MAM
The power of native language
Effective communication is the bedrock of any successful marketing strategy. Communicating in a language your audience is most comfortable with, not only delivers the message effectively but also helps in building an emotional connection, thereby urging them to respond. This holds good particularly for a country like India, which is extremely rich in diversity. With 22 major languages and numerous dialects, a one-size-fit-all strategy is doomed to fail.
The ‘Desi’ Brand
Beyond urban agglomerates, a large section of the population resides in rural areas and small towns. These consumers with different linguistic practices and preferences prefer to view content in their own local language. If you look at print media in India, eight out of the top 10 publications are non-English. In fact, these publications such as Dainik Bhaskar, Malayalam Manorama, Eenadu to name a few are so entrenched in the daily lives of their readers they not only form the basis of tea/coffee discussions but also play a crucial role in their decision-making process.
For most online content, until recently, English dominated as the main language. This, however, has changed with increased mobile and internet penetration across the country, compelling brands to build customised content for users in a language the latter prefers and more importantly connects with.
‘Desi’ seems to be the new mantra as affordable high-speed internet and increased smartphone penetration is set to bring another 500 million new internet users into the fold – most of which would be from tier II and tier III cities. These users prefer videos over text and tend to download and share content more.
Video Gains
As against the previous generation of internet users, who were conversant in English and also tech-savvy, the next generation of users is the ones seeking content in Indian languages and that too, without typing. Their usage largely depends on audio, video and vernacular-language applications.
Smartphones along with reduced data costs and a dearth of online textual (written) content in regional languages have made videos the most popular as well as an affordable format for these users.
Being new to the phenomenon, these users also experience a higher level of FOMO (fear-of-missing-out), which is why they tend to download and share content more as compared with their peers. This builds the case of why brands are swearing by regional language videos to amplify consumer engagement.
Multi-lingual Approach
Taking the lead, social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin have gone multi-lingual, catering to the burgeoning user-base of native Indian language speakers. Facebook not only allows users to access the platform in a language of their choice but also lets businesses to create pages in regional languages.
Google’s YouTube has also seen a spurt in vernacular language content, both in terms of viewers as well as content creators in languages like Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and Bengali. Mobile apps such as ShareChat, TikTok, DailyHunt, Lokal, and Roposo are also extremely popular among Indian language speakers. Especially in Tier II and Tier III cities, these apps with their extensive reach can be great platforms for maximising brand reach and engagement.
Many brands like Snapchat and BigBazaar have collaborated with regional content creators and influencers to create videos featuring their products in different regional languages.
Not restricted anymore
Companies are finding that it’s not just the end-user who stands to gain from multilingual branding efforts. In fact, it is beneficial for every stakeholder across the value chain – be it the retailer, distributor, manufacturer or supplier. Localised brand and product videos can be a great way of engaging with people from different cultures and languages within your own business. A distributor, for instance, located in a remote village, would find a product video in his own native language more relatable and engaging. It not only weeds out misinterpretations and inadequate communication but also helps in facilitating genuine collaboration and understanding among various stakeholders.
The use of regional languages also helps large organisations spread across the country communicate and connect with their employees in a far more effective manner.
However, a good understanding of cultural nuances is essential when creating localised content for users in different territories. A literal translation may not convey the complete picture and may even result in the loss of key information required for decision-making.
Clearly, the action now lies in the hinterlands. As companies gear up for the next cohort of internet users, companies need to reach out to their consumers in a language they understand and love to communicate in. With more people gaining affordable access to the internet, it has never been easier to reach out to your audience. Connecting with your audiences in the most personalised and relevant manner can not only help widen your brand awareness and reach and build greater collaboration and loyalty. So, are your marketing efforts geared towards producing content in the native language?
(The author is CEO, Think WhyNot Films. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
MAM
Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement
Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted
MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.
The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.
The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.
Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.
Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.
For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.
More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.
The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.
In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
MAM
Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships
At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.
Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.
Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.
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