MAM

GUEST COLUMN: Going beyond the short video format for digital media

Published

4 years ago

September 11, 2021

Mumbai: Coconut Films has been in the business of TV commercial production for more than a decade and has recently delivered a digital film for the bullet brand, Royal Enfield. Breaking digital stereotypes, the film is a long-format one & profound. Much like the bike, the film – ’Home’ moves at a cruising pace, and leaves the audiences with a lingering feeling of connecting back with their roots. Coconut Films co-founder Tushar Raut shares his insights on creating the ad-film and how different it was to write for a digital audience.

Digital has been on the rise for a while. More occasions and more stories have been the mantra for marketers trying to connect with a divided audience whose attention span floats from window to window and app to app. So, how are ad-makers navigating through in a cluttered market? These are some questions that the entire marketing community has been facing since the short format video and video consumption online became a way of life.

The good news is that we are no longer being dictated by the inherent challenges of the medium and being dictated by the format. Digital gives you a lot of creative freedom on the upside. Brevity is no longer the order of the day. We are not writing for 30 seconds. Of course, the audience has the option of skipping but every second does not count so I believe there is a lot of wind beneath our wings by that count.

Short format videos are moving fast and selling like hotcakes but the medium has space for longer format and a lot of other kinds of storytelling. The thumb rule here is that there are no thumb rules. It is as ‘lawless’ as it gets. So, you have to do a lot of self-censorships and not get overindulgent with your own ideas. The script is the hero and the story you want to convey guides you rather than the medium.

For Royal Enfield, we picked a subject that most people would relate to, irrespective of the age group and the format of media they consume. The film for Royal Enfield speaks about going back to roots, going back home and that can’t differ in terms of emotions. Even when it comes to the tech-savvy audience, going back to roots (in most cases) is very soothing. Anybody who has been away from home while having a similar set of feelings. People may change with every passing day, their physical needs also change but emotional needs are less fastidious, it is far more basic and confined. That is what makes us so similar despite many differences. I believe that is what one should focus on while working on a film, be it for TV or theatre, or digital.

As for us, ‘Home’- the ad film which is roughly over seven minutes long, was not even conceived with the digital platform on our mind. We wanted to tell a story and tell it in the most authentic way. It was conceived with a feeling of wanting to give things back to where we all came from! Roots! We just wanted to make a film with a pure passion for storytelling without limiting ourselves to any parameters. We strongly believe that good content will be seen be it on TV or digital.

ALSO READ | https://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/marketing/mam/royal-enfields-new-ad-film-kindles-the-joy-of-returning-home-210804

The market dynamics these days are such that brand managers are often pushed by visibility, recall factors and maintain a continuous presence. While the line between content and advertising is blurring, on one hand, there is a constant need for being present and being connected with the audience. I don’t know whether to call it a downside but that tends to dictate a lot of other factors in terms of making the films, production values, etc. Initially, when the medium started putting out films, the brands would have smaller budgets, more films that were restricted to the short format. But over the years, marketers are coming to terms with the fact that a film is a film irrespective of the medium. It has to have a story, good production values, and weave well, overall. It really doesn’t matter if the film is for digital or any other medium because everything remains the same while producing one. One big takeaway for me has been that this is a very dynamic medium and still at nascent stages so it is evolving at a paid pace every day.

It is important for the client, agency, and the production house to be on the same page and understand the objective of the film both in terms of the creative and budgetary aspects. If the brief is clear and everyone is aligned, then you can do a phenomenal job on a tight budget also. Budget is not the prerequisite of success; it gives you more freedom to do a lot of things. But I think it is a sort of a litmus test for professionals.

All marketers will want the best bang for the buck and hence the entire value chain, therefore, aligns to this direction. ‘Home’ luckily was our pet project and the objective was to make an authentic, true-to-life film, which we managed to achieve. By the way, it looks opulent too and that is where our years of hard work has come into play, to achieve what we have achieved within the price points we had earmarked.

(Tushar Raut is co-founder of Coconut Films. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

Up Next

Rupeek unveils new TVC featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Priyamani

Don't Miss

GUEST COLUMN: How Artificial Intelligence is transforming the world of digital marketing

Click to comment

Brands

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 days 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 days 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 days 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.