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Tag: Media Strategy

  • Ketan K Bharati joins The House of Abhinandan Lodha to lead media

    Ketan K Bharati joins The House of Abhinandan Lodha to lead media

    MUMBAI: Ketan K Bharati, the marketing maverick who has shaped campaigns across telecom, FMCG, tech, and media giants, has now planted his flag at The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) as head – media strategy & performance marketing.

    With a career spanning nearly two decades and marquee brands like Truecaller, Reckitt, Vodafone, Disney Star, and GroupM in his rearview mirror, Bharati’s next chapter promises to blend data muscle, storytelling flair, and go-to-market wizardry for one of India’s most ambitious real estate disruptors.

    Bharati, was most recently VP – global marketing ops at Truecaller, where he steered GTM rollouts, global launches, and even lit up Times Square.

    Backed by stints managing Rs 500 crore media portfolios, landing Gold at Spikes Asia, and anchoring revenue surges at Fox International and Reckitt, Bharati is no stranger to performance-led growth. His Vodafone days saw him turn cricket carnivals into brand goldmines with the IPL and World Cup. At GroupM, he cracked efficiency gains for brands like Dove and PepsiCo with data-first media buying.

    At HoABL, he’s expected to fuse full-funnel performance with digital-first thinking, supporting the brand’s audacious land-tokenisation push and national expansion.

    In a world where land is being reimagined as a lifestyle asset, HoABL’s latest hire signals it’s not just playing the game. It’s rewriting the script.

  • Sony Pictures Networks taps Hitesh Sood to spearhead B2B partnerships

    Sony Pictures Networks taps Hitesh Sood to spearhead B2B partnerships

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has made a strategic move by appointing Hitesh Sood as vice president & head of B2B subscription and partnerships (digital business). Effective February 2025, Sood has already rolled up his sleeves to drive global expansion for Sonyliv and forge partnerships that will redefine digital content distribution.

    With a resume that reads like a thriller, Sood brings two decades of experience spanning telecom, media, and digital services. He has honed his expertise across continents, cracking tough negotiations and spearheading revenue-driven partnerships. From launching industry-first telco content bundles to scaling up OTT distribution, his track record is as impressive as a blockbuster’s opening weekend.

    In his new role, Sood will focus on taking Sonyliv beyond borders—literally. He aims to propel its reach to global audiences while working with telcos, banks, and content aggregators to make digital entertainment more engaging. With streaming services in an all-out war for eyeballs, this move signals Sony’s intent to stay ahead of the game.

    Before joining Sony, Sood made his mark at Renna Mobile, Grameenphone, Vodafone Idea, and Globacom, where he led marketing, partnerships, and product strategies. He played a key role in expanding digital content services and optimising customer engagement strategies. At Grameenphone, for instance, he quadrupled monthly active users (MAUs) in just two years—no small feat in a competitive streaming market.

    Sony Pictures Networks is banking on Sood’s knack for innovation to boost its B2B partnerships and subscriptions. With digital entertainment evolving at breakneck speed, Sony’s latest hire suggests the company is gearing up for a bigger, bolder future in the streaming industry.

  • Om Jha levels up: From Pepsico prodigy to global media maestro

    Om Jha levels up: From Pepsico prodigy to global media maestro

    MUMBAI: Five and a half years ago, Om Jha took his first sip of Pepsico’s high-energy corporate culture—nervous, excited, and ready to shake things up. Now, with a portfolio of impactful marketing, media, and data-driven campaigns under his belt, he is stepping into the future with a brand-new role in the company’s global media & transformation team. From Gurgaon to Plano, Texas, Jha’s journey has been nothing short of fizz-tastic. But what’s next? Let’s pop the cap and find out.

    “I was stepping in to do something I had never done before,” Jha reminisced about his early days at Pepsico. “Thanks to Vishal Kaul for hiring me and introducing me to the world of possibilities, and thanks to George Kovoor and Anshul Khanna for letting me define my own role with every passing year.”

    Jha didn’t just dip his toes into the Pepsico pool—he dived in headfirst. As head of media & partnerships (2019–2022), he spearheaded efforts to connect Pepsico’s legendary brands with consumers using a potent mix of media, data, and technology. He led high-stakes advertising and marketing negotiations, ensuring every penny squeezed out more efficiency and effectiveness.

    By 2022, he stepped up as director – media, data, marketing capabilities & partnerships. Here, he architected a robust first-party data-led marketing infrastructure, setting the stage for cutting-edge digital campaigns and award-winning brand partnerships.

    Fast forward to March 2025, and Jha is now embracing his biggest role yet—director of global media capabilities. This new challenge places him at the intersection of global strategy and transformation, a role tailor-made for someone who thrives on the ever-evolving media landscape.

    But Pepsico is just one stop in Jha’s dynamic career. Before this, he was assistant vice president – customer strategy at Disney Star (2018-2019), where he led the strategy vertical for the northern region, handling TV and digital ad sales revenue across multiple entertainment portfolios. Prior to that, he spent nearly two years as senior director – strategy at GroupM, simplifying media and technology for brands while driving insights-based performance marketing.

    Jha’s journey also took him through the telecom world. At Airtel (2015-2016), he headed business planning & consumer insights for the Delhi circle, overseeing operational strategy, financial planning, and product pricing. Before that, he honed his consulting expertise at KPMG India (2014-2015), managing large-scale business transformation projects.

    His early career included a five-year stint at Idea Cellular Ltd, where he worked as chief of staff in the MD’s office, focusing on corporate strategy and operations. He also gained experience in engineering and manufacturing at Mahindra Group (2005-2007), before transitioning into business roles.

    “A huge thank you to Shyam Venugopal and Abhishek Jadon for this opportunity,” Jha said, his excitement as palpable as the fizz in a freshly opened Pepsi can.

    Corporate careers are a bit like carbonated drinks—always under pressure, occasionally shaken, but ultimately, they’re all about making a splash. And if Jha’s track record is anything to go by, he’s about to pop the lid on something truly groundbreaking.

  • Ormax Media introduces Ormax Mpact to revolutionise brand lift measurement

    Ormax Media introduces Ormax Mpact to revolutionise brand lift measurement

    MUMBAI: Ads are now sneakier than ever—slipping into your favourite reality show, casually making an appearance in blockbuster films, and popping up in places you least expect. But do they actually work? Ormax Mpact is here to find out. This state-of-the-art Brand Lift Measurement tool helps marketers navigate the ad clutter and determine what’s making waves and what’s just white noise.

    With India’s advertising space bursting at the seams, Ormax Media has launched this data-driven tool to evaluate and optimise brand partnerships, sponsorships, and advertising innovations. According to Ormax Media’s estimates, more than 8,000 major brand collaborations take place every year across various platforms, including sports sponsorships, reality show integrations, digital brand tie-ups, in-content product placements, and more. Ormax Mpact aims to quantify their effectiveness and ensure brands get the best bang for their buck.

    Ormax Mpact employs two sophisticated approaches to measure brand impact:

    . Audience vs. non-audience approach: This method compares individuals exposed to a specific media platform (such as a TV channel or digital platform) against those who aren’t, to measure its influence on key brand metrics.

    . Exposed vs. control approach: This model evaluates the impact of a particular creative—be it a TV ad, print campaign, or digital ad—by comparing those who have seen it with those who haven’t.

    By leveraging Ormax Media’s extensive 16 years of research & analytics and its robust online research panel of 300,000+ media consumers across 1,500+ towns in India, Ormax Mpact delivers rapid, cost-efficient campaign evaluations with quick turnaround times.

    Ormax Media founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor highlighted the evolving nature of advertising, “We live in a time when ads aren’t just TV commercials anymore. Sponsorships, influencer tie-ups, and branded content are the new norm, and they come at a premium cost. With Ormax Mpact, we offer brands and media platforms a structured, data-backed approach to measure and refine their strategies, ensuring every rupee spent translates into real impact.”

    Echoing this sentiment, Ormax Media head – business development (TV, streaming & brands), Keerat Grewal added, “From an IPL sponsorship to a Shark Tank collaboration or a film integration like Pushpa 2, Ormax Mpact helps brands quantify their media investments. It also enables platforms—TV channels, AVOD services, print publications, social media—to build case studies that improve the effectiveness of their ad sales strategies.”

    Ormax Mpact is priced between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 6.5 lakh, depending on the research sample size. Having already built case studies across multiple industries, Ormax Media is targeting a broad spectrum of brands, media agencies, and platforms as potential users.

    In an advertising jungle where brands are battling for consumer eyeballs, Ormax Mpact is the ultimate survival tool-helping brands ensure their ad spend doesn’t just fade into the abyss. Because, let’s face it, if your ad spends flops, your brand’s just another tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.