MAM
Interactive Television: Throwing light at cinema advertising
MUMBAI: In the country where cricket and movies are more than a pastime, for Ajay Mehta films meant more than just a family business.
Brought up in a household of film distributors, Mehta decided to do much more than that for the same industry. “I wanted to do something related but not join the family business and working with advertisers sounded exciting and fun,” he recalls.
Founded in 1996 in New Delhi, Interactive Television, was set up as a marketing agency which provides cinema advertising and marketing services in multiplexes, malls, and shopping chains.
However, the journey wasn’t a smooth one even though he belonged to the film fraternity. “The biggest challenge was to convince people of the medium without any data and in fact the cinema industry still does not offer enough data to advertisers,” says Mehta while adding that in the digital age that is simply unacceptable.
Even though everyone knows that cinema is like a religion in India but without viewership data and demographics, advertisers are investing in the dark, highlights Mehta. To counter this, Cinema Audit Monitoring (CAM) was launched, which according to him was the first step in making the medium transparent and accountable.
Today, working across 9000 screens in India, the company is country’s only integrated entertainment and retail marketing company, releasing CAM report each month, which gives comparative analysis of cinema advertising and movie marketing throughout the country.
Satisfied with the journey so far, Mehta feels that the process of establishing a medium which was not in any major advertisers plans to one which is included in every major plan has been tremendous. “High point have been many, every conversion of a client is a high point especially the non believers, every innovation is a high point as it feels special to create an idea which has not been thought off before, advertising for Indian clients in international markets like the USA, UK and the UAE has been a high point as Indian movies now have a global reach and can offer a platform for clients trying to reach out to the Indian diaspora.”
Seeing the potential, WPP had acquired the company, but it remains an independent company. “They have been fantastic shareholders and we have learnt a lot from them, apart from access to clients, we have learnt a lot on systems, processes, accountability to clients. The business has benefited from the insights which they have brought and we have managed to scale up the business post them coming on board,” informs Mehta.
Started with just three people, the company now employees more than 70 in six cities which helps it to create exclusive packages for its clients. “Our people are our biggest strength and come from diverse backgrounds like cinema chains, media agencies, logistic companies, research agencies and ad sale houses. This is unmatched in the industry and gives us deep understanding of what clients want from their media investments and also gives us insights into how the cinema channel thinks. This ability to understand the entire landscape of cinema advertising is our biggest advantage.” The company has been responsible for immense value adds to promotions for corporates like Samsung, HLL, ITC Foods, Reckitt Benckiser, Vodafone, Star Network, and many more.
On the current market trend, Mehta believes that single screens have a lot of potential for advertisers trying to reach out to the mass market and categories such as FMCG, telecom, BFSI etc can leverage the reach and impact offered by the largest screen in the world i.e. the movie screen. “Digital cinema is an enabler for it and today new content reaches smaller cities on the same day as the Delhis and Mumbais of the world, this means piracy is controlled and newer audiences are embracing cinema. Till today, advertisers found advertising on single screens in small cities logistically difficult but this has changed completely with digital cinema. We think digital cinema will be the growth driver for the whole cinema advertising industry and we at Interactive want to lead this transition,” he pinpoints.
As for the future plans, the agency wants to lead the process of making this medium more transparent and accountable through newer tools and Big Data. “We also think cinema is more than just the screen and is the only medium where one can have a live engagement with the audiences, off screen advertising is still pretty much a virgin territory and we want to ensure that gets its value,” concludes Mehta.
Brands
Sapphire Foods FY26 revenue rises to Rs 3,125 crore, posts loss
Q4 revenue at Rs 792 crore, FY26 loss at Rs 32 crore amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: If growth is on the menu, profitability seems to have taken a brief detour. Sapphire Foods India reported a steady rise in topline for FY26, even as rising costs weighed on profitability. Revenue from operations grew to Rs 3,125 crore for the year ended March 31, 2026, up from Rs 2,882 crore in FY25. However, the company swung to a loss, reporting a net loss of Rs 32 crore for FY26, compared to a profit of Rs 17 crore in the previous year. Total income for the year stood at Rs 3,153 crore, while total expenses climbed to Rs 3,167 crore, reflecting pressure across key cost heads.
In the March quarter, revenue came in at Rs 792 crore, compared to Rs 711 crore in the same period last year. The company reported a quarterly net loss of Rs 13 crore, against a profit of Rs 2 crore a year earlier.
Cost pressures remained visible across operations. Material costs rose to Rs 995 crore for FY26, while employee expenses increased to Rs 428 crore. Other expenses, the largest component, stood at Rs 1,229 crore, underscoring the impact of store operations and expansion-related spends.
Depreciation and amortisation expenses also climbed to Rs 392 crore for the year, reflecting continued investments in store infrastructure and growth.
At the operating level, the company reported a loss before tax of Rs 37 crore for FY26, compared to a profit of Rs 23 crore in FY25. Exceptional items added Rs 24 crore to the cost burden during the year.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 3,256 crore as of March 31, 2026, up from Rs 3,041 crore a year earlier, indicating ongoing expansion. Net worth stood at Rs 1,389 crore.
Despite profitability pressures, operating cash flow remained resilient at Rs 507 crore, highlighting underlying business strength and demand stability.
The numbers paint a familiar picture in the quick-service restaurant space, growth continues to be served hot, but margins are still finding their footing.
