MAM

“Attention span is going less because of so much content in apps”: Vasuta Agarwal

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2024

Mumbai: Glance has unveiled its 2024 Trends Report for India, revealing a significant shift in user engagement patterns towards personalised content discovery. With over 235 million active users, the emergence of ‘glancing’ has redefined how users interact with digital content, offering a refreshing alternative to traditional app-based browsing. This trend effectively addresses concerns such as information overload and app fatigue, allowing users to discover relevant content effortlessly.

A noteworthy finding of the report is the active engagement of users with content in their preferred regional languages. On a daily basis, regional language content received an impressive 550 million ‘glances’, with 10 out of the top 25 pieces focusing on regional subjects like news, movies, and local interests. This surge in demand for personalised linguistic experiences is evident as users accessed regional content almost twice as much as English content.

In terms of content consumption, national news, sports, and entertainment emerged as the top three categories, comprising 19 per cent, 18 per cent and 16 per cent of user interactions respectively. National events such as the G20 summit and the Chandrayaan mission garnered immense attention, with four billion and two billion glances respectively.

Indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of the media roundtable conference held by Glance, caught up with InMobi Group business officer Vasuta Agarwal where she explained how this report would be beneficial from the brand’s perspective.

Edited excerpts

On sharing the brief of this report and the need to create one

The report was about the user trends that we are seeing at Glance’s platform. We have been releasing similar reports every year because the intent is to capture the essence of the year on what’s been happening on Glance around the world. Last year’s report wouldn’t have been around the world because we were primarily in India and Indonesia at the time. This time we are gaining presence in other markets as well.

On brands effectively targeting the diverse user base of over 235 million active Glance Smart Lock Screen users in India

What we know broadly about the users is the demographic. We talked about 61 per cent being male and 39 per cent female. We know a little bit about their location and which cities they are in. We know what kind of content they are consuming like travel, who likes news, sports etc. Using all of these different elements, we create audiences which brand may want to reach out and that’s how the audience part happens. We bring in both interactivity and the engagement in the creatives.

On the role of creativity in capturing the attention and interest of Glance Smart Lock Screen users

I think it plays a big role. Attention span of the users is a huge challenge now because people have so much to consume and so many apps to go into. Capturing user attention has become a huge problem for brands because we have been present on the lock screen of the device. It becomes much easier for the brands to reach the users because you are right there on the first screen of the phone. Then comes the creativity like how you’re gonna hold the users attention, can you create some element of interaction, or some gamification like for example we talked about we used IPL live score to bring engagement. We used different color catalogs for American Tourister for interactivity. So different elements in the creative can help users to engage with brands.

On attention span reducing more and more due to rapid advancement in technology

Attention span is going less because of so much content in apps. The challenge at some times is that users themselves don’t know where to spend time. It is a combination of both. If there weren’t so many, users might not engage too much on the phone. That’s why it becomes important how you get the right information and content to the user so that their time is well spent. At Glance, we try to bring the right personalisation for users so what is useful for you might be very different then what’s useful for me and so on.

On brands ensuring their content remains relevant with users

There are a lot of things that brands need to do. One is that creators need to be continuously looked at because unless creatives keep with where the user is spending more time. For instance, five years back nobody was making videos on insta reels on the brand’s side. Until two and a half years back, nobody was making special creatives for brands because as users are spending more time on the platforms, brands also have to innovate and capture their attention. I think that’s a continuous thing that brands have to invest in. Now it’s much faster, earlier disruption would happen in ten years, now it happens every 6-12 months so we have to keep up with that pace.

Related Topics:Chandrayaan G20 Summit Glance Vasuta Agarwal

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Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

3 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

3 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

3 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.