MAM
GroupM appoints Gurpreet Singh as head of performance for GroupM Nexus India
Mumbai: GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, has announced the appointment of Gurpreet Singh as the head of performance at GroupM Nexus in India. He brings with him more than 15 years’ experience in the digital marketing industry and has carved a niche for himself in the performance marketing domain. He joins the GroupM Nexus India team from Performics- Publicis Groupe, where he held the position of Managing Partner.
In his new position at GroupM Nexus, Singh will be responsible for driving a high-performance culture. He will play a pivotal role in deploying the latest technology, data, and automation solutions. His expertise in handling diverse sectors in digital marketing will prove to be critical in powering the next era of performance media at GroupM Nexus in India.
Singh excels in formulating intricate strategies tailored for large-scale performance media campaigns. His expertise extends towards efficiently supervising and guiding teams, ensuring seamless execution of projects, and achieving optimal Return on Investment (ROI) for clients.
GroupM Nexus India president Priti Murthy said, “Gurpreet will assume the key responsibility of cultivating a culture of high performance. He will be committed to ensuring that individuals within GroupM have the necessary resources and motivation to succeed. I am confident that they will benefit immensely from the integration of cutting-edge technology, data-driven approaches, and automation solutions which will be helmed under him. Additionally, his sharp focus on customer centricity will enable us to deliver incremental growth for GroupM agencies.”
GroupM India president – Data, Performance and Digital Products Atique Kazi said, “Gurpreet’s expertise will strengthen the performance vertical within GroupM. He will be crucial in implementing automation, data, and technological solutions for GroupM in India, ensuring maximizing ROI for clients. We are certain that his expertise will help the company continue to deliver innovative solutions for clients.”
Singh said, “I am thrilled to be a part of this dynamic team and eager to apply my experience and expertise to deploy advanced technologies and automation initiatives across GroupM. I truly believe in the vision of building the World’s largest performance capability engine and look forward to unlocking the next era of performance for GroupM.”
He also holds the distinction of being a member of Google’s inaugural “Google Insiders” cohort and the first batch of Meta Select 2021. He was also recognized as one of the Top 30 under 30 by Impact magazine and earned a distinct position among the top 25 digital planners in India in 2015.
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.
