MAM
Volvo & Mindshare launch ‘Volvoverse’ campaign to provide 3D experience to customers
Mumbai: Volvo Car India has announced the launch of its first-ever electric vehicle in the Metaverse called ‘Volvoverse.’ The campaign launch is conceptualised by Mindshare India. This is the first-of-its-kind collaboration on Metaverse across WPP India agencies.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge is being launched in a virtual world by Volvo Car India managing director Jyoti Malhotra, while ushering in a new era of digital platforms for Volvo customers with accessible 3D experiences.
Mindshare collaborated with other WPP agencies including Hogarth, Yonder, Grey, and Genesis BCW to deliver ‘Volvoverse’, realising the group’s ambition for customers to efficiently access specialist companies in the group to achieve their objectives with a single point of contact.
Mindshare South Asia CEO Amin Lakhani said, “We at Mindshare strive to provide our clients with tech-enabled, creative branding solutions. The concept behind launching the XC40 Recharge in the metaverse was to launch the EV in a sustainable ecosystem, following the vision of Volvo. The metaverse is evolving the internet by bringing people closer. Using virtual worlds, we are looking to reach out to the maximum audience. We are excited to do the first-ever EV launch in the metaverse with a campaign that appeals to our audience in an exciting new environment, which is the first of its kind.”
Speaking about this unique experience, Malhotra said, “Volvo has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology, and we, as a company, are also globally known for our commitment to sustainability. The launch of the XC40 Recharge on the metaverse platform is a pioneering moment leveraging digital technology in the marketing sphere. The metaverse launch also contributes to our sustainability mission as it leaves a negligible carbon footprint as compared to conventional launches.”
Hogarth India CEL Gopikaa Davar added, “Hogarth is committed to reaching net zero by 2030, and we are excited to partner with Mindshare and Volvo on a project which brings together both our focus areas of sustainable production and the metaverse. Launching an electric vehicle in the virtual world is only befitting as a conscious alternative to a physical event where an average conference attendee would have produced around 170 kg of CO2 emissions in a one-day event. This is a great example of how we are all reducing and mitigating the environmental impact by using virtual studios and green screen shoots as a driving force, removing the need for location shoots and events (reduces carbon footprint) and maximising the utilisation of the content we capture.”
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.
