MAM
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance creates a new wave, launches ‘Pyaar Ki Azaadi’
MUMBAI: The Year 2018 saw a new wave when the honorable Supreme Court of India decriminalized article 377. This historic verdict came across as a huge step in the direction of equality for the LGBTQIA+ community. This Independence Day, it will be for the first time that the community will rejoice the feeling of freedom, just like any other Indian in the country.
Celebrating this new beginning, one of India's leading general insurance brand, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance under its new brand identity, ‘Caringly Yours’ and WATConsult, the digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network joined hands to launch a campaign, titled ‘Pyaar Ki Azaadi.’
Leveraging all social media platforms, the brand launched a campaign video, showcasing the diversity of the world that we live in and the inclusion of the LGBTQAI+ community, as an extension of the brand’s core essence of care and inclusion. The video highlights this community coming together, cherishing and celebrating their true freedom to love, highlighting the sentiment of Independence Day that resonates with every Indian.
The campaign involves renowned equal rights activist, Harish Iyer who had appealed to the honorable Supreme Court in the section 377 case along with Rahul Gopi and R Balaji, members of LGBTQAI+ community and Alisha Pais, the musician. Playing an active role, the aforementioned personalities would leverage social media platforms for creating empowering and encouraging conversations for "Pyaar Ki Azaadi"
The talent starring in the film are from the community and the supporters of this community, standing up in solidarity. The film is designed to highlight the voice and sentiments of LGBTQIA+ persons with the poetic monologue complementing the sigh of relief when freedom ushers in. The video also aims at fostering a sentiment of care and inclusion towards this community.
Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult said, “Pyaar Ki Azaadi is a step to celebrate the unique feeling of independence on this very first Independence Day since decriminalization of all kinds of expressions of love between all genders under section 377 under the Indian Penal Code. This campaign is a step to spread a message of love, care, respect and equality. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has always been an inclusive brand and this is an opportunity to acknowledge a new possibility of national inclusion in India in a never-seen-before way.”
Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Activist, Founder – The Jimmy Foundation, said, “Equality is not a privilege, it is our birthright. We all deserve the share of the equal sun. This initiative by Bajaj Allianz rekindles the flame of freedom within us. The fight for equality is a lifelong one. Initiatives like these will open minds and build an equal society that everyone can profit from. According to the World Bank report the economic cost of Homophobia is billions of dollars. In such a case – equality is the only true antidote to the recession-driven economy. Equality fosters profits. Equality fosters stability.”
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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.
