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Bindu Sethi returns to JWT as chief strategy officer
MUMBAI: JWT has appointed Bindu Sethi as chief strategy officer India.
The appointment is close on the heels of appointment of Bobby Pawar as its chief creative officer and managing partner for India. The creative agency said that with Sethi‘s appointment will further strengthen the senior leadership of the agency and complete its senior management.
Earlier this year, Sanjeev Bhargava had joined the agency as managing partner in Delhi and Max Hegerman as head of digital.
“The Indian market is becoming increasingly complex. Choice has a whole new meaning for the consumer; the strategic challenge is high,” said Bindu. “A smart perspective and smarter ideas can unravel the complexity. It is the creative solution that then finally dissolves complexity and resolves the choice preferences of consumers. Joining JWT puts me in a position to take on these marketing challenges.”
JWT India CEO Colvyn Harris added, “We are moving decisively to build our bench strength, and bringing Bindu into this role is an important part of that strategy. We are pleased to have Bindu back in the fold. We know from experience that she‘s a valuable asset, and she‘s gone on to grow her skills at the national and Asia Pacific level. Now she brings all that experience back to us, and our clients. Bindu‘s mandate will be to develop and integrate our strategic planning capabilities and help deliver on our vision to be a creative powerhouse as we create the best value proposition for our clients.”
It‘s a home coming for Sethi as she had worked with JWT in 1988 (then known as Hindustan Thompson Associates or HTA). She comes with experience from both the advertising industry and the corporate sector. She was most recently the Asia Pacific strategy officer for Grey Worldwide, including Grey India‘s national planning director, where she worked with a wide range of clients including GSK, Honda, Reliance Communication, Britannia and Ferrero.
“Bindu is extremely talented and I am delighted to have her back on board,” said JWT Asia Pacific president Michael Maedel. “She brings depth, experience and insight to this critical leadership role. Given India is an increasingly important market for many of our global clients, this appointment is both vital and timely.”
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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.
