MAM
Effies 2015: MullenLowe Lintas crowned Agency of the Year
MUMBAI: It’s that time of the year again when the entire advertising, marketing and creative media fraternity converge together to laud the most effective creative work amongst their peers. The Effie Awards, organised by The Advertising Club, has entered its 15th chapter with much pomp and show.
Even as the Effie Awards 2015 left agencies wanting for more Gold trophies as several categories went without any takers in the category, MullenLowe Lintas was crowned Agency of the Year with the most number of metals to its name. Claiming victory over four different categories and tying with themselves on a single, MullenLowe Lintas took home six Gold Effies, followed by five Silver and 13 Bronze trophies, making their overall count 24. The agency’s winning streak was bagging the Grand Effie for the campaign, ‘Drinks and Memories’ for Paperboat under the Integrated Advertising Campaign category.
Amongst marketers, Hindustan Unilever was named as the Client of the Year for its award winning campaigns for various brands.
A total of 15 Gold, 26 Silver and 54 Bronze statuettes were given away at the Effie Awards 2015.
Defending champions, Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) emerged as the agency to take home the most number of metals — four Gold, four Silver and a whopping 20 Bronze statuettes — taking their award tally to 28.
McCann Worldgroup India was third in line to bag the maximum awards with two Gold, four Silver and four Bronze, followed by DDB Mudra with four Silver and five Bronze. BBDO India took home two Gold, and one Bronze. The last Golden trophy was taken home by Contract Advertising for its campaign for Truecaller under Telecom and related products category.
The Leo Group India bagged two Silver and one Bronze statuettes.
Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi won Silver for the newly introduced category of New Product or Service – ‘Best campaign for a Start up category’ for their offline to online furniture shopping campaign for Pepperfry.com, while MullenLowe Lintas Group India bagged the bronze for ‘Life Mein Campaign’ for Practo. JWT also took home two Bronze.
The Effie India Awards 2015 were adjudged by an eminent jury panel of 285 industry leaders from across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore representing agency and clients. Some of the key categories included were consumer products, consumer durable, services, healthcare, small town and rural marketing etc.
“In an era where marketing budgets are under strain and scrutiny, it is extremely heartening that effectiveness has become the mantra of the marketing and advertising fraternity. The overwhelming response to the Effie 2015 is witness to this, with an all-time high participation of 57 agencies and 603 entries. The fact that the Effie award has become the most coveted trophy on the shelves of marketers and agency alike is the greatest joy for me,” said Effie India Awards 2015 chairman Ajay Kakkar.
Elaborating further on the entries, Effie India Awards 2015 co-chairman Vikram Sakhuja said, “The Effies this time too has it all, the power of insight, non-conventional marketing plans and ultimately a great brand success stories.”
“The business environment is constantly changing and it is imperative that we align ourselves these changes to meet the expectations of our clients. I take this opportunity to appreciate and congratulate all the winners and my industry colleagues who are driving and leading this change,” added The Advertising Club president and Colors CEO Raj Nayak in parting.
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.
