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Madhukar Sabnavis on O&M’s worldwide board
MUMBAI: There seems to be an injection of Indian blood in the senior leadership team of global agencies. Last year, Vikram Sakuja 
became Maxus global CEO and McCann‘s Prasoon Joshi entered the Commonwealth board that was created to service the GM Chevy account. Now Ogilvy & Mather has named 12 new members on its worldwide board, one of them being O&M India vice chairman and country head, discovery and planning Madhukar Sabnavis.
WPP’s global creative agency network announced that Carla Hendra will take over as the vice chairman of its Worldwide Board.
The other new members on the board include Nelly Andersen, Executive Vice President of Global Brands, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Lou Aversano, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy East, Brandon Berger, Worldwide Chief Digital Officer, Shenan Chuang, CEO of O&M Greater China, Annette King, CEO of OgilvyOne EAME and Chairman of OgilvyOne London, Paul Matheson, Regional President Strategy and Planning of O&M Asia Pacific, Jaime Prieto, President of Global Brand Management, Ben Richards, Worldwide Head of Integrated Strategy, Gunther Schumacher, Worldwide Chief Operating Officer of OgilvyOne Worldwide, Steve Simpson, Chief Creative Officer of O&M North America and Paul Smith, Regional Creative Director EAME.
O&M board chairman and CEO Miles Young remarked, “These additions represent a wonderful range of our key talent and inject a significant infusion of new blood. Our Board will now be significantly more diverse, and I believe, will be reflective of and useful for many of the debates about content which need to happen at the heart of our business. I am so very pleased to announce that Carla has been elected to the role of Vice Chairman. Carla’s contribution over the years has been enormous, not least recently as the founder and driver of OgilvyRED. As our Board continues to grow, we will need someone with Carla’s laser focus and drive to help harness the diverse talents and viewpoints within our Board to the advantage of the entire agency.”
MAM
Banijay eyes live events as major growth driver beyond TV
IP like ‘Black Mirror’ set for immersive experiences in 2026, gaming division powers profitability.
MUMBAI: Banijay is turning screens into stages because when your IP is this golden, even the live crowd wants an encore. Banijay, the French entertainment group, on Thursday flagged live events and franchise extensions as key growth engines for 2026 and beyond, ahead of its planned merger with All3Media. CEO François Riahi told reporters that the company’s strongest content IP is increasingly generating value off-screen, pointing to the upcoming immersive live experiences based on ‘Black Mirror’ in 2026 as a prime example.
“We have a gold mine that we’re not fully exploiting,” Riahi said. He cited the intense bidding war between Paramount and Netflix for Warner’s portfolio as proof of how fundamental IP has become in today’s entertainment landscape. “That gives you an idea of how essential IP is today,” he added.
On the financial front, Banijay’s production consolidated revenue edged up 0.4 per cent excluding currency effects to €3.29 billion in 2025. Its online betting division led by Betclic and bolstered by the recent Tipico acquisition grew 10.2 per cent to €1.59 billion, accounting for roughly one-third of group revenue but nearly half of profitability. Combined EBITDA rose 8.6 per cent to €961 million.
Riahi said the gaming division is poised to benefit in 2026 from major sporting events including the soccer World Cup, with focus on customer acquisition across Betclic and Tipico.
Banijay will provide detailed mid-term financial guidance, incorporating recent acquisitions, during its strategic update on 26 March 2026.
In an industry where stories no longer end at the credits, Banijay isn’t just producing content, it’s turning franchises into full-spectrum entertainment empires, one live experience and one bet at a time.
