MAM
The Marcom Avenue appoints Nikhil Sharda as AVP – marketing
Mumbai: The Marcom Avenue, a leading integrated marketing agency, with its recently launched renewed 2.0 avatar, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Nikhil Sharda as assistant vice president as the first step in ushering change in the marketing landscape. With an impressive track record and deep expertise in operations and client management, Nikhil will play a pivotal role in further enhancing the company’s operational efficiency and driving its growth trajectory.
Prior to joining The Marcom Avenue, Nikhil’s impressive career journey included holding the position of vice president at Media Mantra, executive vice president at Scroll Mantra, creative director at FrogIdeas and Digital Evangelist at AdGlobal360. During these roles, he skillfully crafted effective go-to-market strategies for a diverse range of renowned brands, such as Comviva, Beardo, OZiva, ViewSonic, VNL, Jim Beam, TerraPay, Twitter India Marketing, Rajasthan Tourism, Maruti Suzuki, NEXA, Bureau of Indian Standards, BSB Edge, Delhivery, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and the European Union and several others.
“We extend a warm welcome to Nikhil Sharda as our newly appointed assistant vice president,” stated The Marcom Avenue director Divanshi Gupta. “Nikhil’s strong skills and dedication perfectly match our core values of excellence. As The Marcom Avenue embarks on international expansion, his seasoned experience will fuel operational efficiency and strategic branding. This strategic move echoes our overarching vision of becoming the ultimate marketing solution agency. Nikhil’s role is poised to shape impactful narratives, steering success for The Marcom Avenue clients. We extend our best wishes to him for his new role.”
“I am excited to join the ranks of The Marcom Avenue, a company renowned for its avant-garde approach and unwavering dedication to client triumph,” commented Nikhil Sharda. “I eagerly anticipate collaborating closely with the adept teams here to elevate operational practices, fortify client relationships, and contribute to the continuous advancement of the company.”
Nikhil is also a published author and an independent writer for various online journals. His reputation as a results-driven professional endowed with a discerning eye for operational excellence precedes him, and his appointment underscores The Marcom Avenue’s steadfast commitment to perpetual enhancement and delivering unparalleled value to its esteemed clientele.
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.
