MAM
Archies launches new TVC starring ‘Waqt’ actors
MUMBAI: After introducing a giraffe soft toy in a movie, Archies is now going all out to promote the movie. The company has launched a TVC with the cast of Waqt – Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Geri Giraffe. The commercial stands unique in its approach with Geri Giraffe — the original Archies creation as the first-ever central character in any Bollywood movie.
The new TVC upholds the spirit of love and offering with an ode to the very special father-son relationship, and definitely, celebrating the next superstar Geri Giraffe. The 30-second commercial will be aired on Star One, Channel [V] and MTV on 22 April, when the movie releases.
According to Archies Online COO Youhan D Aria, “The TVC has a very simple creative line and is an apt rendition of the Archies credo. It expresses the simplicity of complex emotions, celebrating the spirit of love – its all-pervasive strength and enduring appeal. It’s a representation of what Archies truly symbolises-emotions.”
The background score amid the interplay of emotions touches a chord deep inside to leave an impact, even without any voiceover. A very sleek and crisp execution, the new commercial is sure to bring alive special relationships by its simplicity.
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.
