AD Agencies
IAA’s ‘Voice of Change’ third edition summit to be held at Google HQ in Gurgaon
Mumbai: The International Advertising Association’s India Chapter (IAA) is hosting the third edition of its Voice of Change summit on 11 November at the Google office in Gurugram. Through this event, the IAA is championing the mindful portrayal of gender across all forms of content. Google India & Youtube are the presenting partners, while UNICEF the Knowledge Partner and TVS are the Associate Partner for this event.
Content shapes consumers’ mindsets. And because it is consumed across geographies, demographics, and platforms, it is important to sensitise people to the way gender is portrayed. The third edition of the IAA: Voice of Change summit is set to be an inspiring day of debates, discussions, and dialogues for policymakers, advertisers, brand custodians, content creators, and communication specialists to recognise their power in driving balanced and inclusive portrayals of gender roles in media for enduring change.
Through discussions with a diverse range of content creators from advertising/digital/film backgrounds, the event will shed light on the power of imagery and narrative in shaping perception of gender roles.
Former Minister of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), government of India & actor Smriti Irani and actor Taapsee Pannu are among the speakers who will be part of the half-day event.
The Free Press Journal, IAA India Chapter & president, Abhishek Karnani said, “Among the various initiatives undertaken by the IAA in the country, we have been pushing the needle around gender-sensitive communication across platforms. The ‘Voice of Change’ movement is our flagship property in this space. Through this event this year, we will push the cause across the industry with a diverse list of speakers covering advertising, marketing and media.”
IAA Women Empowerment Committee chairperson, Nina Elavia Jaipuria added, “Content is a mirror to society. As content creation gets democratised and viewership grows, it is imperative to create awareness and sensitize creators towards a positive, inclusive and gender equitable portrayal in their narratives. At the third edition of the IAA ‘Voice of Change’ summit, we have Smriti Irani, as a keynote speaker & also joining us is actor Taapsee Pannu, who is known for pushing gender stereotype in the roles she has played. Along with them is an illustrious panel of speakers from the advertising, marketing and media community, we continue to actively challenge stereotypes across the content industry to drive enduring change.”
IAA Women Empowerment Committee co-chair, Megha Tata, further stated, “The first edition of Voice of Change focussed on advertising. The second year added TV & OTT content. This year we are adding Digital content to the conversation. We know that the level of content being consumed is at an all-time high on digital and social platforms and it is important that gender stereotyping is addressed on digital and social content also. I’d like to thank UNICEF and Google for partnering with us in helping make a much-needed shift in the perceptions of gender.”
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.
