Brands
Havas India teams up with Banijay Asia to bring entertainment firepower to advertising
MUMBAI: Advertising is eating entertainment—or is it the other way round? Havas India has struck a strategic partnership with Banijay Asia, the regional arm of Europe’s largest studio, to fuse the art of selling with the craft of showmaking. The alliance marks a bet that brands can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines of culture; they must wade into the thick of it.
Banijay Entertainment, the Paris-headquartered titan behind global juggernauts like Survivor, Big Brother and Temptation Island, has built its Asian operation into a content factory. In India alone, Banijay Asia has churned out The Kapil Sharma Show, Bigg Boss, Nach Baliye, The Night Manager and The Voice—hits that have shaped prime-time viewing and water-cooler chatter.
Under the new arrangement, Havas India will plug into Banijay Asia’s storytelling muscle to create what it calls “entertainment-led brand storytelling”. Translation: adverts that don’t feel like adverts. The partnership stretches beyond India to cover Havas clients across South-East Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.
“Advertising today is no longer confined to conventional mediums; it thrives at the intersection of entertainment, content and culture,” said Havas India, South-East Asia and North Asia group chief executive Rana Barua. The goal, he added, is to help brands “drive cultural and business impact” by thinking bigger and bolder.
Banijay Asia founder & group chief executive Deepak Dhar argued that India and the wider Asia-Pacific region are “ready for a more immersive, content-first approach to brand building”. With Havas’s network reach and Banijay’s format expertise, the two aim to make brands “part of everyday conversations”.
The tie-up reflects a broader trend: the blurring of boundaries between advertising and entertainment. Banijay Entertainment has already launched a specialist division, Banijay Branded Entertainment, to capitalise on brands’ hunger for original content. This partnership takes that ambition eastward, where audiences are younger, mobile-savvy and increasingly allergic to traditional ad formats.
Havas India, which operates 24 agencies and divisions across media, creative and health verticals, has been on a tear. The network has won multiple clients and industry gongs over the past three years, including being named a Great Place to Work three times running. With over 2,500 staff across Mumbai, Gurugram, Bengaluru and four other cities, it is positioning itself as one of India’s nimblest advertising shops.
Banijay Asia, meanwhile, continues to expand its slate. The studio has Indian adaptations of Monk, House and Suits in the pipeline, alongside non-scripted fare like Rise and Fall and Temptation Island. Its parent company, Banijay Entertainment, operates over 130 production companies across 21 territories and delivered more than 17,000 hours of content in 2024. Revenues hit €3.35bn last year, with EBITDA of €528m.
Whether brands can truly become entertainment—or merely crash the party—remains to be seen. But with this partnership, Havas and Banijay are betting that the future of advertising looks less like a 30-second spot and more like a binge-worthy series.
Brands
Moneycontrol to host Global Wealth Summit 2026 in Mumbai on March 14
Investors and policymakers gather to decode wealth in a shifting world order
MUMBAI: As global markets grapple with volatility, shifting capital flows and rapid technological disruption, Moneycontrol is bringing together some of the biggest names in finance and policy for the second edition of the Global Wealth Summit.
The IDFC FIRST Bank presents Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit will take place on March 14, 2026, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, gathering global investors, policymakers and market experts for a day of conversations on the future of wealth creation.
Centred on the theme “The Capital Reset: Building Wealth in a New World Order”, the summit will examine how investors are rethinking risk, returns and portfolio strategies as the global financial landscape evolves. Artificial intelligence, shifting supply chains, geopolitical realignments and renewed interest in safe-haven assets are among the forces reshaping investment thinking worldwide.
The event will feature more than 15 sessions and over 45 speakers across more than 10 hours of discussions. Over 400 participants are expected to attend, creating space not only for debates on markets but also for networking among leaders from finance, business and policymaking.
Among the key speakers is Tuhin Kanta Pandey, chairman of SEBI, who is expected to share insights on India’s regulatory landscape and the policy direction shaping the country’s capital markets. Global investment perspectives will come from Jonathan Wilmot, global strategist at Aletheia Capital, and Charles Myers, chairman and founder of Signum Global Advisors, who will discuss macroeconomic shifts, capital flows and emerging investment opportunities.
The summit will also see participation from leaders across India’s financial ecosystem, including V. Vaidyanathan, MD and CEO of IDFC FIRST Bank, Sundararaman Ramamurthy, MD and CEO of BSE, Atul Mehra, MD and CEO of Axis Capital, Abhinav Bharti, MD and head of India ECM at JP Morgan, and Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and MD of Angel Broking.
Seasoned market voices such as Ramesh Damani, veteran investor and member of BSE, Ajit Dayal, founder of Quantum Advisors and Quantum AMC, and Shankar Sharma, founder of GQuant, are expected to offer perspectives on equity markets, valuation cycles and long-term wealth creation.
Institutional and global market insights will also come from Sunil Tirumalai, executive director and GEM equity strategist at UBS, and Sachee Trivedi, founder and director of Trident Capital Investments. Ananth Narayan, former SEBI whole-time member, will add regulatory and governance perspectives shaped by his experience in India’s financial framework.
Moneycontrol managing editor and Network18 chief AI officer editorial operations Nalin Mehta, said the summit comes at a time when investors are navigating heightened geopolitical tensions and uncertain markets.
“The second edition of the Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit comes at a time when investors are navigating heightened geopolitical tensions and volatile markets. By bringing together leading investors, policymakers and market strategists, the summit will offer insights from leaders who have weathered multiple market cycles and bring deep perspective on building wealth and traversing multiple asset classes in a rapidly changing world,” he said.
Over the years, the Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit has positioned itself as a platform where regulators, investment strategists, CEOs and fund managers exchange ideas, engage with policymakers and explore partnerships in an increasingly complex market environment.
Moneycontrol’s Global Wealth Summit 2026 is presented by IDFC FIRST Bank, with Reliance Industries Limited as the associate partner.
