AD Agencies
Havas Health & You elevates leaders in India, Southeast Asia, and Middle East
Mumbai: Havas Health & You has elevated Susan Josi as managing director (MD) of the agency’s southeast Asia & Middle East division, and Sangeeta Barde as MD of Havas Life Sorento, with immediate effect.
Both professionals have been at the helm of Havas Health & You’s APAC-based agency since the network’s acquisition of Sorento in 2017.
“I am thrilled to witness as Sangeeta and Susan further showcase their immense talents and know-how, both regionally and globally. They have certainly made Havas Life Sorento a proof point for value addition in the area and will continue to lead with strategic vision," said Havas Health & You LATAM APAC partner & CEO Charles Houdoux.
Southeast Asia (SEA) and the Middle East together make up 14.6 per cent of the world’s total population, and the 2021 projection of GDP growth in India alone is expected to rise from 2.59 trillion to 3.96 trillion by 2025. These growth trends coupled with a societal focus on health create an ideal environment for growth in SEA and Middle Eastern countries, and global health brands are prioritising accordingly, said the company in a statement.
Josi is also known for driving the Havas Village model in India and for her development of the agency’s global client roster in the SEA and the Middle East regions. “The landscapes are changing dynamically and there is an intensified importance being placed on health and wellness. Our capabilities in these areas have grown to a point where it makes sense to have consistent regional leadership as health brands prioritise their presence in these markets,” she said.
At Sorento, Barde will drive the success model for offshoring and achieving strategic and impactful globalisation initiatives. “I am looking forward to leaning into the vast digitisation opportunities in our data and media centres and working to perfect new and simplified content creation models,” said Barde.
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.
