MAM
HoABL unveils mixed reality campaign for Codename S.E.Z. Vrindavan
QR code brings peacock to life in Times of India ad, reaching 15 million viewers in 24 hours on 17 February 2026.
MUMBAI: A peacock just strutted off the newspaper page and into your phone proving that in Vrindavan, even print can spread its feathers in mixed reality. The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL), India’s largest branded land developer, launched a mobile-first mixed reality experience for its Codename S.E.Z. (Spiritual Economic Zone) Vrindavan project around 17 February 2026. A simple QR code in The Times of India Delhi edition back-page ad triggered a peacock to spring to life, guiding users through an immersive visual tale of Vrindavan’s spiritual heritage before revealing the project’s ambitious vision via film-led storytelling.
Partnering with Flam, the enterprise mixed reality specialist, the activation blended motion, narrative, and seamless mobile interaction bridging old-school newspaper reading with smartphone habits in one frictionless flow.
The numbers flew high, roughly 15 million viewers in the first 24 hours across online and offline channels. On launch day alone, 57,000 unique individuals scanned the code for an impressive 8 per cent scan rate, diving into the MR journey.
HoABL amplified the buzz via creator-led content and its social platforms, racking up 2 million total views from HoABL plus influencer posts.
The House of Abhinandan Lodha chief marketing officer Saurabh Jain said, “For decades, Vrindavan has been among India’s most visited pilgrimage destinations… Codename S.E.Z. Vrindavan is conceived with deep respect for that legacy. Our communication reflects the same intent: to engage people in a way that doesn’t just attract attention but leaves a lasting imprint.”
Billed as the world’s only sensorial branded land development, the project features a grand clubhouse over 1 lakh square feet plus 40-plus amenities for an immersive living setup merging devotional proximity, heritage design, and modern infrastructure.
It ties into HoABL’s digital-first land-buying model, from discovery and docs to payments and registration, all backed by clear titles, approvals, and transparency making ownership feel less like a gamble and more like a confident step.
Whether you’re a pilgrim at heart, an investor eyeing spiritual hotspots, or just intrigued by tech-meets-tradition wizardry, this campaign turned a static ad into a portal reminding us that sometimes, the path to enlightenment starts with a quick scan.
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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.
