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Adfactors PR appoints Shilpa Desai to drive digital and innovation in BFSI and capital markets
MUMBAI: Adfactors PR has named Shilpa Desai as senior vice-president – digital and innovation for its BFSI and capital markets practices, a move that signals the firm’s intent to hardwire digital transformation into its core financial services offering. Working with the founders and senior leadership, Desai will design and execute initiatives that expand digital capabilities, integrate analytics, and build innovation-led systems to deliver sharper impact for clients and future-proof the organisation.
With over 20 years of experience, Desai is no stranger to India’s financial sector. She began her career at ICICI Bank before moving to Standard Chartered, where she built the digital marketing practice for India and South Asia. At IDFC Bank, she was part of the founding team, launching the bank in 2015 and later setting up its digital business and marketing analytics functions. She went on to lead brand and marketing at Fullerton India and, most recently, served as executive vice-president and head of marketing at HDFC Ergo.
In parallel, Desai has also run her own consultancy, Digital by Design, advising institutions on digital-first marketing and transformation. An engineer with an MBA, she is currently pursuing a PhD in management at IIT Bombay, adding academic rigour to her industry experience.
Her appointment comes as Adfactors PR doubles down on its BFSI and capital markets verticals, a cornerstone of its business. The firm said Desai’s remit will be to strengthen its ability to offer integrated, data-rich, innovation-driven communications solutions at a time when fintech disruption, digital adoption and AI-led marketing are rewriting the rules of engagement.
Industry watchers say the hire reflects both client expectations and competitive pressure. As BFSI players accelerate digital adoption, PR firms are under pressure to match pace with insight-driven, technology-enabled campaigns that deliver measurable outcomes.
Adfactors PR, already the largest PR consultancy in India, is betting that Desai’s blend of operational depth, digital vision and sectoral expertise will give it an edge in a market where communications is increasingly inseparable from data and technology.
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.
