MAM
Rahul Avasthy reveals secrets of marketing to Generation Y
MUMBAI: Getting the attention of the youth segment is important as they are the opinion makers today, said Focus Circle Brands director-client servicing and digital strategy Rahul Avasthy, while speaking at the Youth Marketing Forum.
Avasthy talked about the secrets to marketing to generation Y (youth). He said, “Brands today need to understand that content is dead without context. Content is what company makes but context is what you make for the consumers; content is what generation Y buys but context is why they buy; content starts from buying the product and end when the product ends but context starts before the purchase and stays far beyond the consumption of the product.” I
If the youth won’t find context in the brand, he won’t go for it, he added.
According to him, generation Y have access to more tools like mobile and technology; they have more capacity to release ideas. They can go against the government and start a Facebook page. They have more tools and, hence, they have more conviction. It’s about knowing how generation Y is changing into ‘o’ (optimisers). Marketers can help the people in transition. When you look at the long term, consumers of previous generation are not much different than that of current generation. It’s just that youth wants change.
Generation Y is using social tool in an optimised way and they want a better social experience. “Before planning the mediums to be used, marketers should see what social tool their target group is using. This generation is not buying the design, and layouts. What matters to them is what design and retail layout is doing for them. Generation Y does not only consist of rebels;they are responsible citizens,” he said.
A strategy called ‘secret’ is also a secret to marketing to generation Y. Youth today wants to know things before others come to know about it and they want to know everything that is popluar without being left out. Being the first one to share something on Facebook is cool for them. It becomes a measure of one’s cultural power and popularity. Kolavari Di was an opinion that others related to and made spoofs which was again watched by many.
‘Market your best customer first, prospect second, rest of the world later’, noted Avasthy. “If you want to catch hold of youth, you need to be on web, mobile, wherever they are. You cannot bore generation Y into buying. Fasso’s is using a secret strategy in a good way. You can tweet on their home page on Twitter and place an order. Also, they have an offer like write ‘I hate you’ on Fasso’s twitter page and get 20 per cent off. These things help brands in a way that the audience will discuss about the brand and virally it will be passed on to others. Generation Y acts as a medium and as a media as well,” he concluded.
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.
