MAM
“I hope to convince BJP to connect with electorate throughout the year”: Sam Balsara
MUMBAI: The Madison Report on 2015 is all set to be unveiled on 20 February by Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal and the industry awaits what India’s first home-grown media agency has to predict for the year ahead.
Last year was a remarkable one for Madison Media as it grabbed the mother of all accounts, Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Lok Sabha election mandate. Followed by mandate for assembly polls of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi, the agency has been making news for all the right reasons.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Madison World chairman and managing director Sam Balsara says, “2014 was a great year for Madison World and most of our units Madison Media, Madison Outdoor, Madison PR, Mates, PMG and our JV with WPP’s Mediacom have done extremely well specially on new business front and we have acquired almost a 100 new clients across the group.”
In terms of awards too, it has been a very satisfying year for Balsara, who is upbeat and optimistic about 2015. “Given that the mood is extremely upbeat in India Inc, thanks to the new BJP government, 2015 again is going to be an exciting year and we hope to get more than our fair share of the growth,” Balsara adds.
The year 2015 too has begun on a positive note as the agency won an array of new accounts in the last two months, which amount to approximately Rs 200 crore. The accounts include JG Hosiery, Metro Cash & Carry, Zivame, Ashirwad Pipes, out of the agency’s Bangalore office. As well as, Viber (to be handled from Delhi Office) and DHFL (to be handled from Mumbai office); all won on the back of multi-agency pitches.
Talking about what gives Madison an edge over others during a pitch, Balsara says, “We focus on client delight, and want to be our client’s trusted communication partner and help them use media and advertising to achieve their growth and business objectives. We also want our people to act as entrepreneurs and give them the freedom to operate without fear or favour as long as they do so with integrity and professionalism.”
The agency doesn’t believe in prioritising any office as well as it has a marquee clientele in each and every office. But of course Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata are key markets.
However, the Delhi office, with Lok Sabha election and the recently concluded Delhi elections, has been buzzing with work and excitement. So, how does the agency differentiate election mandate from the rest? Balsara highlights, “Political campaigns are more short term, the results have to be achieved in a month’s time and therefore the strategies that we adopt have to be very different. I hope to convince my friends at BJP that they should not try to connect with the electorate only at the time of elections but throughout the year.”
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.
