MAM
Linc Pen spent Rs 44 crores in advertising & promotion in last 5 years
Linc Pen, a leading stationery player in India, in its twenty-fifth annual general meeting disclosed that the brand had spent nearly Rs 44 crores in advertising and promotions in the last five years.
Linc Pen MD & CEO Deepak Jalan stated that the company achieved the best ever result in FY20 despite the loss of sales in the last few weeks. “Revenue grew by 9 per cent to close at almost Rs. 400 crore. EBIDTA margin was in double-digit at 10.3 per cent. PAT of Rs. 19.25 crore registered a healthy jump of 273.8 per cent over a lower base of Rs.5.15 Crore in the previous year. The board recommended a dividend of Rs. 1.50 per share, same as last year, in view of unprecedented challenges ahead in FY21.”
However, Jalan stated that going by the current scenario, the brand may witness at least 70-80 per cent of FY20 sales by the end of FY21.
“Turnover at Rs. 27.52 crore, was about one further of normal levels. For the first time ever, we registered a negative PAT of Rs 3.99 crore. Company’s April and May sales were washed out because of the nationwide lockdown. Our factories were closed for 28 days, and thereafter, gradual resumption started once the lockdown was lifted in a phased manner,” adds Jalan.
Jalan further mentioned that the company saw sales come back to more than 50 per cent levels of what it reported in the same month last fiscal (June 2019).
He also cited that the writing instruments industry has been severely affected by the Covid2019 as it has resulted in the closure of educational institutions and commercial establishments operating with lower physical attendance, which has clearly impacted the demand for writing instruments. The situation is similar all over the globe, with trade disruptions and lockdowns in several countries.
Linc Pens has an aggressive plan to enhance the organizations retail footprints from 65000 retail touchpoints to about half a million, helping the brand to embark upon a multi-year growth journey.
The stationery brand in past has launched several campaigns and even did ad films with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.
The stationery products market garnered revenue of 109.5 billion dollars in the year 2019 globally and has been foreseen to yield USD 154.1 billion by the year 2027 at a CAGR of 4.6 per cent over the forecast period.
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.
