time. For me, writing a book is also a learning process, so when I write a book, I read a lot more. Even before you get down to writing the first paragraph, you have read and learnt so much. This book, for instance, took six months of writing, but for almost three years, I was researching and reading. So, it is a learning process and after you finish writing a book, one always thinks that you could have added something more. Overall, I’m happy the way the book has come out. It is very racy and it’s easy to read. That was my objective; it is in fact much lighter to read as compared to my previous books. It was planned!

Which is your favourite book on advertising, and why?

There are many books, so it is difficult to name any one. There are books on branding and advertising globally, and in India too, we are seeing some very good books.

Do you feel youngsters today read books or are influenced by them?

There is still a very significant section of the youth which reads books. If you look at what Amish Tripathi has been able to achieve, it is commendable. He is a guy who has brought a million new readers to the English books’ market. His books cut across age groups and that is amazing.

Coming to advertising, do you think advertisers are stereotypical in their portrayal of characters, be it gender or religion-wise?

No, I don’t think there is any stereotyping. Advertisers and advertising agencies tend to borrow from the popular culture around them. And they are normally ahead of the curve. That is why in the book, there is a chapter on ‘The mystery of the missing bindi’ and you will see advertisers are showing lesser and lesser women wearing a bindi because not wearing one is perceived as a symbol of modernity, which wasn’t the case some 20 years ago. However that doesn’t mean women aren’t wearing bindis. You will still see a lot of women wearing them. But the modernity has been picked up and used by advertisers.

Coming back to your book, it will be available on…

It will be available with e-book merchants, both as hardcover and as an e-book. It will also be available at all bookstores.

Last but not the least, will we see another book from you?

Not yet, maybe something after two years…

Up Next

Sony Max goes ‘badtameez’

Don't Miss

Ex-BBC exec and Sony to launch U.K. Production Company

Click to comment

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

3 days 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

3 days 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

3 days 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.