MAM
India Affiliate Summit (IAS) 2022 sheds light on trends, predictions and innovation in two-day conference
Mumbai: The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and vCommission jointly organised the 8th edition of The India Affiliate Summit (IAS) 2022 on 14-15 September, 2022. The event, which included engrossing keynote sessions, masterclasses, panel discussions, and exhibitions, was held at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram.
The country’s biggest affiliate marketing event saw the participation of national and international attendees from over 700 companies and provided ground for them to network and discuss opportunities to accelerate business.
On the first day of the two-day long event, vCommission CEO Parul Bhargava opened the floor for discussion with her keynote session, wherein she spoke about the lessons that she has learnt from her entrepreneurial journey in affiliate. “Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and people millionaires. The affiliate industry is so young and innovative that no one can say, we know it all.”
Looking at the journey of the India Affiliate Summit since 2015, she added, “As I stand here, from where we started this journey, I am very proud that affiliate as an industry, as a department, is now prevalent in most brands, companies, and agencies.”
As a piece of advice to marketers, Valueleaf vice president – delivery & ad operations Ameya Kaulgi pointed out, “Affiliate is a massive pull. If you make your funnel right, with the right checks, you can build your brand with the bottom funnel.”
Patanjali Ayurved COO-media and communications Anita Nayyar spoke about how a brand should optimise its customer lifetime value. “It is important to go back to basics in terms of brand benefits and customer engagement, and once this war is won, optimising ‘lifetime value’ will follow.”
On the first day of the conference, industry veterans presented new insights, data-driven strategies, and innovative ideas on affiliate, ecommerce, D2C, etc. Twitter business head Kanika Mittal, Meta industry head automotive & D2C Hari Pulipati, HDFC Bank VP and head-acquisition content and social media marketing Jahid Ahmed, and The Man Company director-brand marketing Rumi Ambastha, were among the other key speakers on the inaugural day.
The second day of the event threw light on several subjects, such as social media listening, influencer marketing, and creativity. Admitad country head Neha Kulwal spoke about Indian SMEs, “For SMEs, partner marketing is a great way to increase their reach and raise brand awareness without breaking the bank. Since most SMEs strike a balance between productivity and profitability, including low-cost and high ROI-driven channels such as partner marketing is a must. Also, the world is moving to ‘Digital First’ and with this shift, performance/partner marketing will be a major driver in their marketing mix.”
Addressing a session titled, “From celebrities to social media influencers.. what’s next?”, HDFC Bank vice president and head-digital acquisition content and social media marketing Jahid Ahmed said, “Today celebs and influencers are shaping up well. But as a brand, to ensure stronger and long-term communication for the audience, it is important that they focus on building individual brand advocates who can further educate micro communities. And that’s how they can turn this around to build a large pool of their brand lovers.”
On a panel about “Programmatic reach by using new age media-CTV, audio & DOOH etc.,” Optimise Media Group – India CEO Shaan Raza revealed, “The IAS as a platform has evolved over the years. This year, they’ve discussed new marketing trends like programmatic and connected TV, which are preparing the audience for the web 3.0 space. The new age media has now become popular and it is in its transition phase. Various new trends are entering India, and new age performance marketers should look forward to them. They should use their creativity and imagination to engage with them from the performance marketing aspect.”
Amongst other prominent speakers who spoke on the concluding day at IAS22 were Google Cloud head of regional marketing-India Virginia Sharma, Samsung Electronics deputy general manager Nitin Guleria, Max Life Insurance VP & head of D2C ecommerce Sameer Jain, and Niva Bupa SVP head of marketing Nimish Agrawal.
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.
