MAM
AWL brings tech-powered tradition to Rath Yatra with Fortune and Alife
MUMBAI: What do you get when a 12th-century chariot festival meets mixed reality and Kakara Pitha? A Fortune-branded pilgrimage into the future. In a dazzling collision of devotion and digital innovation, AWL Agri Business Ltd. (formerly Adani Wilmar Ltd.) is pulling out all the stops at Rath Yatra 2025, unveiling a seven-element campaign that transforms Puri’s spiritual carnival into an immersive brandscape. From 40-foot installations and live kitchens to VR bhog offerings and anamorphic beach content, this isn’t just festive marketing, it’s a full-blown sensory yatra.
At the heart of it all lies the Fortune Zone, a monumental hub on Grand Road featuring three standout experiences. Devotees can cook virtual mahaprasad using Fortune ingredients in mixed reality, offer it inside a simulated Jagannath Temple, and walk away with a real sample of the same dish. Then there’s a live cooking contest where pilgrims pit their culinary skills against each other in crafting Kakara Pitha, Odisha’s traditional sweet treat.
“We’ve evolved from offering just a VR tour to delivering a full multi-sensory experience that blends faith and food,” said AWL Agri Business Ltd joint president of sales & marketing Mukesh Mishra. “Our hyperlocal lens helps us engage meaningfully, and Rath Yatra is a perfect convergence of our brand’s cultural and culinary ethos.”
Also in the mix is Alife, AWL’s personal care brand, offering a beachside Changing Station for post-dip refreshment and a fleet of Fortune-branded e-rickshaws to ferry devotees around Puri because comfort is the new seva. On Puri beach, a giant LED screen beams anamorphic content, giving digital dazzle to the devotional ambience.
With brands like Fortune and Alife leading the charge, AWL’s campaign exemplifies the next frontier in festival marketing where participation trumps promotion and storytelling lives at the intersection of ritual and tech.
This isn’t just a company showing up at a festival. It’s a brand redesigning the pilgrimage experience, one VR ladle, LED lens, and Kakara Pitha at a time.
Brands
ZEEL transfers syndication business, invests Rs 505 crore in IP push
Restructuring, stake buy and FCCB moves signal sharper content strategy
MUMBAI: In the content economy, owning the story is half the battle monetising it is the real game, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises is doubling down on both. The company has approved the transfer of its syndication and content licensing business to its wholly owned subsidiary ZI-IPR Enterprises, alongside an investment of Rs 505 crore aimed at strengthening its play in content intellectual property (IP) acquisition, management and monetisation. The move, effective April 1, 2026, will see the business transferred on a slump sale basis at book value, including all associated assets, liabilities and commercial rights effectively consolidating IP operations under a more focused structure.
At its core, the restructuring signals a strategic shift. As content consumption increasingly fragments across digital and global platforms, the value of IP lies not just in creation but in how efficiently it can be distributed, repackaged and monetised across markets. By housing its syndication engine within ZI-IPR Enterprises, ZEEL appears to be building a more agile and scalable ecosystem, one that can better extract value from its vast content library while adapting to evolving distribution models.
But the company’s ambitions are not limited to restructuring. ZEEL has also approved an investment of up to Rs 20.09 crore in Culture of Real Experiences (CORE), acquiring a 51 per cent stake in the entity. The move expands its footprint into the broader creative and experiential space, suggesting a push beyond traditional broadcasting into areas where content, culture and immersive experiences intersect.
At the same time, ZEEL has moved to tidy up its financials, approving the redemption of $23.9 million in outstanding foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and cancelling an unused $215.1 million commitment. The twin steps are expected to ease pressure on its treasury, freeing up capital and improving financial flexibility as the company invests more aggressively in its IP strategy.
Taken together, the decisions reflect a company in recalibration mode streamlining legacy structures, sharpening its focus on content ownership, and exploring new avenues for growth. In a market where the lines between television, streaming and experiential entertainment are increasingly blurred, ZEEL’s latest moves suggest it is not just creating content, but building a system to make that content travel further and pay better.
