MAM
Sanya Malhotra takes Flite forward with style in new Saatchi campaign
MUMBAI: Bollywood’s Sanya Malhotra is putting her best foot forward, literally as the new face of Flite, India’s leading family fashion footwear brand from Relaxo. In a fresh campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi India, the actor breathes life into Flite’s iconic tagline, “Sar Utha, Kadam Badha”, repositioning the brand as more than everyday comfort, it’s a stride of confidence, ambition, and style.
The campaign’s heart beats for the everyday achievers people who rise above modest beginnings and keep walking tall despite challenges. Sanya embodies this journey herself, reflecting the grit and determination of millions across India. The campaign film concludes with the rallying call of “Sar Utha, Kadam Badha”, positioning Flite as the stylish companion on this onward march.
“It’s been a whirlwind journey down several new roads,” said Saatchi & Saatchi India chief creative officer Rohit Malkani. “From finding the right celebrity to creating a contemporary visual language, this narrative builds on the ethos but evolves it showcasing not just struggles, but Sanya’s grit and fashionable flair.”
For Relaxo, the association signals more than celebrity endorsement. Relaxo Footwears Ltd VP for marketing Manoj Lalwani called it “the start of an exciting new chapter,” with a 360° campaign spanning digital, retail, and television to ensure deep consumer connect. “With ‘Har Kadam Stylish’ as your way of life and ‘Sar Utha Kadam Badha’ as your way forward, we’re confident this will spark strong resonance,” he added.
Since winning the business in 2021, Saatchi has consistently evolved Flite’s brand language. Saatchi & Saatchi India head for North & East Hindol Purkayastha, noted that the new film leverages the strong recall of the tagline to reach younger audiences while cementing Flite as a design-led lifestyle choice.
The campaign blends Flite’s comfort, durability, and contemporary design into a narrative of ambition. Rolling out across television and digital platforms, it reinforces the footwear’s role as a stylish partner in resilience and progress urging Indians everywhere to keep their heads high and steps bold.
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.
