MAM
New OnePlus film advises cybersurfers to ‘disconnect’
MUMBAI: Smartphone maker OnePlus has released a new campaign titled ‘Stop at Nothing’ which emphasises the need to use the technology around you productively while also taking the time to disconnect. Featuring actor and writer Kalki Koechlin and produced by Lightstream, the film has been shot entirely on the OnePlus 8T 5G phone and showcases the device’s video camera capabilities and versatility.
Narrated through spoken-word poetry written by Koechlin, ‘Stop at Nothing’ underlines the downsides of being hyper-connected and highlights the need to disconnect. The promo also endorses using technology and digital platforms for what they were originally intended – to create, connect and collaborate.
OnePlus head of marketing – India Siddhant Narayan said, “As a technology brand, we understand how important it is to perceive our devices as an extension of the self, for helping us boost creativity and productivity and not something that we become dependent on. With this film, we hope to make people cognisant of using technology for the betterment of ourselves, emphasising the importance of disconnecting from time to time.”
“While I was constantly switching between apps and spending a lot of time across social channels, I realised the importance of staying away from the noise and negativity on the internet and using the digital space to enhance creativity and productivity. The campaign gave me the perfect opportunity to champion this thought and talk about digital well-being and the importance of using technology in a healthy manner,” said Koechlin.
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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.
