Digital
Fourth modern marketing Reckoner by Group M and MMA Global India: 60+ experts on winning with AI
Mumbai: GroupM, WPP’s media investment group and MMA Global India launched the 4th edition of the Modern Marketing Reckoner 2024: Winning with AI at the 13th edition of MMA IMPACT Delhi. The report explores how AI is not merely transforming the 4 key pillars or Ps of marketing (product, place, price & promotions) but is revolutionizing organizations from the ground up, marking an irreversible change. MMR bears cutting-edge POVs from 65+ industry leaders, AI practitioners and decision makers across the digital transformation ecosystem.
Amid ongoing AI debates, it’s vital to recognize that human intelligence remains central to many innovations, particularly in marketing, which is fundamentally about understanding people. The report explores AI’s potential to enhance marketing, from gaining consumer insights to transforming product design and the consumer journey. It discusses AI’s dual role as both evolutionary and revolutionary, integrating tools like predictive text and chatbots across various marketing functions, including e-commerce and campaign execution, while emphasizing the importance of measuring marketing ROI.
GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar said: “The Modern Marketing Reckoner 2024 is a comprehensive guide for marketers who aim to succeed with AI. This report offers valuable insights, carefully researched data, and real-world examples of how AI can be leveraged in marketing. What sets it apart is the inclusion of perspectives from over fifty industry experts across diverse domains, whose human intelligence and experience in powering AI is truly invaluable.”
Marketers and agencies are swiftly delving into groundbreaking technology, discerning between superficial novelties and truly transformative tools, with key imperatives:
● Marketers value high-quality, authentic internal data like brand essence, past communication, consumer insights, cohort responses, platform performance, packaging details, pricing, and customer reviews to ensure AI models are authentically trained for real-world application.
● Organizational transformation is vital for maximizing AI’s impact in marketing, involving integration across Finance, Technology, CMI, sales, and Talent Management, with rapid evolution in budgeting, talent management, and a “Test and Learn” approach.
● Investment in Data & MarTech is increasing, with shared ownership of implementation and utilization among Marketing, Finance, and Technology leaders.
● AI is driving transformation in agencies, fostering new integrated models centered on AI-enabled platforms for seamless collaboration and co-creation.
MMA Global India head & BOD member Moneka Khurana said: “The grand launch of the Modern Marketing Reckoner (MMR) at IMPACT Delhi marks a pivotal moment for the industry. The report provides actionable insights into AI’s transformative impact on the 4 Ps of Marketing – Product, Place, Price, and Promotions. By compiling wisdom and foresight from over 60+ industry leaders, it equips marketers with the strategies and frameworks needed to win with AI-driven marketing, fostering innovation and drive growth. At MMA, we are dedicated to empowering marketers to navigate and lead people and machines in unison to deliver business growth and marketing excellence.”
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.
