MAM
Buzzoka launches Influencer Driven Instagram Ad Film Service
MUMBAI: Buzzoka, India’s most disruptive influencer marketing company has forayed into Instagram-Ad films which will be led by Influencers. This path breaking initiative will now allow Buzzoka to create more meaningful content for digital and social first audience that rely on social media influencers for new products and services.
The introduction of Instagram Ad films is the need of the hour as there has been a paradigm shift in the consumption pattern and brands and agencies are gearing to capitalize on the changing landscape. India has currently over 71 Million monthly active users (Statista) on Instagram and a lot of them rely on social media influencers for their daily dosage content. As per Buzzoka’s recent report – Influencer Marketing Outlook 2019, Instagram leads as the primary choice of brands and 77% brands see it as a huge potential in 2019.
Instagram Ad Films will be a great fit in the media mix, as video has established itself as the most engaging platform. With Jio and other telecom companies at a war over providing cheapest data to the next billion video consumption has spiked significantly.
While influencers play the important role of being the thought leader in their respective domains and act as advocates for the relevant brands, it is time now to cash on their fan base going the ambassador route and promoting the brands in professionally shot Instagram Ad Films
Ashutosh Harbola – Co-Founder and CEO of Buzzoka said “Instagram is a perfect channel for Brands and Marketers to capitalize on digital and social first audience in the age bracket of 20-35. Instagram is a platform that is hosting this major chunk of audience, which is going away from TV and newspapers as their primary daily news medium. Hence, missing out on a lot of promotions and offers. Instagram Ad Films will be that one promotional tactic that we feel will be driving the next media wave in India”
As per a recent report from Instagram In June 2018, Instagram reported a landmark with over 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs). This grew from 800 million MAUs in September 2017 with over 60% users logging back almost every day.
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.
