MAM
Dentsu elevates Kartik Iyer as president – Media Brands and Amplifi
MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has strengthened its media group across Carat and Vizeum to provide a future-proofed, digitally ahead, holistic solution to clients. Kartik Iyer has been elevated to president, Media Brands and Amplifi.
Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “To enable a more future ready product for our clients, our media agencies have been reorganized for the rapidly changing market environment under the unified leadership of Kartik Iyer who has been leading our fastest growing media agency, Carat, for over eight years now. He will be responsible for enabling the continued fast track growth of the brands and will provide senior executive council level oversight to the media brands, in addition to his Amplifi responsibilities.”
Speaking on the next steps for Media Brands, Kartik Iyer, President -Media Brands and Amplifi said, “I am delighted to have been given this opportunity and look forward to working with the agencies in their growth path over the years. Carat is future proofing to take on the new opportunities that the market dynamics have provided in order to be able to provide world class service to our clients. Rajni Menon as CEO of Carat and Joydeep Raha as CEO of Carat Context will be leading their respective agencies.”
“Rajni is a true blue One DAN exponent. In the past 8 years that Rajni has been with Carat, she has led some of the agency’s most significant developments in capabilities, especially in the area of ICP, CCS, CCS Planner, Multiscreen planning (TV Stack) and Digitizing of Carat, which has enabled the entire group to deliver more consumer focused and business oriented solutions and is best placed to drive it to the next level. Joydeep has been a pillar in the growth path that Carat has seen over the years, particularly in the South markets. With his focus on business growth backed by delivering integrated solutions, he has constantly been adding business for the group. Further, Himanka Das will be taking over as CEO of Vizeum. Himanka has been a part of Dentsu Aegis Network Media leadership for the last 5 years and has a proven ability in managing and growing client relationships both Multinational and Indian,” Iyer added.
Shripad Kulkarni has decided to pursue interests outside of the company after the end of this year.
Speaking on Shripad, Bhasin said, “Shripad has contributed significantly to the growth of Vizeum in India. His focus on business and managing client relationships has enabled Vizeum to grow from strength to strength in the last 2 years. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”
Speaking on the future plans, Iyer said, “The Leadership of our Media group will continue to focus on delivering Business Outcomes and Digitally Ahead solutions. Over the next few weeks, each of the agencies will be setting up their plans for the coming years and you can expect some very significant initiatives in this area by each agency. Rajni, Joydeep and Himanka, as leaders of their respective media agencies, will continue to innovate the way brands are built.”
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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.
