MAM
Dentsu Aegis Networks launch Data Sciences India; elevates Gautam Mehra
MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has announced the launch of Data Sciences in India to help clients and marketers understand and predict the influences of human behaviour on media and advertising. This unit has been designed to effectively catalyse the decryption and interpretation of the overwhelming amount of data that agencies within the Dentsu Aegis Network explore and exploit every single day to drive efficiencies for its clients.
Led by DAN chief data officer Gautam Mehra along with iProspect India CEO Vivek Bhargava, the division houses have a capable team of economists, statisticians and computer scientists. Prior to this, Mehra was iProspect vice president social media.
The team will come up with data driven solutions to solve complex problem of clients, help effective data management within the group and that of the client and will work with all the network companies to bring data, analytics and technology together to provide business intelligence at the click of a button.
DAN chairman and CEO South Asia, Posterscope chairman and MKTG Asia Pacific Ashish Bhasin said, “In order to take a leadership position in managing the ever-growing Data requirements for our clients, we have invested in a team of experts, led by Gautam, who will use technology to bring Data and Analytics together. We want to invest ahead of the curve as leaders in the Digital Marketing services to ensure that Dentsu Aegis Network clients in India get the best-in-class Data Management solutions, of a world standard. Vivek Bhargava will be the executive sponsor for the team and this will help us further strengthen our position in Digital Marketing services.”
He added, “With Gautam and the team, we are welcoming the avenues of smarter marketing by not just providing our clients with data, but also giving them tools that can help them make better business decisions.”
Bhargava added, “Data rests at the centre of all brand marketing in modern times. The new-age marketer keenly studies customer action and envisions disruptive products and campaign communication in accordance. It was a no-brainer therefore that as a network that leads in digital capabilities, we had to own a data division that adds immense value to our client campaigns across categories, in-turn boosting business achievements. This is definitely a sign of exciting times ahead.”
Mehra said, “Digital plays a critical role in the evolution of marketing. Data is being generated everywhere, that too volumes and volumes of it. The first challenge was to measure and collect it. The second obstacle to store data, which resulted in concepts like the cloud. And the third hurdle was to analyse and fructify it. And that’s where the need for a data team came into place. At Dentsu Aegis Network, we believe that data is a multiplier, not just a layer and needs to be analysed in milliseconds. Our Data labs consist of contemporary propriety tools that will positively provide effective and practical solutions to clients. I’m thrilled to be given this unique opportunity and certain that the data division will see great success.”
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
