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Havas Life Mumbai brings home old hand as managing director
MUMBAI: Havas Life Mumbai, the healthcare communications arm of Havas India, has tapped industry veteran Dorelle Kulkarni as its new managing director in a move that feels like a homecoming for both parties. Kulkarni, who previously spent a decade at what was then Sorento Healthcare (now Havas Life Mumbai), steps into the role vacated by Sangeeta Barde.
“Joining Havas Life Mumbai feels like a homecoming,” said Kulkarni, who brings 30 years of health and wellness marketing expertise to the table. “I am excited to collaborate with a team that shares my passion for innovation and excellence in healthcare communications.”
The appointment comes at a critical juncture for healthcare communications in India, which stands “at the forefront” of the global healthcare revolution, according to global chief client officer and CEO Havas Health Latam & APAC Charles Houdoux. Kulkarni will report directly to Houdoux while working closely with Havas India, SEA, and North Asia group CEO Rana Barua.
Kulkarni’s has had stints at Publicis Health and Lowe Lintas, where she managed blue-chip clients such as Abbott, GSK, Pfizer and Novartis. Her appointment is expected to bolster Havas Life Mumbai’s position as a key player in Havas’s global health and wellness network.
“Her deep industry expertise, strategic vision, and passion for innovation will be instrumental in shaping the next phase of growth,” said Barua, who also thanked outgoing chief Sangeeta Barde for her leadership.
Havas India has been on a tear recently, acquiring new clients across various sectors and winning prestigious awards, including being Great Place To Work Certified™ for three consecutive years. The network comprises 25 agencies across three verticals: Havas Health Network, Havas Creative Network and Havas Media Network, with offices in Mumbai, Gurugram, Bengaluru and other major Indian cities.
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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.
