MAM
MAM round up of the week
MUMBAI: The world of media and advertising never seems to have a dull day with another action-packed week coming to an end. Amid the yo-yoing fortunes of the industry, the newsmakers held their sway. Indian Television Dot Com brings to you a round up of the most important news events over the past seven days:
Mindshare South Asia’s organisational restructuring
Media agency, Mindshare, part of GroupM announced the organisation restructure this week by elevating Amin Lakhani as the new president of client leadership at Mindshare India. In his new role, he will manage core client capabilities across all offices in the country.
Additionally, Anita Kotwani has been promoted from her existing role to senior vice president of new business and Premjeet Sodhi will join Mindshare South Asia as senior vice president of Mindshare Fulcrum, South Asia and will lead Team Fulcrum across South Asia. Premjeet’s new role is effective March 2018.
Madhusudan Gopalan takes over as P&G India MD and CEO
P&G India elevated Madhusudan Gopalan who as the new managing director and CEO who will take over from 1 April 2018. Madhusudan is currently leading the P&G business in Indonesia and will take over from Al Rajwani, who is set to retire from the company after 37 years of service after the end of the financial year. Until his retirement, Al will help in on-boarding Madhusudan on the India business and enable a smooth transition.
Gopalan has over 18 years of experience working for the company across business units and diverse geographies like India, US and ASEAN countries.
Google Pay launches in US, UK
Globally, in an attempt to become a hit in the vast payment space, Google launched its payment system, Google Pay in US and UK markets where users can pay for public transport in London, Portland and Kiev.
In India, Extending its Google Tez option, the Indian payment app will now enable bill payments for electricity, gas, water, DTH as well as postpaid mobile. You just have to link your biller accounts once and directly pay from your bank account. Tez supports Bharat BillPay and doesn’t add any transaction charges.The app is supported in English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu languages.
The bill paying feature would include major utilities like Reliance Energy, BSES and Dish TV and would cover all states and major metros. The app supports all major and small scale banks in India for payment.
GroupM, Ogilvy unveil Effectiveness Lab
Wavemaker, GroupM’s media, content and technology agency partnered with creative powerhouse Ogilvy, to create a first of its kind Effectiveness Lab in India. This unique collaboration, between the two WPP agencies will develop data-validated points of view on creating effective communications across consumer interaction platforms.
Branded content is the first space the Lab will explore, probing how consumers respond to different content strategies, creative approaches and formats. As marketers increase spends on the creation and deployment of content, it is crucial to bring intelligence to what drives effectiveness in the content space.
ABBY Awards announces 2018’s jury chairs
The week also saw Advertising Club and AAAI’s ABBY Awards announcing the illustrious Jury Chairs for the Media, Broadcaster, Publisher, Branded Content & Entertainment, Specialist and Craft Categories. Chairing the jury for each of these categories are stalwarts and veterans who have played an instrumental role in leading the respective categories towards new echelons of growth. The Media category will be judged by Madison World chairman Sam Balsara, Branded Content and Entertainment category will be judged by BIG FM CEO Tarun Katial.
ABBYs 2018 will be a highlight at the leading advertising convention, Goafest, where once again the entire advertising and marketing fraternity is expected to come together in Goa, between 5th April, 2018 and 7th April 201 at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.
Brands
From mega bills to spontaneous dates: Swiggy Dineout Valentine’s report
From mega bills to last-minute plans, India celebrated love with flair
MUMBAI: Valentine’s Day 2026 was a feast for the senses and wallets alike, according to Swiggy Dineout. India’s on-demand dining platform revealed how the nation celebrated romance with big gestures, lively nights out, and plenty of spontaneous bookings.
Metropolitan hubs continued to rule the roost with Bengaluru, Delhi, and Hyderabad seeing the most reservations. Emerging cities aren’t far behind, with Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh joining the party. Growth was particularly striking in Surat (up 180 per cent), Vadodara (155 per cent) and Bhubaneswar (145.5 per cent) compared with the previous Saturday.
Mumbai stole the headlines with a single customer splashing out Rs 130,155 – the highest bill in the country. The city also hosted the largest single group booking, with 30 diners coming together to celebrate in style. Most Valentine’s transactions took place between 10pm and 11pm, proving love, and hunger, strike late.
Mumbai stole the spotlight with a mega-spender whose bill made everyone else blush, while savvy diners were cashing in on discounts, including a Pune customer saving 60% and another in Bengaluru saving 50 per cent. Fine dining was on fire, with bookings up 121 per cent year-on-year, though pubs, bars, and lounges remained the crowd favourites, accounting for 30.6 per cent of all reservations. Last-minute romance was the order of the day, with 66 per cent of diners booking within two hours of heading out. Together, India saved over Rs 6 crore, proving that love can be grand, yet thrifty.
Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi led the premium dining rush, showing a growing appetite for curated, high-end experiences. Meanwhile, spontaneous bookings reinforced modern lifestyles, where convenience and instant gratification rule the day.
Whether it was big spends, huge groups, or a last-minute romantic dash, Valentine’s Day 2026 proved love and dining go hand in hand – and sometimes, they go all out.
