MAM
WATConsult elevates Heeru Dingra as CEO
MUMBAI: WATConsult, the globally awarded hybrid digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced leadership changes. Effective from 01 February 2020 Heeru Dingra will be the chief executive officer (CEO) of the agency and Rajiv Dingra, the current CEO will move on to the role of chief mentor and advisor for WATConsult.
Dingra, who is currently the CHRO & CFO, will now have a new role and an expanded set of responsibilities, overlooking the entire executive duties of the agency. In last 9 years of her journey at WATConsult, Dingra has played a vital role in building a team of more than 400 people and managing the day to day activities. She will continue to report to Dentsu Aegis Network India CEO Anand Bhadkamkar.
The newly created roles will play an essential part in the agency’s vision towards growth and expansion in the coming years.
Dingra said, “I am truly honoured to lead WATConsult which is full of talented people and brilliant brands. I am looking forward to work closely with our exceptional senior leadership team, along with Rajiv. Together, we will capture the next waves of growth for WATConsult by remaining laser-focused to serve our clients, deliver long term growth and value creation and provide the best career experiences for our people.”
Anand Bhadkamkar said, “Heeru has been an integral part of WATConsult's growth story. She has led the agency alongside Rajiv in the capacity of CFO and CHRO and has an intimate understanding of this business. She works very closely with the leadership team at the agency and across DAN and is uniquely positioned to take on the role of chief executive officer at WATConsult. I am excited to have Heeru lead WATConsult on its next phase of growth alongside Rajiv, who now takes charge as the agency's chief mentor & advisor."
“After leading WATConsult for the last 13 years, it’s time I move on to a new phase in this journey,” Dingra said. “This new role would allow me to help guide the team in crafting an ambitious vision and would also allow the team at WATConsult to scale up in newer roles and achieve their personal growth.”
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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.
