MAM
Any agency can think of an idea, but very few can execute that idea.
GOA: “This is the time for renaissance in advertising because of the availability of technology”, asserted Isobar global CEO Jean Lin, while shedding light on how the backbone of ideas without limits is the importance of innovation.
Quoting Alibaba’s success story, she mentioned that creativity is the key to make everything successful. “In the digital age it’s about delivering ideas without limit. The key point behind innovation is that the idea actually exists, we have to just innovate.”
She further outlined that according to a PWC research in 2013, companies that look to innovate grew faster by 60 per cent, compared to the 20 per cent growth of companies that were taking on each other. The rate of change of society is a function of the age at which youth were introduced to the dominant technology of the time.
Lin explained how Alibaba.com had launched a singles day sale in 2015 which got it sales worth $ 14.3 billion on that day. With 69 per cent of the sale from mobile devices, shoppers from 200 countries participated and 16,000 international brands were bought. “People from all over the globe can buy online. India is one of the highest border-less buyers worldwide. Now clients don’t have to look at other brands within their geography, they need to compete with prices even in other countries.”
She also presented the example of Disneyland’s investment in the magical wrist band which worked well for the company as well as helped the travellers to track ticket, hotel room key and for getting reservations in hotels.
The next thing that she spoke about was programmatic videos. She cited the example of how Unilever used this in technology where it showed 100,000 different videos for different people for a deodorant brand. “Even for programmatic video, content is required. It will take different thinking though. It gives viewers higher satisfaction. Technology helps, but it takes a creative to think of creativity in a different way”.
The case studies of how Pinterest came up with its predictive shopping and how Youtube provides 100 per cent shoppable videos were also briefly discussed by Lin. “Ideas without limits is when YouTube and Pinterest take e-commerce seriously and MasterCard introduces the concept of Pay by selfies,” she added.
Going further, she divided ideas into two types:
Ideas that reimagine the last mile
With an array of examples like UMood, Coca-Cola, etc, Lin pointed out that an idea should be limited only be for an ad campaign.
Ideas that invent and reinvent
“Innovation comes from an idea that already exists”, voiced Lin. She used examples of Sky Tip, GM Co-driver, Fiat, etc.
She emphasized on the new role of agencies which is not only about creatively solving problems. “Any agency can think of an idea, but very few can execute that idea. That’s a key to win. We need to grow with clients. This will come when tangible results are seen. When you think of ideas without limit, it can happen.”
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.
