MAM
Vicky Kaushal celebrates ‘Jashn Yaari Ka’ in McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks’ campaign
MUMBAI: McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks, the latest offering from the house of McDowell’s No.1 today launched its all-new campaign “Jashn Yaari Ka”. The campaign is an ode to Yaars who celebrate another Yaar’s successes and moments of joy. McDowell’s No.1 has always been synonymous with capturing stories of “Yaari” through its engaging and captivating narratives focused on building deep friendships amongst masses in India.
To add to the campaign, the brand has signed up, the nation’s No.1 Yaar and heartthrob -Vicky Kaushal as the face of the campaign. Vicky will feature in the brand new TVC that captures moments from his life before he became an actor. From memories of tearing up his first engineering job offer to pursue acting to signing his first autograph at Cannes, the TVC beautifully recreates how his Yaars always stood by him and surprised him at moments he did not expect them to. A first for the brand, dabbling in savory foods, McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Gourmet snacks will include a range delicious Baked Ragi Chips, Flavored Almonds and more, making it the perfect partner for a celebration with Yaars.
Commenting on the campaign, Amarpreet Anand, Executive Vice President & Portfolio Head, Marketing, Diageo India said, "In today's world where we often resort to technology to acknowledge an important moment in our Yaar's life and there are very few who go out of their way to be present in a celebration. Through our campaign for the brand, we would like to encourage people to celebrate moments with their Yaars and McDowell's No. 1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks."
Quoting on the campaign, The Womb’s spokesperson said, “McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks’ needed to be given a modern twist for its launch and sustained ethnographic de-coding of friendships revealed an interesting truth. The urban migrants today need deep Yaaris more than ever but are ironically not investing in them. And what you give, comes back to you. So, the campaign aims to inspire urban migrants to show large-heartedness when it comes to friendships. And what better time to do that than at a Yaar’s moment of joy. The icing on the cake was our discovery of an authentic moment from Vicky’s life, that we converted into a brand story.”
Agency Credits:
The Womb
Kawal Shoor – Founding Partner, The Womb
Navin Talreja – Founding Partner, The Womb
Suyash Khabya – Creative Partner, The Womb
Dhaval Jadwani – Business Partner, The Womb
Rohit Sharma – Planning Partner, The Womb
Richa Shah – Business Partner, The Womb
Production House: Nirvana Films
Director – Prakash Varma
Producer – Sneha Iype and Manjeet Bawa
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.
