MAM
JWT snaps up Indian ad firm, eyes acquisitions
MUMBAI: JWT, the wholly owned operating company of WPP Plc, is acquiring a majority stake in Hyderabad-based Mindset Advertising for an undisclosed amount.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, JWT India chief executive officer Colvyn Harris said the agency is eyeing further acquisitions in the digital space that would bring in a range of services, skills and capabilities.
“We are taking a majority stake in Mindset Advertising, the leading agency in that market. We will have management control,” said Harris, while declining to specify how much stake JWT would hold in the Indian agency.
With the buyout, JWT will have Hyderabad as its sixth office in India, helping it to tap into the growing IT, real estate, education and healthcare sectors.
“The deal will open up new avenues for us. The ad market in Hyderabad is growing at 25-30 per cent. The acquisition is made with an eye towards future growth potential. We look at the right scale and balance when we make acquisitions,” said Harris.
Mindset Advertising, which offers creative services, strategic planning and campaign execution in digital, print and television, had posted a revenue of Rs 51 million for the fiscal ended March 2011, with gross assets of Rs 43 million.
Harris said, “Hyderabad figures as one of the most promising cities in JWT‘s growth plans and the integration of Mindset into our global operations gives clients in the city access to the best of what JWT has to offer worldwide. It also gives them access to the services of our family of specialist companies in various communications-related fields, including media planning and buying, digital communications, activation, public relations and market research.”
JWT has worked closely with Mindset on several clients including Bharti Airtel.
Santha John, who founded the agency, will head the JWT Hyderabad operation, which has a number of blue-chip clients, especially in Hyderabad’s key sectors of IT, education, health-care and infrastructure.
JWT Hyderabad will continue with its leadership team of CEO Ram Gedela, director creative Anvar Alikhan, AVP and senior creative director Mark Samuel.
JWT Hyderabad consists of a team of 44 people and offers a
full-service range of creative services, strategic planning and
execution in digital, print and television. Major clients include ADP, Airtel, and Pepsi.
JWT President Michael Maedel stated, “With the acquisition of Mindset, JWT is represented at a level that allows us to further capitalise on the opportunities developing in the market along with our clients, and to offer more advanced advertising and marketing solutions that meet clients’ needs.”
Added John, “We are proud to be part of JWT. We have been reputed to be ‘the best advertising brains in Hyderabad, under one roof’. With full access to JWT’s global resources, we now look forward to being able to offer our clients in Hyderabad an even higher level of service.”
India is one of the fastest growth markets for the WPP Group, with revenues of around $450 million, including associate firms‘ earnings.
“The group has five of India‘s top 10 agencies and collectively employs around 9,000 people,” WPP said.
In 2008, JWT had acquired majority stake in Encompass Events, an independent events and promotions agency.
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.
