MAM
Starcom MediaVest Group releases predictions report for ad industry
MUMBAI: Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has compiled a predictions report on the future of advertising and consumer contact from SMG experts titled – The NEXT Report.
The report has experts looking to uncover specific trends that will guide future media strategies and impact the means through which ad messages are delivered. The future trends and boom in word-of-mouth marketing, broadband, Hispanic media, gaming, mobile marketing, radio and DRTV have also been covered in The NEXT Report.
Some predictions from the report include:
Clients will produce more customised TV creative specifically for the broadband space,
Blogs will become more mainstream and citizen-generated,
The number of networks that target Hispanics on digital cable will grow five-fold over the next 10 years,
Gaming will move into “connected space” and make digitally distributed gaming content more mainstream,
The next hot category will be shopping magazines-for women, men, the home and even babies,
Mobile marketing will push to create a dialogue with self-selected hand raisers, as opposed to recreating online ad serving models.
Broadband will create the New Commercial
Starcom USA’s Chris Boothe said that as the industry got its feet wet in the broadband space, the vast majority of spending was dedicated to extending the reach of existing: 30 television creative into re-purposed, already televised news, sports, and entertainment video clips. Now that advertisers are becoming more savvy in broadband and content is more readily available, customisation is going to become more prevalent. Clients will produce more customised video creative specifically for the broadband space.
In addition, sites will offer more customised sponsorships that tailor content to an advertiser’s objectives. Measurement will become imperative as a move will be made towards a mixture of outcome-driven (engagement, change in purchase intent, leads, sales, store traffic) and input-driven (cpm, reach, frequency, percent of total impressions), which combine Internet and television metrics to develop a new nomenclature of metrics.
Ad content will make things personal
Reverb’s Dan Buczaczer said that the rise of blogs has already left plenty of advertisers scratching their heads about whether to get involved and, if so, how to approach the space. While marketers debate how to approach the blogosphere, consumers have started experimenting with video logs (vlogs), RSS feeds and podcasts as ways to acquire the content they are interested in. Fragmentation suddenly feels like an easy issue to tackle compared to the challenge of marketing in spaces that feel increasingly personal.
Agencies will push programming development
MediaVest Entertainment’s Brian Terkelsen, on the other hand, said that original programming will be brokered directly between media agencies on behalf of marketers, and producers increasingly. Selling is no longer exclusive to networks; producers are working more collaboratively with media agencies to produce advertiser supported content; marketers are proactively seeking new ideas to connect with consumers through branded entertainment and original programming platforms; and networks are seeking to protect revenue streams based on traditional broadcast buying models. With these trends comes a challenge to the traditional practices of the selling and buying of broadcast commercial space and the once clear-cut roles of media agencies, producers and networks are becoming blurred.
Hispanic media will thrive via digital opportunities
Tapestry’s Monica Gadsby said that by 2010, it’s predicted that all US cable access will digitally increase the number of channel choices available to consumers and allow for new networks catering to Hispanic interests to flourish. The digitalisation of cable should produce specific programming geared to Hispanics of different countries of origin, more vertically integrated options with unique Hispanic flavor and an end to the heated debate about Spanish versus English. Today, 20 or so networks target Hispanics on digital cable; and their number is expected to grow fivefold in the next 10 years.
Gaming will become a prime online social space
Play’s Tim Harris stresses on the fact that gaming is a socially engaging and competitive activity that naturally generates moments of intense emotion and interaction between players. Given this fact, it’s no wonder the gaming industry is quickly making the move into “connected space.” Gaming consoles and handhelds will increasingly be connected to broadband networks in order to enable multi-player match-ups in everyone’s favorite games. In turn, the onset of digitally distributed game content will become increasingly mainstream, enabling far more than is available today. The move into connected space will open up a world of new marketing opportunities, including:
Huge, season-long tournaments and fantasy play uniting friends as ongoing gaming groups.
On-demand episodic gaming “programming” will be released for games already released.
Imagine underwritten gaming content, bringing together audiences for “virtual events” and the creation of marketer-specific gaming experiences within the most popular games.
Mobile marketing will make consumers raise their hands
SMG Digits’ Courtney Acuff opined in the report that there was no crystal ball for understanding the thumb-driven culture. However, what we know today is that understanding what moves the thumbs of mobile consumers is about understanding the personal media experience.
The emerging mobile video space is a realisation of the “era of visual engagement.” Consumers now have a screen that can deliver desired content and applications in a most personal fashion, anywhere and anytime. Opportunities for marketers will come in the form of uniquely concepted ideas, not off-the-shelf solutions that many in the field shop to agency after agency. The goal will be to create a dialogue between self-selected hand raisers and marketers-not to recreate online ad serving models, the report predicted.
Video didn’t kill the radio star, but ad excess might kill the radio audience
MediaVest USA’s Maribeth Papuga said that the traditional radio industry faces its own challenges as listeners discover alternatives ranging from satellite radio to MP3 players. While initial research looks promising, skepticism still prevails among advertisers who want to avoid paying more for less.
DRTV will penetrate consumer consciousness
Halogen’s Rob Schmidt said smart marketers engage consumers in meaningful dialogue to make products more relevant and to promote loyalty. “Consumers interested in your product will raise their hand if your message is relevant to them, and DRTV enables us to find these consumers in an efficient manner. We will continue to see traditional marketers turn to DRTV to open this dialogue and bring a higher level of accountability to their media communications. Future DRTV campaigns will be more consistent with brand positions, as consumers don’t differentiate between a DRTV campaign and a branding campaign; both exposures occupy the same space in the consumer’s mind.”
Smaller clients will access bigger resources
StarLink Scott Neslund said that media consolidation is tapering off, and the advertising holding company consolidation seems to have run its course. “In the end, there’s still tremendous need for good ideas coming from very small companies with people with a passion for business. Growth in the US will proliferate among small to midsize businesses, and opportunities for business partnerships will arise when big agencies offer their resources and clout to smaller clients currently lacking those resources. Think about it: a nation where roughly half of all media spending is not currently resting with the big ten media agencies, and most midsize brands have media plans executed by their smaller creative shops. Then imagine the creativity that would flourish when those clients-or those entire creative agencies-are offered access to big agency optimisation and accountability. Big ideas.”
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.
