MAM
Union Bank ropes in DDB Mudra for corporate ad duties
MUMBAI: Union Bank of India has chosen DDB Mudra to handle its corporate advertising mandate after calling for a multiagency pitch with leading agencies in the country.
The size of the account is in the range of Rs 400 million. The agency will be the sole entity working on the account.
DDB Mudra Group president Rajiv Sabnis said, “It is a matter of immense pride and delight that Union Bank has retained the services of DDB Mudra as the sole custodian of their Corporate Brand mandate. We look forward to building the brand further and continuing to create break-through communication for Union Bank, as we have done over the last six years. Today, Union Bank‘s campaign centered around the thought of ‘Your dreams are not yours alone‘ has become the benchmark of effective and impactful communication.”
Union Bank general manager corporate communications support services and branch expansion departments S Aftab said, “DDB Mudra understands our brand and the teams have the necessary skills to build on our promise of “your dreams are not yours alone”. We saw that in their presentation and creative expression. We look forward to their continuing contribution in our quest to make Union Bank one of the most successful bank brands ever.”
DDB Mudra Group chairman and CCO Sonal Dabral said, “Union bank of India has been a truly inspiring partner for DDB Mudra. It‘s this partnership that helped create the path breaking, soulful and insightful campaign ‘Your Dreams Are Not Yours Alone‘. We are therefore really honored and excited to be able to continue this partnership, creating great work and dreaming bigger dreams. Together.”
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.
