MAM
AAAI prowess Digital Hackfest Workshop
MUMBAI: Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) under the aegis of the AAAI Prowess initiative today announced a One-day workshop ‘‘Digital Hackfest – How to Power-up Brands in the Digital Space’’ scheduled for 26th May 2016 in Mumbai at the AAAI’s Training Centre at Lower Parel. This workshop will be led by Meera Sharath Chandra.
Today it is not about brands wanting to go digital but brands deepening their connect and co-creating experiences with their consumers across interesting and emerging digital apertures. Digital is more than a medium. It is a way of life. A whole new sphere where brands can sharply define their mission, personality, positioning and conversations with consumers. How can the digital strategy seamlessly dovetail with the brand intent? How can it be the heart of a totally integrated experience? How can we better understand the art and the science of digital engagement?
The workshop will be in four parts. First, a look at how our digital and physical worlds collide. Second, examining how brands can leverage the online space in impactful and meaningful ways. Third, an understanding of the role and power of social media. Fourth, joining the dots to create a holistic brand story. Every session will conclude with a fun hack on the theme.
Meera Sharath Chandra is Founder, CEO & CCO of Tigress Tigress – an agency that specialises in integrated communication with digital at the heart of the experience.
An integrated creative professional with 35 years of global experience, handling both MD and ECD responsibilities, Meera has over two decades of specialisation in the digital and integrated space. She has been an award winner and jury member at Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Clio, Art Directors Club and New York Fest among others.
Meera has worked in the US, the UK, Hong Kong and India. As an entrepreneur, Meera has earlier run an Intel-funded dotcom enterprise servicing clients in the US, Europe and Hong Kong, leading a 250-strong team. She has been a member of global task forces on brands such as Nestle, Unilever, Ford and Citibank. She has specialised in UI/UX from the University of Maryland’s Human Computer Interface Lab.
Meera is invited to speak regularly at various international forums such as the Latin American Advertising Festival- Rio, Eurobest – Amsterdam and WHO – Geneva. She is also a pro bono contributor towards the WWF “Save The Tiger” initiative. She is a mentor at the School of Communication Arts, London.
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.
