MAM
IAA extends Olive Crown brand to raise awareness on soil degradation
Mumbai: The India chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has extended its Olive Crown brand to raise awareness about the global cause to save our planet Earth from soil degradation. As a part of this initiative, the twelve-years strong brand will support the global ‘Save Soil’ movement being launched by the Isha Foundation.
The industry body released five hard-hitting creatives created by Madison BMB for the ‘Call for Entries’ campaign that emphasises the urgency of the issue, even as it invited entries for a ‘compelling 360-degree campaign to save the soil and our future.’
“The Olive Crown Awards have been hailed and accepted as the gold standard in an area where sustainability and creativity converge. The IAA has decided to extend the Olive Crown brand and take up urgent issues relevant to the environment,” said IAA president Megha Tata. “As a part of this, we are supporting the global Save Soil movement being launched by Isha Foundation. I am happy that the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) is also on board with us in amplifying this important message.”
“In life, what possibly tends to be taken for granted the most, are things like soil. You never think of it as a finite resource. While most other resources get replenished from time to time, the amount of fertile soil in the world is getting depleted,” remarked Madison BMB CEO and chief creative officer Raj Nair. “This is happening at such a rapid rate that it needs to be addressed on a yesterday basis. And that’s something that the advertising community truly understands: that the deadline was yesterday. So, the invitation is for agencies or individual teams to come forward with their compelling communication ideas to highlight the issue.”
“This is a little-known but huge global problem. Topsoil erosion and the depressing food production arising out of that concern us all,” commented said AFAA chairman Srinivasan Swamy. “AFAA is happy that IAA is taking up this important communication need and we are happy to be part of it. AFAA has been associated with the Olive Crown Awards for many years and the response to the awards from across Asia has been good. I am sure AFAA members will step up and send good entries for this issue as well.”
Olive Crown committee chairperson Pradeep Dwivedi added, “We are reaching out to our creative community and appealing to them to create a truly effective campaign that will be judged by an elite jury. The winning entry will be awarded on our Olive Crown awards night and will also be run across pan-Asian media. This new campaign to be awarded is a great addition to our annual Olive Crown Awards.
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.
