AD Agencies
Mondelez India and McCann Worldgroup India win big at The Advertising Club’s EFFIE India Awards 2023
Mumbai: The Advertising Club hosted the latest edition of the coveted ‘EFFIE India AWARDS 2023’ with Celebrity Cricket League as the Associate Sponsor, Craving Digital as the Imagination Partner, Diageo India as the Celebration Partner, and Heineken Silver Beer as the Beverage Sponsor. Mondelez India was judged the EFFIE India Client of the Year, while McCann Worldgroup India was named EFFIE India Agency of the Year. The coveted Grand EFFIE was won by Enormous for Jaquar’s campaign ‘Unimaginable Brand Extensions.’
Announced at a celebratory event at Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai, the awards acknowledged the impact of success through work done by agencies and clients that set new benchmarks in effectiveness in marketing and advertising communication. Setting a new milestone, EFFIE India garnered a record-breaking 1276 entries this year, the highest in its 23-year history, with participation from 79 agencies.
Speaking at the EFFIEs, The Advertising Club president Rana Barua said, “The EFFIEs stand as a testament to the power of impactful storytelling and strategic brilliance in our industry. My heartfelt gratitude to the advertising fraternity for their unwavering support, making these awards a celebration of creativity and effectiveness. Congratulations to all the winners for crafting campaigns that not only captivate but also leave a lasting impact on our audiences. Your creativity continues to shape the future of our industry. Here’s to another year of pushing boundaries and inspiring innovation in the world of advertising.”
Elaborating on the awards, EFFIE India chairperson Mitrajit Bhattacharya said, “EFFIE India continues to showcase its unwavering commitment to celebrating excellence in advertising, honouring both exceptional work and the talented individuals behind it. I’d like to extend my gratitude to the esteemed judges who dedicated their time and expertise to assess a remarkable 1276 entries, setting a new record. Their commitment is truly commendable. A heartfelt thank you also goes out to our sponsors, the entire Ad Club managing committee, the EFFIE committee, EFFIE New York, and The Ad Club secretariat for their tireless efforts in making it a resounding celebration of creativity and innovation in the advertising industry.”
EFFIE India co-chairpeson Pradeep Dwivedi added, “In yet another splendid year of the EFFIE India Awards, what stands out is how agencies and brands continue to put in their hard work. Their meticulous contributions in ideation, flawless execution, and the art of brand-building are truly commendable. EFFIEs has always added and will continue to add a profound insight into the concept of advertising awards. A big congratulations to all the winners and the participants.”
EFFIE INDIA 2023 RESUTLS CLICK HERE
EFFIE INDIA 2023 CLIENT OF THE YEAR CLICK HERE
EFFIE INDIA 2023 AGENCY OF THE YEAR CLICK HERE
AD Agencies
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.
