MAM
Bikash Kundu transitions to JioStar as head of agency partnerships
MUMBAI: Bikash Kundu has moved on to JioStar as the head of agency partnership, effective January 2025, from Viacom18 Media, following its merger with Star India.
Kundu held senior leadership positions at Viacom18 Media, where he spent 17 years. Most recently, he served as the senior vice president & head of revenue (regional entertainment), overseeing revenue operations for 14 regional channels across six languages. He also previously led sales and syndication for Viacom18’s kids cluster.
With over 23 years of diverse experience in the media and entertainment industry, Kundu has a wealth of expertise across broadcasting, digital, print, and advertising domains.
Kundu’s extensive career spans reputed organisations such as Sahara One Media, UTV-Disney, Satyam Infoway, India.com, and Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd. His professional journey has covered various stages of business growth, including startups, steady-state enterprises, hyper-growth phases, and mergers and acquisitions.
Known for his strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability, Kundu is highly regarded as a leader who builds and mentors high-performance teams. His innovative approach and unwavering commitment to integrity have defined his career trajectory.
Kundu is a postgraduate in marketing management from the Times School of Marketing and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Delhi University.
MAM
Sleepwell unveils nationwide sleep study on World Sleep Day
79 per cent use screens before bed, 36 per cent of 18–25-year-olds sleep ≤5 hours.
MUMBAI: Sleepwell just dropped the pillow truth bomb because when India’s sleeping less and scrolling more, even the mattress wants to stage an intervention. On World Sleep Day 2026, Sleepwell released its nationwide Sleep Study, painting a stark picture of India’s escalating sleep crisis. The findings show that 79% of Indians use screens right before bed, fuelling restless nights and drowsy days. Alarmingly, 36% of young adults aged 18–25 sleep five hours or less making them the country’s most sleep-deprived group.
The study also busts the myth of “catch-up sleep”, 65% of respondents actually sleep even later on weekends, pointing to increasingly irregular patterns that spill fatigue into the working week. Mattress discomfort emerged as a frequently overlooked culprit behind late-night wake-ups and constant leak-anxiety checks.
To drive the message home, Sleepwell’s CMO Puneet Gulati appeared on Zee Business, stressing that quality sleep isn’t a luxury, it’s foundational health. He highlighted how the right mattress can transform restless nights into restorative ones.
The brand doubled down with clever late-night activations, partnering with a quick-commerce platform to serve contextual ads between 11 pm and 3 am, gently nudging bleary-eyed scrollers to consider mattress discomfort as the reason they’re still awake and pointing them to the nearest Sleepwell store. Digital influencers and creators also shared relatable stories of how poor sleep fuels impulsive late-night behaviour.
In a nation that celebrates hustle but quietly pays for it in lost rest, Sleepwell isn’t just selling mattresses, it’s selling the radical idea that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is close your eyes and actually sleep well.
