MAM
FoxyMoron’s national head for client relationships Prachi Bali talks about her new role
NEW DELHI: While the industry battles arguably one of the most challenging issues of modern times, Prachi Bali has been promoted as the national head for client relationships at the full funnel creative and performance digital agency FoxyMoron. One of the youngest executives in the marketing world to hold the post, Bali is naturally excited to begin a new chapter in her professional career.
Bali, who had joined the agency in 2013 when it was still quite young, did not have any experience of working in the digital domain and neither any relevant qualifications but her curiosity to learn and grow bagged her a job as an account manager at the firm.
“When I joined FoxyMoron, it was a very interesting time as the industry was still growing. Digital was being termed as the next big thing and market and media planners had started investing in the medium. Back then, it was more about making our agency bigger. With time, the focus shifted to how to make it better, and I was made an account director, then how to make it better than the competition, and it was all very exciting for me,” she shared talking about her initial days in the field. She worked across the beauty, edu-tech, alco-bev, FMCG & lifestyle categories over her tenure.
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Four years ago, Bali was handed over the responsibility of the Gurgaon operations and was named the business head for the northern region, which gave her a completely new side to explore. “I took a big leap of faith and moved to Gurgaon from Mumbai and Pratik (Gupta), Suveer (Bajaj), and I saw a lot of unharnessed potential in the market. Most of the agencies were headquartered in Mumbai and despite having a number of clients based in Delhi, the agency business did not quite pick up as expected and we wanted to harness that.”
Over the past four years, she has reportedly grown the business by six times in the northern market and has built a strong partnership with the clients in the region.
She did all of this while being one of the youngest executives out in the market. So did it ever get daunting?
“Obviously it is a little challenging when you are the youngest person in the room, talking to people who are 15-20 years older than you are. But it was not just for me, even our founders, Pratik and Suveer are quite young, so our whole agency had this vibe of being a young business. Initially, it was a hindrance, yes. But then it is all about how you build up relationships and work.”
Bali added that over the past four-to-five years, the experience has now changed from people seeing her or the agency as the ‘youngest kids in the room’ to the ‘most creative’ and ‘most knowledgeable’ people in the room. “It gives you a feeling that what you are doing is working and what you are doing is right. It is a beautiful feeling.”
Going forward, Bali wants to expand FoxyMoron’s client-base and work on more interesting projects.
“The industry we are in, the whole experience is about meeting people, having discussions, and just communicating. I miss that a lot. I even miss the all-nighters that we used to pull in the office sometimes and I am excited to go back as soon as possible.”
But is it getting difficult to meet some of the new clients as she takes up the new role amidst a pandemic?
She replied, “Well, yes the industry is all about face-to-face meetings and that is not happening right now, which is a little challenging. But I am taking it in a more positive way that now every meeting of mine has not to be a 4:00 am flight and I can talk to them over a video call. The whole industry is functioning like that and the clients are also understanding and supportive. But obviously, I can’t wait to go back to the drill.”
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.
