Can Brands Find Their Voice On WhatsApp As Ads Arrive; Sanjog Gupta On How JioStar Made IPL 2025 The Most Monetised Edition Yet; Panchayat 4's Marketing Takes Center Stage

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Dear Reader

Welcome to another edition of 'Scoop', your bi-weekly dose of news from Marketing Mind!

Once a private, utility-first platform, WhatsApp is now opening up to advertisers with Status Ads, Promoted Channels, and Paid Subscriptions. These updates sit within the non-intrusive Updates tab, preserving chat privacy. In conversations with Marketing Mind, industry leaders emphasised that success will depend on user sensitivity, value-driven messaging, and cautious brand behaviour. Read on to know more!

India’s growing stature in global sport reflects its rise as a consumption-driven economy, said Sanjog Gupta, CEO - Sports and Live Experiences, JioStar, at APOS Bali. He shared how IPL 2025 became India’s most monetised sporting event, with JioStar investing over $500 million beyond rights to fuel a broader vision of personalised, platform-driven media consumption.

In this week’s Movie Marketing section, we picked up Panchayat Season 4 as its marketing stole the show with a campaign that felt more like a festival than a release. From fan-led voting and lauki vs. cooker showdowns to witty brand collabs and 3D billboards, Marketing Mind explored how the team behind Panchayat turned a quiet village drama into a nationwide marketing celebration.

To know it all, here’s our ‘Scoop’ of news, hot off the press & curated especially for you! Happy reading :)

• JioStar Plans To Increase Gen Z Programming In South India By 7 To 10 Times

• Unilever To Acquire Men’s Personal Care Brand Dr. Squatch

• Over 425 Brands Advertised With JioStar For IPL 2025: JioStar-MPA Report 

• Magnum To Acquire 61.9% Of Kwality Wall’s India After HUL Demerges Ice Cream Biz

• Our Focus Is To Retain Audience Love & Loyalty While Continuing To Innovate: Sushant Sreeram

• Parle Reverts To Britannia’s Open Invite, Joins Hands To Co-Create The Pride Pack

• Cheil X Appoints Ankit Singh As National Strategy Director

• S4 Capital’s Monks India Appoints Sandipan Bhattacharyya As India Head – Creative

• Naveen Pandey Appointed As Managing Director At Bajaj Consumer Care

• Omnicom Media Group Appoints Shikhir Kapoor As General Manager – Performance Marketing

• Niraj Mishra Joins Dream11 As Vice President - Product Marketing

• Kunal Nagpal Appointed As Chief Business Officer At InMobi

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Nba And Budweiser Didn’t Just Host An Event. They Pulled Off The Ultimate Culture Takeover.