MAM
Digital marketing to see an upsurge in advertiser movement post-Covid
NEW DELHI: The Covid2019 pandemic has impacted the business community in a number of ways. However, the one industry that seemed to have gained from the pandemic is digital marketing. It was already growing at a rapid phase within the country and the lockdown came as a great catalyst for boosting it.
However, the growth in the domain might not become visible immediately. In a zoom webinar with Indiantelevision.com, discussing how digital marketing will change in the post-Covid world, Kinnect CEO Rohan Mehta said, “Digital surely stands out as an industry that will get positively impacted by this, but that positive impact will surely take some time to come. While digital adoption has gone through the roof, because businesses are in a downturn, spending still doesn’t have come. I think, evaluating the spend over the last couple of months isn’t the right metric. We will have to see over a period of six months to gauge the impact.”
Kinnect COO Chandni Shah added, “I think more than digital spends increasing, what the businesses today are focusing on is digitising their businesses. A lot of companies were already working towards this and what the pandemic has done is that accelerated the process towards that.”
She also noted that news apps, especially regional, mobile gamings and OTT platforms, will see a lot of traction from advertisers once the lockdown is lifted. However, the content on OTT platforms is needed to become more inclusive and family-friendly.
Mehta highlighted that regional content, not just in the news space but overall, is up for gaining massive traction from brands. Apps like Helo and ShareChat will see an upsurge in advertisers’ interest. “It has already been happening. There have been many campaigns for which we too have used micro-influencers, for region-specific conversations. But there is a lot of scope for an uptick there, and I see it happening in the near future.”
The duo also agreed that another positive that this pandemic has brought in, not just for digital but for industries across domains, is that it has made people more punctual and organised in their way of working, which Shah Mehta thinks will continue even after the new normal sets in. Shah said that she sees more of client meetings happening virtually in the coming future.
According to them, the pandemic might act as an accelerator to the gig-economy in India. Mehta noted that more agencies will be open to outsourcing specialised skills to freelancers and consultants. However, there is a long way to go for standardizing the prices and work culture for those who are not on company payrolls.
This also will popularize LinkedIn as a platform as a lot of talent search is happening there and will probably see more advertisers coming in if the professional social networker manages to deal with some glitches.
Mehta noted, “LinkedIn has been a part of the media mix for most advertisers for the past three years now and it has constantly been bringing in new formats to advertise also. The place where LinkedIn lacks a little bit is its expensive pricing. Also, the number of people on the platform is quite limited and you can’t reach a wide audience.”
He added, “I have been waiting for LinkedIn to become more India-centric and viable in terms of pricing. As soon as that happens, a tonne of advertisers will flock the place and will be using it way more aggressively.”
Old vs New: Digital Marketing for the New World with @KinnectOnline https://t.co/O3EELU65lX
— Indiantelevision.com (@ITVNewz) May 29, 2020
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.
