MAM
Royal Enfield names Mohit Dhar Jayal as chief brand officer
Mumbai: Royal Enfield (RE) has announced the appointment of Mohit Dhar Jayal as its chief brand officer.
In this role, he will lead the creative and strategic thinking for brand and marketing functions to curate and further cement brand love and associations in the minds of the global consumer, said the statement.
He will be responsible for creating and executing RE’s brand strategy and building a distinct, unique, and aspirational global brand. Moreover, he will be spearheading partnerships and collaborations with a diverse stakeholder universe, while curating unique experiences for the customers, it added.
Mohit has been associated with Royal Enfield in the past as well and played a key role in designing the blueprint for the company’s modern brand identity as an external partner between 2004 and 2014.
“In his previous assignment as our external partner, Mohit has been instrumental in scripting the distinctly unique brand identity that has been central to Royal Enfield’s success over the years,” stated Eicher Motors Ltd managing director Siddhartha Lal. “I am confident that under Mohit’s leadership, we will scale newer heights as we shift gears to ride forward on our global growth journey and build deeper inroads into markets and communities across the world.”
Mohit is an advertising professional who has created some of the most recognisable campaigns for category-leading brands over the past two decades including campaigns for IndiGo’s branding and passenger experience, global campaigns for Incredible India, a series of highly successful recruitment campaigns for the Indian Air Force, and most recently, the global ‘Make in India’ campaign.
He has now joined RE from his entrepreneurial venture Motherland JV Pvt Ltd wherein he advised several of India’s current and emerging unicorns including Oyo, Swiggy, Snapdeal, Zetwerk, Magicpin, Rebel Foods, and Chaayos.
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.
