MAM
Film producers, ad agencies spin money from placements
Integrating product placement within the film’s storyline is nothing new – who could forget the yellow Rajdoot bike in Raj Kapoor’s Bobby.
Recent times have seen a slew of product placements on the silver screen. In-film placement of brands is proving to be a revenue-spinner for ad agencies and producers alike. Film placements are raking in anything between Rs 0.5 million to Rs 50 million for the producers.
Three major players in the film segment are:
Leo Entertainment: Leo Burnett recently established a new subsidiary, Leo Entertainment, in India to capitalise on the phenomenal growth of product placement and related commercial activity in Indian movies.
Leo Entertainment’s claim to fame includes bollywood blockbusters Kaante, Raju Chacha, BR Chopra’s Baghban, Pooja Bhatt’s Jism and Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai where it leveraged brands such as Coke, Thums Up, Maaza, Provogue, Castrol, Tata Tea and Blowplast. It is also working with other producers such as Shahrukh Khan, Ramgopal Varma, NR Paschisia and Ramesh Sippy for in film brand placement.
Hungama.com: Hungama.com is another major player in the business. Entertainment marketing business head Siddhartha Roy affirmed that he is working on three films, one of which is slated for a release in September while a couple of films are launching around Diwali. The entertainment company had done a placement for Western Union Money Transfer in Ramesh Sippy’s Kuch Na Kaho in September 2003.
Broadmind Entertainment: Broadmind Entertainment recently got noticed for its in-film placement for ICICI brand in Baghban. The company is also working on eight more projects with production houses such as Entertainment One, Maruti Films and Boney Kapoor Productions. The films are slated for release this summer over April to June and around Diwali, which is when most big projects are released.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
