At the Pitch CMO Summit 2025, Gaurav Jain, Chief Business Officer at ShareChat and Moj, delivered a compelling argument for why short-form video is not just the next big thing - it’s already here, shaping how India consumes, discovers, and connects with brands.
Tracing the global rise of platforms like TikTok and their subsequent clones from Western tech giants, Jain pointed out that Indian marketers are still catching up with the pace of consumer behaviour. "Consumers have moved on," he said. "It’s the brands and marketers who are playing catch-up."
Short-form video isn’t just a format, it’s the de facto medium of communication today, and increasingly, across demographics. “Even boomers, our parents’ generation are consuming news, entertainment and everything else in under 30 seconds,” Jain said.
With 325 million daily active users across ShareChat and Moj, Jain claimed the platforms are India’s largest short-form video destinations. Unlike global players that build for English-speaking metros, ShareChat and Moj were purpose-built from India, for India - with a keen focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 audiences.
Jain stressed that brands must shift from viewing the internet as metro-centric and English-dominated. “The next wave of consumption is not coming from Mumbai or Gurgaon. It’s coming from Bareilly, Bhilai, and Bhubaneshwar. And they’re not always consuming in English or even Hindi, they're engaging in their own languages, with creators who reflect their own realities.”
Calling short-form video the “ultimate brand discovery engine,” Jain made a strong case for an always-on content strategy. With no predefined intent, users often stumble upon brands through creator-led content, planting seeds of purchase that bear fruit later.
“Whether you're a top FMCG brand or a homegrown hair oil seller, not having a consistent short-form video strategy today is like not having a brand at all,” he said, urging brands to build native, vertical, and sound-off friendly content.
Importantly, this doesn't always require ad spends. Jain advised marketers to use organic short-form video content to build familiarity and trust. “It helps consumers feel that your brand wasn’t just a flash in the pan,” he added.
In perhaps the most eye-opening section, Jain spoke about the real influencers moving the needle: nano and regional creators. “Your brand will likely see more traction when a local creator from Patna talks about it than when a celebrity drops a generic endorsement,” he said.
He spotlighted ShareChat and Moj’s robust creator economy - one that not only enables monetisation but also demonstrates creator-user bonds in real terms. Jain cited the example of users gifting ShareChat coins (convertible to real money) during livestreams as proof of deep emotional engagement.
Taking on the notion of “festive planning,” Jain critiqued the narrow lens of planning only for Diwali. Instead, he urged marketers to tap into India's rich tapestry of regional festivals - from Guru Purnima to Chhath Puja which often see massive digital spikes and heightened consumer sentiment.
“These aren’t ‘micro’ festivals. When 50–60 million people celebrate something, that’s not micro, that’s 10 times the size of Singapore,” Jain quipped.
He urged marketers to build regionally-tailored campaigns that ride on local languages, local creators, and cultural cues, a strategy he believes is underleveraged by most national brands.
He added, “It’s not about the next viral campaign. It’s about being there — always — with content that resonates, creators that connect, and timing that matters. If you’re not building for Tier 2 and Tier 3, if you’re not in regional languages, if you’re not ‘always-on’, you’re already behind.”
For brands looking to reach the heart of India’s consumption growth, the message was clear: it’s short, it’s mobile, it’s regional and it’s already happening.
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