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Content-led commerce: How ILN plans to transform the marketing game
MUMBAI: The content industry is dynamic and inclusive. It not only has been the architect of the success stories of numerous brands but has also welcomed the creative community from every field to learn and thrive. Be it Red Bull or Myntra, these brands have metamorphosed into media outlets with full-fledged internal production support and have created amazing storylines to market their products.
But what will the paradigm shift be when media outlets and production giants start a new era where products will be created around content and not the other way around. Indiatimes Lifestyle Network (ILN) chief operating officer Angad Bhatia thinks that it will create a community of buyers who can express themselves the way they want to, standing at the nexus of reach and cultural influence. Thus, he is leading one of the most successful media companies, owning popular properties like iDiva, MensXP, and What’s Hot, in a whole new world of content-led commerce.
The trend of using content for commerce is not new and the content merchandising business is already quite a big hit not just in India but across the globe. Competitive brands like ScoopWhoop and PopXo are already in the business of selling their own merchandises. But what Bhatia is trying to do with ILN is quite bigger in scale.
“Our ambition is to build full-stack businesses. Tomorrow, I foresee MensXP and iDiva have their own retail outlets, fitness chains, salons, and all unique services where the backbone is still media,” elaborates Bhatia.
While these ambitions are set for the future, ILN has taken its initial steps in creating a completely unique world of content-driven-commerce by creating its own range of grooming products for the millennial urban chic audience.
Some of the ranges it will be experimenting with are Butter (shaving), mud (men’s grooming), Basta (leather bags), iDiva beauty (women’s grooming), Viraam (apparel) and Mojama (socks). In fact, the mud products were recently soft-launched on the MensXP site.
Apart from grooming and styling, ILN will also be creating products in men’s beauty segment, a part which is being tested by very few market players, that too only international ones. From soaps, face wash, shaving range, to foundations and concealers, this exquisite range of grooming products is expected to not only revamp the industry but also start a meaningful conversation around some pressing topics.
“We want to build a community where people not only align with our vision of entertainment but also to the undertone of the new India we want to create. This has been the undertone of our content as well. Today, if we put a video of a man getting ready for the office wearing foundation, there certainly is going to be debate around that in the comments section. I think it is important that as media brands we reach a certain scale where we can normalise these conversations. And on the back of that, we create an environment which is trustworthy, so that people can come, call it their own, and shop as well as get entertained,” shares Bhatia.
Bhatia believes that properties like MensXP, iDiva, and the newly launched What’s Hot have a natural proclivity towards commerce. They not only publish content around beauty products but the influencers in their videos also attract a lot of attention based on their styling. By getting into the e-commerce business, ILN will make sure that a person watching the video can buy the dresses, makeup, and all the grooming accessories from the same page and does not have to go anywhere else.
“If you look at our videos, every third comment will ask where the influencer got her dress from. Beauty, fashion, and style have always been the undertone of everything that we build. We are a progressive brand and want to stand for whatever the people in new India desire. One always wants to know how one can be glamorous while being very real,” notes Bhatia.
He further adds, “We feel this is a very interesting vehicle for us to drive a lot of commerce not because we see it as a direct means to generate demand but also as a direct way to create a community of buyers who are really fed up of bad vendors on other shopping platforms. Also, these platforms are not built to amplify one’s way of living. I can’t say I am in love with one of these platforms because they stand for something. They are just easy to access and use, and are affordable. We always wanted to build a destination which will help people to accentuate their personality.”
Since the brand aims to create authentic and personalised experiences for its community, it has been working closely with the whole manufacturing process. It has roped in a team of cosmetologists, product designers, and specialists to create the products for its labels in-house. Bhatia showed Indiantelevision.com a dozen of prototypes just for the men’s razor at the product designer’s desk.
Along with that, it is collaborating with some sustainable brands whose products will be showcased on its sites. “I believe in karma. Thus, we are making sure that all the partners that we are working with don’t have any malpractices. In fact, they support the environment. We are trying to be zero-plastic. If you order something, it gets delivered in a cardboard box made of recycled paper,” explains Bhatia.
But ILN essentially being a media platform gets ads from companies and could lead to losing some partners if it starts its own products. However, Bhatia doesn’t believe so. “We have not seen that. In fact, people have their preferences. I have spent the last eight months creating a men’s grooming brand, we now have a skincare range, a haircare range, and everything. We have really poured all our data and passion into this brand. In fact, if you go to the Instagram page of mud, you will see it placed with a Forest Essential or Kama, brands which are genuinely doing great in the market.”
He continues, “I think that brands today are more inclusive. This is not a winner takes all category. There is space for everybody. It all boils to whoever has the better product, whoever has put in more love and attention, and whoever has listened to the audience. Our job is just to be true to what our audience is asking for. If they are screaming and shouting saying that we want a product which isn’t available in the market, we can’t force a brand to create that thing. The industry today is very democratised, much like content, and hence we are in a position to create that product for them.”
While ILN and its properties are doing exceptionally well already, second to just Buzzfeed globally, with the launch of a completely new arm will arise the need for marketing its offerings.
On his marketing plans for ILN properties and their respective shopping arms, Bhatia says, “For me, marketing is a function of being omnipresent. The nature of our media business is such that we are already omnipresent. I believe that marketing is always going to be editorial-and content-led. And we have that advantage wherein we have spent the last few years building the relevance and reach for our platforms through our content. We, thus, don’t have to do traditional or even digital marketing per se to build brand reputation or awareness. We are lucky that we don’t need to promote the platform or the brand.”
He adds on, “However, I think we definitely will need support as we are looking to scale our e-commerce business. There are elements of digital marketing, performance marketing, and affiliate marketing, which we as publishers will also have to dive into to ensure that we are competitive with some of the biggest players in the market. We need to promote certain bare essentials of marketing and re-targeting platforms, beyond that we have no ambitions of marketing.”
MAM
Lessons from global media markets on building enduring content franchises
Rose Audio Visuals COO and CFO Mitesh Patel.
MUMBAI: The global media landscape has undergone a fundamental shift. Success today is no longer defined by a single hit show. It is defined by the ability to build intellectual property (IP) that travels, evolves, and compounds over time.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this shift is central to how we think about content pitching and creation. We are no longer in the business of just making shows. We are in the business of building IP ecosystems.
From Hits to Franchises
Globally, the most successful content is designed to extend beyond its first outing. It travels across: Seasons, Platforms (TV → OTT → Digital), Formats (series → spin-offs) Shows like Stranger Things and Money Heist are not just successful series they are multi-layered franchises with global recall, fan engagement, and long-term monetisation. The key learning is simple: If content cannot scale beyond one season or one platform, it remains a project not a franchise.
Local Stories, Global Impact
One of the most powerful global trends is the rise of culturally rooted storytelling. Platforms today reward local authenticity combined with universal emotion. Stories that are deeply regional are no longer limited by geography they are amplified by it. Consider the global impact of Squid Game or India’s own Sacred Games. The takeaway is clear: The more authentic the story, the greater its potential to travel if the emotion resonates universally.
Monetisation Begins After the First Window
A critical global learning is that the true value of content is not realised at launch, it is realised over time.
Strong franchises unlock multiple revenue streams: Licensing, International remakes, Brand integrations, Digital extensions , Events and immersive experiences
Global players like The Walt Disney Company have mastered this approach, turning content into long-term ecosystems that extend far beyond the screen.
The first window is just the beginning. The real value lies in what follows.
At Rose Audio Visuals, we increasingly evaluate projects not just on commissioning value, but on their long-term franchise potential.
The Rise of Creator-Led Franchises
An important global shift is the emergence of creator-led IP ecosystems.
Creators today are not just content producers they are building full-scale franchises across platforms, formats, and businesses.
A powerful example is MrBeast. What started as YouTube videos has evolved into: Multiple content formats, Global audience scale , Brand extensions and businesses, High-impact experiential content This is a fundamentally different model digital-first, audience-owned, and infinitely scalable.
This model is still in its early stages in Indian but it represents a massive opportunity.
The next wave of Indian content franchises may not come from traditional studios alone but from creators who think like media companies.
Balancing Data with Creative Instinct
Streaming platforms today are deeply data-driven. Data helps Identify emerging genres, Predict audience behaviour , Inform commissioning decisions However, global experience shows that data alone does not create hits. Data informs scale, but storytelling creates impact.
Talent is the Foundation of Franchises
Enduring franchises are rarely accidental they are built through long-term creative partnerships. Globally, there is a clear focus on nurturing Actors, Writter, Show runner and director. Franchises are not built on scripts alone they are built on creators. This is an area where we continue to invest deeply building long-term relationships with talent rather than project-based collaborations.
Multi-Platform Thinking from Day One
Content consumption today is inherently multi-platform. A successful show must be designed not just for its primary platform, but for: Short-form extensions, Social media amplification, Digital-first engagement. Every show today needs a second life beyond its original format.
India: A Market at an Inflection Point
India today stands at a unique moment in its content journey.
We are seeing significant opportunity in Regional markets (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and others) Emerging formats such as micro-dramas, Scalable, franchise-driven fiction IP
India does not lack stories. What we have historically lacked is structured franchise thinking something that is now beginning to evolve.
The Way Forward
The biggest lesson from global markets is this: The future belongs to companies that do not chase hits, but systematically build franchises. Because while hits may deliver immediate success, franchises create long-term value, recall, and compounding growth.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this belief shapes how we develop, greenlight, and scale content across platforms.
For content companies today, the question is no longer “Will this show work?” It is: “Can this become a franchise?”
A Personal Note
Having worked across content, business, and strategy, one thing has become increasingly clear to me, the most valuable companies in our industry will not be those that create the most content, but those that create content that endures.
Building a franchise requires patience, conviction, and a long-term lens something that the industry is only now beginning to fully embrace.As we continue this journey at Rose Audio Visuals, our focus remains simple: to move from volume-driven creation to value-driven storytelling. Because in the end, stories may start conversations but franchises build legacies.
