MAM
DS Group and WPP decode digital chaos with India’s first marketing playbook
MUMBAI: In India’s ever-buzzing ad world, there’s finally a playbook to crack the digital code. FMCG giant DS Group, in partnership with WPP Media, has launched Dcode – The Guide to Digital Marketing, a first-of-its-kind manual designed to streamline and elevate the country’s digital marketing practices.
Unveiled at a high-profile event featuring panel discussions and keynote sessions, Dcode blends academic rigour with agency know-how to deliver practical templates, systems and best practices across the entire digital spectrum from paid media and SEO to influencer marketing and online reputation management. And here’s the kicker: it’s open access, free to download for anyone from CMOs to curious students.
The initiative couldn’t be timelier. India’s media and advertising industry is projected to grow 7 per cent in 2025 to Rs 1,64,137 crore, with digital leading the charge at an 11.5 per cent growth rate, cornering 60 per cent of the market share and contributing Rs 10,225 crore of incremental ad spend. But this rapid expansion has been dogged by fragmentation, inconsistent methodologies and inefficiencies. Dcode aims to cut through the clutter by providing a regularly updated, evolving resource.
“Digital isn’t just an option anymore; it’s a strategic imperative,” said DS Group vice chairman Rajiv Kumar calling Dcode a “legacy resource” for marketers, agencies and enthusiasts navigating today’s complex ecosystem.
Echoing the sentiment WPP Media South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar described Dcode as a “significant leap” that redefines industry standards, empowering businesses and professionals alike to thrive in a digital-first world.
Positioned as a living guidebook, Dcode will be refreshed with the latest practices to ensure it remains relevant in a space where algorithms change as quickly as consumer behaviour. For India’s marketers, it might just be the cheat sheet they’ve been waiting for.
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.
