MAM
Black & White launches first India TVC
MUMBAI: Black & White Gettogethers from Diageo India has launched its first-ever India-specific TVC conceptualised by J Walter Thompson Bangalore and inspired by the brand message, “Made of Sharing”.
It is a commercial that exhorts us to go out there and share moments and experiences with strangers.
Set against the lavish and breath-taking landscapes of Portugal, the story takes us through the journey of a protagonist who is travelling, watching a movie or going for a run; scenarios which are part of the life of a young millennial. This is in keeping with Black & White’s philosophy of encouraging young, successful millennials to share and open up for richer outcomes in life.
The commercial has been shot in black and white as it provides an evocative canvas for the emotions and situations on display. It also creates a larger-than-life cinematic effect that transports and transfixes the viewer. Not to mention the undeniable brand connect.
Diageo India Portfolio head Abhishek Shahabadi says, “The commercial was created with the aim of spreading the message that personal satisfaction comes from sharing the good things in life, with people around us. The storyboard motivates people to step out and share a bit of themselves, urging them not to hold back, thereby enriching their lives.”
JWT ECD and senior VP Priya Shivakumar mentions, “The insight was inspired by Black&White’s brand message ‘Life tastes better when shared’. We are so caught up in our daily lives that we barely get a moment to step back and enjoy time with our friends and loved ones. We are happy to be a part of the first ever TVC by Black & White in India and hope this inspires people to go out and share some of the best moments of their life.”
The TVC has been directed by Jamie Muir, an acclaimed London-based filmmaker and photographer known for “Drawing and Dreams”, a part of the 2014 cupidity series which won the silver lion at Cannes Film Festival. He has also worked on some of the best ad films curated for brands like Chevrolet, HSBC and Google.
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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.
