MAM
OCPL earnmarks 4 per cent of turnover for marketing in FY15
KOLKATA: The F&B conglomerate, Oriental Cuisines Private Limited (OCPL) plans to earmark four per cent of the turnover into the marketing spend in the current fiscal 2014-15.
Also, the Chennai-based company aims to open 50 more outlets in the bakery division by the end of this fiscal taking the total number to 200 outlets.
“Since we are looking for expansion, our brand has to have the pull factor. While we are undertaking below the line (BTL) activities on regular basis to market our brand and products, we will also launch a TVC soon,” informed OCPL CEO Narendra Malhotra.
OCPL currently has outlets like ‘The French Loaf’, ‘Benjarong’ and ‘Z The Tapas Bar & Restaurant’ (earlier known as Zara). In addition to this, the company has now launched its first premium chocolate boutique – ‘Le Chocolatier’ to cater to the chocolate aficionados.
“Out of the 50 outlets, 10 will be company owned and the rest will be franchise run formats,” he said.
OCPL, last year, had spent less than four per cent of the sales on the marketing activities. “With the expansion plans well thought, our sales is expected to be more. We have got many proposals already for the franchise run formats,” said Malhotra.
Gutfeel, an offshoot of TBWA, at present designs the marketing campaign for the company. Mindsgare is the media buying agency for OCPL.
Talking about the group’s other food brands including Benjarong, Teppan, Ente Keralam, China Town, Z The Tapas Bar & Restaurant, Wans Kitchen, Planet Yumm, Kebab House and Hotel Oriental Inn, Malhotra said, “All these brands enjoy a loyal customer base and are popular in each of the segments.”
The bakery chain ‘The French Loaf’ currently operates in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. “Out of 55 ‘The French Loaf’ outlets, around 9 are in Kolkata,” he concluded.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
