MAM
Vidyadhar Khatavkar joins Gaian Solutions as COO-Maya Platform
BENGALURU: Former Raj TV group COO Vidyadhar Khatavkar has joined Gaian Solutions India as Chief Operating Officer – Maya Platform. He will be reporting to Gaian president and CEO Chandra Kotaru and will be based out of Mumbai.
Khatavkar will be driving growth of Maya Platform. The Maya platform for Satellite TV Channels offers a localisation technology that has potential to increase Television Broadcaster revenues multi folds, says the company.
Khatavkar says, “Indian TV Broadcast industry is at crucial stage where it is facing quite a few challenges. However, it is poised to leap towards next growth cycle and the process of digitisation is one such steps and technology will be playing the role of ‘driver’ in this growth. Maya Platform is such a breakthrough technology and product, which has potential to change the Indian television market scenario.”
Gaian is a Seven year old Media Technology and Services company headquartered in Silicon Valley, San Jose, USA with satellite R&D development centers in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in India and Shenzhen in China.
Khatavkar has spent over 23 years in the industry. Khatavkar has been associated with the Zee Network for 13 years. He was part of the core team that launched the Zee Alpha channels. He was also the national sales head for all the regional channels at Zee from 2000-2002. Till 2005, he was business head, Zee Gujarati; and his last assignment with Zee was as senior vice-president – sales, Zee Sports. In May 2006, he departed from the Zee umbrella to join B4U, where he spent two years.
After Zee, Khatavkar was Senior Vice President of Cellcast Interactive overlooking media strategy, acquisition, consumer research, airtime sales and sponsorships. He later joined the Raj TV Network as Group COO, where he worked for about two years.
MAM
Barista partners Ginny Weds Sunny 2 with mango campaign
Cafe chain blends cinema buzz with summer menu and 20 per cent offer.
MUMBAI: Love may brew slowly, but marketing clearly doesn’t especially when coffee meets cinema and mangoes steal the spotlight. Barista Coffee Company has partnered with the upcoming hindi film Ginny Weds Sunny 2 as its official beverage partner, in a move aimed at tapping into youth culture through entertainment-led engagement. The collaboration is not just a logo placement exercise. Instead, Barista is translating the film’s high-energy vibe into its cafés with a themed summer menu titled “Main Hoon Mango”, accompanied by a limited-period 20 per cent discount on combo offerings across outlets.
Actors Medha Shankr and Avinash Tiwary feature in the campaign, seen engaging with the mango-themed menu inside Barista cafés, a visual cue designed to blur the lines between reel and real-life consumption moments.
The strategy reflects a broader shift in how consumer brands are leveraging hindi film industry not just for visibility, but for immersive, on-ground engagement. By embedding the film’s narrative into its product experience, Barista is aiming to drive footfall, especially among younger audiences who increasingly seek experiential touchpoints over traditional advertising.
Barista Coffee Company CEO Rajat Agrawal described the partnership as both a branding and growth play, focused on expanding reach beyond the existing customer base and aligning with evolving consumer preferences.
The emphasis on a seasonal, flavour-led hook mango, one of India’s most culturally resonant ingredients adds a timely layer to the campaign, aligning with summer consumption trends while riding on the film’s promotional momentum.
For Barista, the move is part of a larger positioning shift. Rather than operating purely as a coffee retail chain, the brand is increasingly framing itself as a lifestyle destination, one that intersects with entertainment, conversation and shared experiences. By integrating cinema into its physical spaces, Barista is effectively turning cafés into micro-extensions of the film’s universe, where consumers do not just watch a story unfold but participate in it sip by sip.
The 20 per cent offer further nudges trial, lowering the barrier for consumers to engage with the themed menu while amplifying recall through a tangible incentive.
Brand-film collaborations are hardly new, but their execution is evolving. Where earlier partnerships relied on co-branded ads or product placements, the current playbook leans towards immersive storytelling and retail integration.
In that sense, Barista’s “Main Hoon Mango” push is less about promotion and more about participation inviting consumers to experience a slice of the film within a familiar, everyday setting. As the film industry continues to act as a cultural amplifier, such partnerships underline a growing truth, in today’s attention economy, it is not enough to be seen brands must be experienced.
And if that experience comes with a mango twist and a cinematic backdrop, all the better.
