MAM
GroupM takes over 49% stake of Haworth
MUMBAI: Haworth, an independent and employee-owned marketing and media agency based in Minneapolis, has announced a strategic partnership with GroupM, the media investment management division of WPP.
Haworth will continue to offer personal, high-touch, creative-driven media – now backed by the industry leader in tools and data, thus linking the art of consumer connections with the most advanced marketplace analytics.
“We believe this is a completely new, one-of-a-kind partnership that will bring tremendous value to our clients and our team,” said Haworth CEO Gary Tobey. “Our differences and assets will complement each other while Haworth’s culture and what we’ve built remains intact.”
Haworth and its clients will benefit from full access to GroupM’s resources in digital, analytics, trading and proprietary technology and tool development. GroupM will also provide a global expansion platform for Haworth and its clients. The media agency will take a 49 per cent stake in Haworth.
“We’ve admired what Gary and his team has done for many years,” said GroupM global chairman Irwin Gotlieb. “We believe we can add to the compelling Haworth proposition through GroupM’s tools, technology, insights and trading scale. And in turn, GroupM’s agencies and clients can benefit from Haworth’s proven expertise in integrating brands into popular culture and content.”
Haworth clients are happy about the new partnership with GroupM. DreamWorks Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “We’ve enjoyed a remarkable partnership with Gary Tobey and his team at Haworth over the years. Their creativity and commitment to innovation has earned them great respect within the entertainment community – and this newest innovation has great potential.”
Omar Johnson, CMO at Beats Electronics CMO Omar Johnson added, “Our marketing strategy at Beats requires us to break the rules and challenge convention, which is why Haworth’s culture meshes so well with ours. Their new model for media takes it to the next level as we continue to grow our global footprint.”
Founded in 1970, Haworth provides strategic marketing and media solutions to blue-chip clients and iconic brands, including Target, Ben & Jerry’s, Beats by Dre, Honeywell, DreamWorks, The Oscars and Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection. Haworth has reported media billings of $700 million.
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.
