MAM
Ampverse DMI appoints Sona Mazumdar as general manager
Mumbai: Ampverse DMI, a leader in the gaming and entertainment sector, has announced the appointment of Sona Mazumdar as the head of its newly launched marketing solutions unit targeted to revolutionize the Indian Gaming market. Having successfully collaborated with over 300 top brands such as Porsche, Samsung, Riot Games, KFC, and Coca-Cola across Asia, Ampverse aims to replicate its Southeast Asian success in the Indian market.
Sona Mazumdar, known for her proven track record in spearheading transformative marketing initiatives, will lead this new venture, driving growth and innovation in the gaming sector for Ampverse DMI in India. A seasoned professional, Sona has previously served as the chief partnership officer at Kidzania for eight years. Being a part of the initial leadership team; Sona played a pivotal role in forging key long term strategic partnerships for the company and helped scale the business.
With over two decades of experience of working across diverse entertainment sectors in India, she excels in structured problem-solving, data analysis, and strategic execution, making her a trusted advisor to Board and C-level stakeholders. She has been instrumental in forging the joint venture between DMI and Ampverse.
Commenting on Sona’s appointment, Ampverse CEO Charlie Baillie stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Sona Mazumdar as the GM of our marketing solutions vertical. A seasoned professional, Sona has a proven track record in crafting impactful campaigns and building robust client relationships. Her expertise aligns perfectly with our vision to revolutionize brand engagement within and beyond the gaming community in India.
With Sona’s strategic vision and extensive experience, we are confident in our ability to set new standards in marketing excellence and drive our ambitious growth objectives, creating a lasting impact in this dynamic market.”
An industry veteran in media and entertainment, Sona is also known for her role as an evangelist, combining gaming and entertainment to showcase this powerful medium for brands to reach millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. She specializes in creating, proposing, and developing medium-term brand alliances and partnerships with CMOs and brand leaders across multiple gaming, esports, and digital entertainment sectors.
“The gaming industry has always captivated me with its limitless potential for creativity and connection. I see immense potential in India to enhance how brands connect and engage with Gen Z and Gen Alpha through gaming,” remarked Sona Mazumdar. “My focus will be on building strong partnerships, leading innovative initiatives, and implementing
strategies that will redefine engagement in this dynamic market. Ampverse DMI’s established ecosystem and commitment to innovation provide a solid foundation to bring global best practices and localized strategies to our clients.”enabling us to provide them with a one stop shop solution for reaching out to the TG”
Sona’s leadership is extended to a honorary role as the National President of the Gaming, Esports and Digital Entertainment Council at Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), where her role is to include more women professionals in this fast-growing gaming industry, laying out key action points and organizing industry-expanding discussions.
Sona is one of the founding members of COGS (Changemakers of Gurgaon@Scale), where she works with the community to create transformation projects, including efforts to convert Gurgaon into one of the world’s top 50 most sustainable cities.
As part of the core team, Neha Sethi Mehta will be leading sales, based in Gurgaon. Neha brings a wealth of experience from her previous role as the regional lead for Kidzania for seven years being a key contributor for the organization.
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.
