Brands
“Where Advertising Can’t, Content Can”
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Marketers for brands, consumer products, retail chains, media and entertainment are struggling to redefine and reinvent “advertising” for a new generation of empowered consumers. Media proliferation and fragmentation is making it harder to reach consumers with traditional formats of “interruption” advertising. New technologies, media platforms and consumer behaviors are affecting every aspect of traditional marketing and thereby dramatically impacting marketing effectiveness.
There is a strong need to create “engagement” advertising models with digital at the core which will facilitate more sophisticated, powerful and profitable connections between brands, content creators and their target audiences. Internationally, the content-commerce partnership evolution is gathering momentum. Brand entertainment partnerships are changing the rules of developing creative campaigns, marketing and advertising planning and production. In response to these challenges, GroupM India launched GroupM ESP to help brands harness the power of content based solutions by activating the power of movies, music, sports, live, celebrities and characters.  GroupM ESP specialises in evaluating, negotiating, developing, activating and measuring strategic content platforms and partnerships around movies, music, sports, celebrities and characters. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of the media and the sports and entertainment industries, the ESP teams focus on developing innovative content strategies and solutions with a digital core that embed advertiser‘s brands in consumer passion points using multimedia leverage and multifaceted partnerships. GroupM ESP also works closely as a high end consultant with clients and rights owners to help create and own multi-media content assets of long term value and their exploitation through media distribution, marketing, licensing and retailing to build deeper and more valuable connections with consumers. The Indian entertainment and sports market, the largest in the world by size, offers advertisers and their brands, unique and multiple passion points to reach and engage target audiences with profitable and proven content solutions, embracing all the learnings from traditional media and advertising. New technologies and new channels incorporating licensing need to be harnessed creatively using insights with marketing ROI rigorously quantified.
The GroupM ESP content team comprises more than 50+ specialists (the largest for any advertising or media agency in India) has been providing end-to-end solutions for over a decade now. Known for its transparent dealings, easy and preferred access to content and talent (International, National and Regional), GroupM ESP is also able to seamlessly deliver the benefits of parent GroupM media volumes, relationships and specialist units backed by robust systems and processes. All this has been recognised through more than 50 awards at various industry and company platforms. Through its high profile alliances and partnerships with content creators, rights owners and talent across every domain and geography, the GroupM ESP team is able to offer expanded capacity and capability to handle complex projects smoothly. As we move from a decade of “Airing” to “Sharing”, digital needs to be at the core of any marketing program and the GroupM ESP team is adequately equipped to impart a strong digital dimension in all its projects. An in-house ESP digital team backed by the parent GroupM resources ensures that solutions are digitally centered and executed. More than 100 advertisers in India have benefited from their association with GroupM ESP. |
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Brands
Jubilant Foodworks to end Dunkin’ franchise in India
Pizza chain operator will not renew agreement when it expires at end of 2026.
MUMBAI: When the doughnuts stop turning and the coffee goes cold, even a global giant like Dunkin’ can find the Indian market a tough brew to crack. Jubilant Foodworks has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with Dunkin’ when the pact expires on 31 December 2026, according to a Reuters report. The operator, best known for running Domino’s outlets in India, said it would evaluate options for its existing Dunkin’ stores, including a potential sale or transfer of franchise rights, in consultation with the US-based brand.
The decision follows years of underperformance in a market where local tastes and intense competition have made it difficult for international coffee-and-doughnut formats to gain traction. Jubilant, which has increasingly focused on its core pizza business and newer bets like Popeyes, indicated that the exit would not materially affect its financial or operational position.
Dunkin’ accounted for just 0.61 per cent of Jubilant’s revenue in the fiscal year ending 2025 and recorded a loss of approximately Rs 191 million, according to a regulatory filing. The company operated 27 outlets as of December 2025, having shuttered seven stores over the preceding year.
The retreat comes even as Jubilant’s broader business shows signs of momentum. The company reported a 65 per cent rise in quarterly profit for the October to December period, reaching Rs 70.9 crore, up from Rs 42.91 crore a year earlier.
For Jubilant, the exit reflects a sharpening strategic focus. For Dunkin’, it marks another setback in a market that has proven resistant to imported café concepts without significant localisation.
In the cut-throat world of Indian quick-service restaurants, sometimes the sweetest deals are the ones you quietly walk away from leaving more room for the brands that truly rise to the occasion.
