MAM
Wunderman Thompson South Asia wins creative mandate for Sugarlite
MUMBAI: Following a multi-agency pitch in 2019, Wunderman Thompson South Asia has won the creative mandate for Sugarlite. The agency will be providing strategic and creative services to shape the communication for the brand which will cut across geographies, demographics and mind-sets and deliver differentiated content with incisive insights.
Sugarlite, which was launched in January 2019 is a premium sugar brand from India’s emerging wellness and health company, Zydus Wellness. A first of its kind sugar, Sugarlite delivers 50% less calories than regular sugar for the same degree of sweetness. The agenda of Sugarlite is to provide a healthy sugar to Indian homemakers and health seekers.
Commenting on the decision to appoint Wunderman Thompson as their creative agency, Zydus Wellness chief executive officer Tarun Arora said, “We were seeking to partner with an agency that would not only be responsible for communication development but also walk alongside us with strategic inputs on the brand. Hence we decided to extend our partnership with Wunderman Thompson considering the good work that has been done on some of our other brands.”
On the new business win, Wunderman Thompson, South Asia chairman and group CEO Tarun Rai said, “Zydus Wellness has some amazing brands in their portfolio, and I am very happy that we have deepened our relationship with the Sugarlite win. We will work in close partnership with the Sugarlite team to achieve their ambitious business objectives. With Wunderman Thompson’s capabilities in data, digital and technology, we are in a strong position to offer end-to-end solutions for the brand.”
Wunderman Thompson, Mumbai SVP and managing partner Kishore Tadepalli said, “We are truly delighted that we could demonstrate our team’s experience and capabilities in offering a multi-discipline integrated offering to win this very prestigious business. Through Sugarlite, we want to redefine the sugar category in India and creative communication plays a crucial role to achieve the same. We now look forward to this partnership to create content that will help to drive the desired impact and achieve business outcomes for Sugarlite.”
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.
