MAM
Bang in the Middle launches in Kolkata
MUMBAI: Gurgaon-based advertising agency Bang in the Middle (Bang for short) has started its Kolkata operations from today. This is the agency‘s fourth city office in six months with one each in Gurgaon, Chicago and New York.
Bang in the Middle expects Kolkata to become a very important market in the coming months. The agency will offer its full suite of services to the clients in Kolkata and help open up global markets.
The new-age communication agency driven by Prathap Suthan and Naresh Gupta started in May 2012 and serves clients like Dulux, VEEN Waters, Vimal, BigFlix, Hawktrack, Fabulloso, iYogi and PRestival. Bang offers a range of services ranging from traditional ATL advertising to BTL solutions to web advertising, online marketing and digital media.
For the Kolkata office, Bang has brought on board Meenakkshi Sen as managing partner. She is a former model and has a long association with advertising and media business. She is an inspired first time entrepreneur in the communications arena.
Bang in the Middle managing partner and CCO Prathap Suthan said, “Kolkata has some great brands that need fresher solutions; both traditional and digital. Whether we like it or not, the world of advertising, marketing, and communication is stepping outside traditional boundaries along with the help of technology. The world is no longer limited by geography, and every market of the world is accessible and open to even local businesses through the web and online advertising. I also have the pleasure of returning back to a city that gave me great memories, beautiful opportunities, and some wonderful campaigns.”
Sen said, “I am super excited to bring Bang in the Middle to Kolkata. Kolkata has not been getting the attention it deserves from communication companies as a whole. Barring one or two agencies, I would think Kolkata gets back handed treatment. Along with scaling up regular advertising opportunities, I believe that digital marketing also has enormous potential for the brands of Kolkata. New avenues are calling Kolkata, and we better listen to them.”
Bang in the Middle managing partner and CSO Naresh Gupta said, “Kolkata can add significantly to our growing band of clients. We believe digital marketing solutions work very well for the growing ambitions of home growing ambitions of home grown brands today, and along with our communication expertise we can offer highly relevant brand solutions.”
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.
