Digital
Liqvd Asia swallows Adlift in digital marketing power play
MUMBAI: Two digital marketing outfits have decided that in the cutthroat world of online advertising, it’s better to bed down together than battle it out alone. Liqvd Asia, a digital-first advertising agency, has snapped up Adlift, a performance marketing and SEO specialist, in a move that promises to shake up the industry’s established order.
The tie-up, announced on 20 March, creates a full-service digital powerhouse that marries Liqvd Asia’s creative chops with Adlift’s data-driven prowess. The combined entity aims to offer clients the holy grail of marketing: campaigns that not only look pretty but actually deliver the goods.
Founded in 2013, Liqvd Asia has made its name flogging digital branding and content campaigns. By acquiring Adlift, which has been pushing data-driven performance marketing since 2009, the agency is clearly gunning for a bigger slice of the digital marketing pie.
Liqvd Asia founder & managing director Arnab Mitra couldn’t resist a bit of corporate speak when explaining the deal: “This acquisition marks a natural evolution in our journey to create an end-to-end marketing powerhouse that blends storytelling with performance at scale.” Strip away the jargon and the message is clear: they want to be the biggest and the best.
Adlift co-founder & chief executive Prashant Puri was equally bullish about the union: “This acquisition is not just about expansion—it’s about setting new benchmarks in digital marketing innovation.” Translation: we’re coming for everyone else’s lunch.
With Adlift’s team staying put under a joint leadership framework, the merger should avoid the usual corporate bedlam that follows such deals. The companies are betting that their combined financial muscle will allow them to splash the cash on fancy AI platforms and automation technologies.
Liqvd Asia, which already has studios in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Kolkata, has made no secret of its global ambitions. The firm has its sights set on the US, Gulf states, Asia-Pacific and Europe, with Adlift’s international connections providing a ready-made launchpad.
Adlift brings to the table a team of over 200 digital experts and relationships with more than 250 blue-chip clients, including Walmart, Shopify and HDFC Bank. The agency has built its reputation on the back of search engine optimisation, paid media and content marketing—all areas where Liqvd Asia was looking to beef up its offerings.
If the two agencies can successfully merge their strengths without stepping on each other’s toes, they might just create the digital marketing juggernaut they’re promising. But as many a corporate marriage has shown, the path from honeymoon to happily ever after is often strewn with unexpected obstacles.
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.
