MAM
Tempest Advertising expands in Mumbai, appoints Aparna Nawathe VP & branch head
Agency strengthens national play with senior hire to lead key market push
MUMBAI: Tempest Advertising is stepping up its national ambitions with a strategic expansion into Mumbai, appointing Aparna Nawathe as vice president and branch head for the city.
The move signals the agency’s intent to deepen its presence in India’s most competitive business hub, where scale meets sophistication and brand-building demands sharper, insight-led communication. The Mumbai office is positioned as a key growth engine, extending Tempest’s multi-city footprint while bringing its integrated communications expertise to a wider client base.
In her new role, Nawathe will lead the agency’s Mumbai operations, focusing on building strategic partnerships and helping brands tackle complex business challenges through communication. Her mandate includes driving growth, strengthening client relationships and delivering cohesive, high-impact campaigns across platforms.
With close to two decades of experience, Nawathe brings a cross-disciplinary approach spanning brand strategy, corporate storytelling and transformation initiatives. Her career includes work with leading names such as Unilever, Godrej and Dabur. She has also led brand marketing at Shoppers Stop, Femina and Lavasa, and worked closely with institutions including the Ministry of Textiles, Cotton Association of India, Tata Trusts and Saint-Gobain.
Commenting on the expansion, Tempest Advertising managing director Turab Lakdawala said Mumbai is a natural next step in the agency’s growth journey. “We are increasingly partnering with brands at a strategic level, helping them navigate complexity through communication. Aparna brings the right mix of strategic thinking, leadership and business understanding to build and scale this vision in Mumbai.”
Sharing her perspective, Nawathe said the agency’s approach sets it apart. “Tempest looks at communication as a strategic lever for business growth. Being media-agnostic allows us to blend digital and mainstream channels to create solutions that are relevant, cohesive and impactful.”
With Mumbai now firmly in its sights, Tempest Advertising is positioning itself to compete more aggressively in the country’s top market, betting on leadership, insight and integrated thinking to drive its next phase of growth.
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
