Netflix India has a new man at the helm of marketing, Vamsi Murthy, the former Executive Director and Marketing Head at JioStar.
Murthy has joined as Senior Director, Head of Marketing at Netflix India, marking a crucial move for the streamer as it attempts to deepen its reach in a market that has always been a tough nut to crack.
Murthy’s credentials speak for themselves. He’s led marketing at JioStar, BookMyShow, ZEE5, and Myntra Jabong, crafting playbooks that built loyalty in one of the most diverse entertainment markets in the world. At JioStar, he spearheaded consumer marketing and full-funnel measurement frameworks, driving acquisition and retention with precision. In short, he knows how to scale a platform without losing its audience.
And that’s exactly what Netflix needs right now.
JioHotstar, the newly merged giant that just hit one billion downloads on Google Play, has cracked India’s mass audience through distribution, affordability, and cultural familiarity. Netflix, by contrast, has stayed premium, almost deliberately niche. But with Murthy’s appointment, the question arises: Is Netflix planning to borrow a few pages from JioHotstar’s playbook?
Because, in India, content isn’t the only battlefield anymore. It’s about economics, accessibility, and habit. And if Netflix wants to play long-term, it might finally be learning that in this market, scale isn’t everything, but connection is.