MAM
Edelweiss Tokio Life flags off TVCs directed by Shoojit Sircar
MUMBAI: Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance today announced the launch of its two TV commercials, directed by the well-known Indian film director Shoojit Sircar and produced by his production house Rising Sun Films. Apart from TV, the campaign will be complemented by a robust digital, and OOH activation across the country.
The films bring the company’s motto of ‘exceeding customer expectations’ to life, through the concept of ‘Thoda aur khayaal.’
Commenting on the launch, Abhishek Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, “Edelweiss Tokio Life’s Zindagi Plus is truly a unique product and has fast become of one of the most sought-after term plans in the market. This product effectively captures our unrelenting belief in relevant innovation to, not only meet customer’s dynamic expectations, but also exceed them at every turn. We, as a brand, believe that our journey with our customers does not end with paying a claim; it extends much further to protecting those who are enduring the loss of a loved one.”
Zindagi Plus is a term insurance plan that offers an optional Better Half Benefit, which enables the policyholder to not just cover her own life, but also provide a cover for her spouse in the event of her death. Simply put, the company will pay a claim to the dependents of the policyholder and additionally provide a life cover to the spouse. This product forms the central element of these films.
With a touch of simplicity, both the ad films showcase how most of us are oblivious of unforeseen circumstances and how they affect the family’s stability. The films delve into a family dynamic to bring out the importance of not just securing yourself, but also your spouse to ensure your dependents have a strong back-up.
Commenting on the scripting process, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Creative Officer, Contract India said, “We were working towards a dual objective – bringing out the core benefit of Zindagi Plus and also demystifying the complexity associated with life insurance in general. It was executed with a light-hearted tonality to deviate from the usual heavy aura that life insurance category uses. We believe this will create a higher acceptance among the audience.”
Discussing the concept of the film, Director Shoojit Sircar said, “The script was interesting, yet simple and gave me ample room to work with music and infuse a comical tonality into picturisation. The idea was to succinctly bring out the insight that prompted Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance to design a product like Zindagi Plus.”
“Both the scripts capture every day, relatable stories and we needed somebody to handle them with a fresh perspective. Shoojit Sircar has added his own uniqueness to these films and helped us tell our brand story,” Gupta added.
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.
