MAM
Teamwork Communication to lead Hero Cycles and Hero Motors’ PR drive
MUMBAI: Teamwork Communication Solutions has bagged Hero Cycles and Hero Motors as its clients.
The agency will also undertake the repositioning of Hero Cycles as a lifestyle brand.
Teamwork emerged as the front runner in a multi-agency bid to get the coveted client, beating a number of other PR agencies who were in the fray.
Talking on this recent development, Teamwork Communication Solutions MD Kamal Narayan Omer said, “We are elated to be on board Hero Motors and Hero Cycles, one of the country‘s most reputed auto majors. This brings a new level of diversification into our clientele. Working with one of the most prestigious auto names in the country is definitely a new landmark for us.”
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Hero Cycles is aggressively expanding in high-end bikes with the introduction of several new brands and is in the process to reinvent its brand image and reposition it from a traditional cycle maker to an urban and lifestyle brand.
“We are sure our extensive experience in this segment will help the company in effectively communicating to its target audience,” he added.
The media communication and PR strategies of both companies were, till recently, looked after by Mumbai-based Adfactors PR.
“Teamwork is today a prominent name in the PR industry, their steady growth and expertise in the specialist PR arena is commendable. We are very optimistic that our new media partners will very ably serve the interests of our company and take our alliance to greater heights,” said Hero Cycles MD and co-chairman Pankaj Munjal.
A Guinness Book Record holder since 1986, Hero Cycles is the largest bicycle maker in the world. From a modest beginning of mere 639 bicycles in 1956, Hero Cycles now produces approximately over 19,500 cycles a day. The company’s annual turnover for the fiscal 2012-13 was Rs 1450 crore.
Hero Motors caters to the gears and transmission demands for its customers. The company’s Ghaziabad unit manufactures and supplies transmissions for high-end motorcycles and ATVs to BRP Rotax.
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.
