MediaBrief

Most recently, he served as Associate General Manager at The Economic Times, overseeing key strategic initiatives including flagship events, editorial operations, ET Magazine, ET Wealth, The Economic Times in Campus initiative, and the execution of new intellectual properties (IPs). He also supported brand-led IP execution in North India, including the ET World Leadership Forum, while managing media planning, outdoor advertising, news audit and editorial performance metrics.

In an exclusive three-part series for MediaBrief, Akshay Dsouza explores the forces reshaping modern marketing. In part one, Dsouza unpacked why consumers trust people more than brands; in part two, he examined why fandom is becoming marketing’s most valuable asset. Now, in this closing chapter, he unpacks why brands are chasing communities, what true belonging means, and why most community-building efforts miss the mark. Read on. The new as for every brand today is, they want a community.

Zee5, the homegrown video streaming platform, has unveiled its largest multilingual content slate, bringing together a wide-ranging portfolio of movies, series, live sports, AI-powered storytelling, animation and kids’ entertainment. The new slate spans Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and Bangla, positioning the platform’s next phase of growth around diverse regional storytelling and evolving audience preferences.

AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), India’s largest Small Finance Bank and among the first institutions in over a decade to receive in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition into a Universal Bank, has appointed Adfactors PR as its strategic communications partner.

According to the company, WhatsApp recorded its highest-ever traffic during the Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt, reaching more than 29 million messages per second. Meta said the figure surpassed the platform’s previous record, which was set during the 2022 World Cup final.

In its submissions to TRAI on the ‘Formulation of a Regulatory Framework for ALTD Services (Including FAST Services)’ the Association underlined that both these services are App-based Internet services, and extending broadcasting regulations to the FAST and ALTD services would run contrary to the spirit of the government’s own laws governing the digital content ecosystem.

Navin Kathuria brings over 26 years of experience across diverse sectors. Most recently he was a senior media leader in DDB Mudra where he is known to have successfully implemented digital transformation and adoption of new-age media capabilities. Having spent his formative years at R K SWAMY, here’s what Navin has to say, “It is great to be back to lead R K SWAMY Media Group. This institution with a stellar reputation gives enormous freedom in operations, being entrepreneurial in nature.

Together, Ajay Gupta, Ankush Kaul and Mridul Srivastava bring more than eight decades of collective leadership experience across luxury real estate, infrastructure, financial services, hospitality, technology, telecom and BFSI. Their appointments are expected to play a significant role in advancing TARC’s commercial strategy, integrated project development, customer-centric approach and organizational excellence as the company continues to build landmark luxury developments.

Against the backdrop of AI-led disruption, shifting workplace dynamics and India’s growth ambitions, conversations throughout the evening centred on building organisations anchored in trust, creating equitable pathways to leadership, expanding access to capital for women entrepreneurs and harnessing technology to drive inclusive growth.

Across the two episodes, the series explores Bihar as a land where art is not just preserved in museums or memory, but lived through everyday practice. From painting and embroidery to handwoven silk, terracotta, stone carving and grass craft, the special takes viewers into regions and communities where creativity has shaped cultural identity, supported livelihoods and carried stories across generations.