MAM
Lifebuoy partners Kumbh Mela 2019 to drive healthy habit of handwashing
MUMBAI: Lifebuoy has partnered with Kumbh to promote the healthy habit of washing hands before consuming food using the innovative ‘Swasthya Chetna Thalis’. The Thalis come with an etched message of “Kripaya Pehle Sabun se Haath Dhoyein” (Please, first wash your hands using soap), that is a clear call to action to anyone who has sat down for a meal without a simple wash of hands which could prevent many illnesses.
Along with the Kumbh, the largest congregation of human beings in the world, Lifebuoy is also taking this idea to 35 other religious congregations that serve food to devotees, with an estimated annual footfall of 20 crore.
Shedding light on the thought behind the innovation, HUL general manager of skin cleansing Harman Dhillon said, “Lifebuoy aims to harness the power of small actions that can unlock big differences – like the simple act of handwashing which can ensure measurably improved health for the whole family. We hope a simple reminder right before someone eats food can trigger a meaningful change in habit encouraging more and more people to wash their hands before eating. Lifebuoy is committed to finding ways to protect people from illnesses and improve health outcomes, one wash of hands at a time.”
Lifebuoy had previously used the Kumbh to remind people to wash their hands with a message printed on a roti. During the Kumbh held in 2013, Lifebuoy had partnered more than 100 dhabas and hotels at the Mela to serve rotis that were stamped with ‘Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya?’ The company had made special heat stamps to make an impression of its message on rotis at 100 kitchens across the mela. The initiative with the handwashing message was widely acclaimed.
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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.
