MAM
Kevin Pietersen is the new brand ambassador for Citizen in India
MUMBAI: Cricketer Kevin Pietersen has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Citizen watches in India.
Pietersen had been the brand ambassador for the brand in the United States and Europe, and therefore it was a natural extension, according to Citizen Watches (India) marketing manager Aditya Sengupta.
The budget for marketing, promoting the renowned ‘Citizen‘ watch brand in India will be 10-15 per cent of its revenue, up from between 8 – 10 per cent last year.
However, Sengupta told Indiantelevision.com that the emphasis of advertising will be on out of home, banners, and social media, apart from the print media and media meetings.
He said there was no plan at present to go in for television commercials, though he did not rule that out at a later stage.
Sengupta said it was generally known that the target for Citizen was the urban male and female, and therefore Pietersen fitted that image. The watch has a global heritage, and Kevin has a global image.
Earlier in the press meet, it was announced that Pietersen‘s sophistication and style superbly personifies the brand.
Citizen Watches (India) MD Katsusuke Tokura said, “We are delighted to have Kevin Pietersen here. Citizen has always been associated with sports, personifying the spirit of sportsmanship, confidence and independence of the Eco drive collection.”
He further added, “Citizen has always considered India as an important market. Our target-consumer in India is the ‘new rich young generation‘ who is financially independent, style-conscious, as well as seeks real value and appreciates new technologies. Citizen has plans to bring out several contemporary designs year on year.”
Pietersen said, “I am delighted to join as the new face of Citizen in India. Citizen has always had a strong association with sports in the past and I am greatly honoured to be a part of this great global brand”. He added, “Cricket is all about timing and only with timing does a cricketer fulfill his full potential. Citizen has also grown with time; I see my association with them noteworthy, as I see Citizen in me”.
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.
