MAM
Emami ropes in Shikhar Dhawan as face of home hygiene range
KOLKATA: Emami is ready to hit the Indian market with its newest offering – Emasol – a complete range of home hygiene products. With this launch, the company, which has enjoyed a strong presence in the personal care and healthcare space, is making a big bang entry into the homecare segment for the very first time.
Under Emasol range of products, Emami will manufacture and market five offerings: Emasol Disinfectant Floor Cleaner; Emasol Disinfectant Toilet Cleaner; Emasol Disinfectant Bathroom Cleaner; Emasol Antibacterial Dish Wash Gel; Emasol All Purpose Sanitiser.
Emami has roped in international cricket all-rounder Shikhar Dhawan as the global brand ambassador for its Emasol range.
Emami director Mohan Goenka said, “The Covid2019 pandemic has accelerated home hygiene consciousness to newer heights. People are more concerned about maintaining household hygiene with higher frequency of cleaning across all economic strata. Home hygiene, as a category of approx. Rs 3000 crore had been growing in double digits in the pre-Covid times and is expected to grow much faster in the coming days. Emami is thrilled to capture the topical relevance of the time and foray into the home hygiene space by introducing Emalso range of home hygiene products. We expect a very encouraging market response from this launch as consumers are on lookout for hygiene products that are effective and enjoy high level of brand trust.”
As per a recent Kantar Worldpanel report, Covid2019 has resulted in change of consumer behaviour in the context of home hygiene, leading to increase in use of toilet cleaners by 47 per cent, mopping of floors by 41 per cent, and disinfectant use by 28 per cent. As per Nielsen category trends, a significant growth in penetration and consumption has been witnessed for home hygiene products with e-commerce channels recording a growth of around 80 per cent for floor and toilet cleaners in the post-pandemic environment.
London-based design firm Evolve Creative developed the packaging for the Emasol home hygiene range, which comprise competitively priced quality products. The product line is being launched across general trade, modern trade and e-commerce channels with a major focus on urban metro markets, which is expected to contribute majorly to its overall sale.
Emasol is the first home hygiene range to hit the Indian market that apart from killing 99.9 per cent germs, also has BGV24 advanced antimicrobials action that offers up to 24 hours protection from virus, germs and bacteria.
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.
