MAM
Conrad Clifford to lead IATA in Asia-Pacific
NEW DELHI: The International Air Transport Association has appointed Conrad Clifford as Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific. Clifford joins IATA on 1 February 2014 and will be based in its Asia Pacific Regional Office in Singapore. He succeeds Maunu von Lueders, who is retiring from IATA.
Clifford’s career in aviation spans over 30 years. Most recently he served as Acting Managing Director of Antrak Air Ghana (2012 to 2013), and was formerly CEO of Monarch Travel Group (2010 to 2012) and of Virgin Nigeria (2005 to 2009). His career has also included work for Cathay Pacific Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Menzies Aviation Group and Emirates.
“Conradbrings to IATA a unique perspective. He has broad and deep experience in both airlines and suppliers; and has lived and worked in many countries in Asia and around the world. I am confident that he will provide strong leadership to IATA’s activities as we serve our airline members and industry stakeholders in the dynamic and exciting Asia-Pacific region,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
“I look forward to leading IATAin Asia Pacific as we embark on the 2nd century of commercial aviation. The region offers tremendous opportunities. Many of the region’s governments are using aviation as a critical element of their economic strategies. Some, however, are struggling to provide the foundation for the industry’s success. In both cases IATA has an important role to play. I, personally, will place a key priority on further developing IATA’s partnerships across the region. These will enable IATA’s global standards and global perspective to deliver maximum value to the safe, sustainable and profitable development of aviation,” said Clifford.
“I want to thank Maunu for his service and contributions to IATA and to our members in Asia-Pacific over the last three years. I wish him a long and happy retirement,” said Tyler. Von Lueders will retire from IATA on 14 March 2014.
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.
