Brands
On-demand TV shows add to Adda52 Rummy’s traditional marketing efforts
NEW DELHI: One of the most trusted and rewarding rummy apps in India, Adda52 Rummy, owned by Delta Corporation, has been very successful in engaging its growing user base with incredible mega-tournaments, quick rewards, and varied formats. The platform is expected to grow by 3.5x by 2025 according to an AIGF Study, and this can very well be attributed to its constant innovation and dedication to user experience.
In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, its head of marketing Ashish Bhakuni said that rummy has been a very popular game in India and is known not for gambling but instead is seen as a tool for socialising and entertainment. “We are trying to capitalise on that thought process only," he says.
As per Bhakuni, Adda52 Rummy is spending 50 per cent of its overall revenue in marketing the property to achieve its desired growth. Adda52.com, in fact, launched its first ever integrated campaign ‘Banao Dimag Ko Ameer’, last year, to showcase the uniqueness of the game and highlighting poker as a mind game that enhances one’s mental skills.
But how relevant is it for a digital game to advertise on traditional media?
Bhakuni replies, “Normally, users do not immediately transact to what they see. It is very important to be retained in the memory of the user for a better brand recall. Omnichannel marketing does it quite well."
Adda52 Rummy currently spends 30 per cent of its overall marketing budgets on media like television, print and OOH.
The strategy for TV is to tap the audience during prime time for the game, which is 7 pm to 1 am. “This is the time when people are active on their mobiles. We run tournaments every hour, starting at 7 pm every evening and create a hook to get people on our platform.”
Bhakuni believes placing the ads beyond the regular drama channels is helping it perform even better. “We are tapping a lot of on-demand content. We recently did very well during a show on Discovery channel. These channels and programmes aggregate audience as the viewership is very high. They offer us guaranteed and very targeted viewership,” he says.
The platform is now trying to deepen its roots in the South Indian states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, where the game is already very popular. It will be running a special campaign around Ugadi celebration, guaranteeing rewards every hour to its consumers.
Bhakuni highlights that the focus is going to be on utilising more data points to enhance user experience in the coming time.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
