MAM
Ogilvy & Mather shines at Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016, takes home the Black Elephant
MUMBAI: Ogilvy and Mather shined at Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016, with 17 wins across category, including a much coveted Black Elephant for their work on ‘Beauty Tips By Reshmi for clients Make Love Not Scars. The agency was closely followed at heel by BBDO India with the second most number of wins.
Early Man Films’ Ambuja Khali for Abuja Khali was the second agency to take home the prestigious Black Elephant as winners.
Black Elephants are reserved for work that represents the best of the best, work that takes risks, creates a new conversation with the audience or has a lasting impact on the industry.
Kyoorius, in association with D&AD announced and celebrated the winners of the Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 at DOME@NSCI, in Mumbai on June 3. The third edition of Kyoorius Awards was attended by more than 1500 professionals including CEO’s, Marketing Directors, Brand Managers, Creative and Media gurus from the advertising, digital and media industries from across India were present at the event.
Looking at it category wise, 40 Blue Elephants were awarded in the Advertising category alone, with Ogilvy & Mather leading the category with 10 Blue Elephants. In the Digital category, a total of 18 Blue Eelephants were awarded where DDB Mudra led the category with 5 wins. Media category secured 10 Blue elephants with BBDO India sweeping the category with 7 wins.
A total of 1863 entries were submitted this year. Post the jury session concluded successfully by Ralph Barnett, National Creative Director, SapientNitro; R. Balki, Group Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas and Mike Florence, Head of Planning, PHD Media, 164 entries were shortlisted as winners of a baby elephant (in-book winners). Out of these 164 Baby elephant winners, 69 entries were awarded Blue Elephants across Advertising, Digital and Media categories and 2 entries were awarded the exclusive Black Elephant.
This spectacular show of Creativity was presented by Colors, powered by Hindustan Times and includes ABP News, Rishtey, Happy Finish & Kinetic as main partners.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
