MAM
Toaster India expands leadership team with new appointments
Mumbai: Toaster, a leading independent creative agency, has announced the expansion of its senior management team with the appointment of two new leaders. Mohini Varma joins Toaster India as chief strategy officer, while Abhishek Deshwal assumes the role of executive creative director. These strategic hirings mark a significant milestone for Toaster India as it grows and expands its creative capabilities.
Mohini Varma brings over 15 years of diverse experience in advertising and journalism to her new role as chief strategy officer at Toaster. With an impressive portfolio that includes leading brands such as Google, the Reckitt stable of brands, GSK, Pepsi Foods, Uber, Domino’s, Pernod Ricard, UNICEF, and The Gates Foundation, Mohini has also been a contributing strategist for award-winning campaigns, including winning a Gold APAC Effie for Positive Change and the Glass Lion for Change at Cannes.
Mohini Varma said “I couldn’t be more excited to join Toaster at such a great inflection point in their growth story. In a world that is getting increasingly more attention deficit, Toaster is testimony to the power of cut-through, disruptive, digital & culture-first storytelling. I cannot wait to write the next chapter of the Toaster success story in India along with Bhawika, Ira, and the rest of the fantastic team.”
Abhishek Deshwal, the newly appointed executive creative director at Toaster, brings over 17 years of creative prowess to the agency. With a career spanning renowned agencies like Lowe Lintas, JWT, and Wieden+Kennedy, Abhishek has earned a reputation for pushing creative boundaries and delivering standout campaigns. His work with brands like Google, Jio True 5G, and OLX exemplifies his ability to create memorable and impactful brand experiences.
“When interesting people get together, interesting stuff happens. It’s this simple belief that I share with Toaster. I’m looking forward to the magic I’ll be a part of, working with this crazy creative gang” said Abhishek Deshwal.
Commenting upon the team expansion, Toaster India MD Bhawika Chhabra said “Past few years we have built a strong reputation by delivering great creative solutions for Google, YouTube, and new clients like Myntra, OYO, Swiggy, Nykaa, to name a few. With Toaster entering its next phase of growth and diversification, we needed someone who could lead and formulate our vision of brand strategy. Mohini comes with diverse experience across categories. Her curiosity and love for advertising make her a great cultural fit for Toaster. We believe her critical thinking will help us strengthen strategic partnerships with our client partners. This is also in line with our expansion of the Senior Management team this year with another significant hire, Abhishek Deshwal as ECD, who has joined us after his last stint at Wieden+Kennedy.”
Toaster India chief creative officer Ira G said “Our tribe is growing! It’s fantastic to work with equally crazy and talented people – Toaster has always been extremely curated in its hirings and I am so proud to have Mohini and Abhishek on board who are not just great at what they do but also so amazing as who they are. Abhishek is one of the funniest people I know so looking forward to all the mad stuff he’s gonna be up to here. Also with Mohini heading strategy – so proud to be the only agency in India with three women at the fore. To more, more and more!”
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.
