GECs
Discussions on about Nayak’s exit terms
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Star India and its executive vice-president sales and marketing, LS ‘Raj’ Nayak, are still grappling with the issue of making the latter’s exit from the company as amicable as possible. The next 48 hours will decide whether any of the parties concerned will knock on the doors of the court or not.
Industry sources told indiantelevision.com that several rounds of talks have been held between Nayak and the top honchos of Star India (read chief executive Peter Mukerjea). A few more rounds are scheduled over the next two days to hammer out a solution.
But one thing seems certain: after having spent over nine years in Star’s Indian operations, Nayak wants to test the waters solo.
When contacted today, a spokesperson for Star India said: “We have no comment to offer. It is something between an employee and the employer and is a private affair.”
Still, industry sources said L’affair Nayak may be tricky and has the potential of throwing up many twists and turns before coming to an end, a la one of the Star Plus soaps that Nayak has been aggressively selling to advertisers.
The grey areas emerge from the fact that Nayak, as other senior executives of Star India, including Mukerjea, had signed a three-year contract with Star early last year. Nayak’s imminent departure from Star now, almost 18 months before the contract comes to an end, may have legal implications.
A legal expert in Delhi, being posed this question, said even though she is not aware of the details of the contract, but on the face of it, the employer (that is Star India) can take legal recourse if the employee (Nayak) is adamant on leaving the company much before the contract signed between them expires.
The flip side, the legal expert pointed out, is that it is highly unlikely to assume that a contract will not have exit clauses for the employee too. This means that it is unusual for a contract to be signed, which possibly states that an employer can fire an employee, but the latter cannot quit the company before the expiry of the contract period, the expert explained.
It is probably this scenario that both Star and Nayak are trying to avoid. What does the contract, signed between Nayak and Star, state is not known to indiantelevision.com. And nobody is holding forth on the details either.
GECs
Z launches ‘Dilfluencer Moments’ to boost brand engagement across screens
New omnichannel format blends TV characters, storytelling and digital reach to boost engagement and affinity
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (‘Z’) has unveiled ‘Dilfluencer Moments’, a new omnichannel media format designed to help brands cut through the clutter and turn audience attention into brand love.
With media access increasingly democratized, visibility alone no longer drives results. Shrinking attention spans and rising content noise have made memorability, emotional connection and action the real currency. Dilfluencer Moments addresses this by embedding brands into character-led, culturally resonant storytelling that travels seamlessly from TV to digital, social and creator ecosystems.
The format debuted with the “TumHoLovely” campaign on National Girl Child Day. Anchored in Hindi and Marathi shows, the campaign’s narrative extended organically across digital platforms, amplified by creators and community participation. A brand film featuring Sanya Malhotra further showcased how TV-originated cultural cues can spark broad engagement and virality. Within 24 hours, the campaign racked up 35 million total impressions, 20 million digital views, 2.5 million engagements and over 1,000 comments.
Laxmi Shetty, head – advertisement revenue, broadcast & digital, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, said, “As consumers turn away from interruption-led communication, advertisers need moments that feel culturally earned and emotionally authentic. Dilfluencer Moments delivers reach at scale through character-first content systems that connect with audiences personally, transforming storytelling into brand love.”
Kartik Mahadev, chief marketing officer, ‘Z’ & Zee 5, added: “Access alone is no longer an advantage; affinity is. Affinity comes from storytelling, familiar characters and moments that stay with audiences across screens. Dilfluencer Moments lets brands participate meaningfully in moments audiences already love, travelling organically across linear, digital and social platforms at scale.”
By anchoring campaigns in high-trust television moments and extending them into digital and social ecosystems, Dilfluencer Moments enables brands to generate organic engagement, amplify virality and convert attention into long-term emotional equity.
With its national scale, deep emotional storytelling and character-first approach, Z is offering marketers a powerful new way to build affinity, cut through clutter and create culturally resonant brand moments that stick.
