MAM
Bradford Licensing forms India JV with Franchise Group
MUMBAI: New-Jersey-based Bradford Licensing is fortifying its India presence via a joint venture with Franchise India Group to launch its global brands such as Marilyn Monroe and Beverly Hills Love in the country.
The joint venture, Bradford License India (BLI), will also tap new clients in India. It will offer integrated licensing solution services to both licensors and licensees and devise licensing strategies.
Global licensing agency Bradford will bring to the JV its existing clients that include Pepsi, 7 UP, Mountain Dew, The Wannabes starring Savvy, King Kong and Zorro. Franchise India has clients like HCL, MGF, Quality Walls, Tata, Gitanjali, HSBC, Levis, JK Tyres, Lakme, D‘damas, Adidas, Euro Kidz, The Apollo Clinic, Shiv Khera and Harbhajan Singh.
The JV will seek to develop the rapidly growing brand licensing market in India. BLI will act as a global agency and explore non-conventional licensing opportunities in India by capitalizing on the intellectual insight of Bradford Licensing.
Says Bradford Licensing president Michelle Minieri “India is a country filled with opportunities for licensing, and ready for significant expansion. As a byproduct of globalization, increased competition and industrialization, licensing is becoming critical to the success of business growth. I am confident that this synergistic relationship now known as Bradford License India is the ideal match that will generate some very exciting business opportunities.”
BLI has initiated the process of building the infrastructure with critical team members working throughout India to acclimate the local team to the world of licensing.
Says Franchise India Group president Gaurav Marya, “Bradford License India is perfectly geared to expand into diverse spheres of licensing in India. Its working parameters are primed by deriving licensing models as per the global standards and their integration with local marketing and networking strengths.”
Bradford License India aims to focus on comprehensive licensing programmes, including the design, development, and management of the acquired licensing property.
MAM
Kerala election ads surged in 2026, with print nearly tripling and TV up 52 per cent
Political parties spent bigger and smarter this cycle, concentrating their firepower in the final weeks before polling day
KERALA: Kerala’s politicians discovered something in 2026 that seasoned marketers have known for years: timing is everything, and when in doubt, spend more. Political advertising during the Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 surged sharply across traditional media compared to the 2021 cycle, with print and television leading the charge, according to the latest analysis by TAM AdEx.
Print was the standout performer, expanding nearly 2.7 times compared to 2021, a striking jump that underlines its continued grip on targeted political communication in a state with some of India’s highest newspaper readership. Television was not far behind, with ad insertions rising 52 per cent, reflecting the enduring appeal of mass-reach platforms for shaping voter sentiment at scale. Radio held steady, mirroring television trends and reinforcing its role as a reliable supporting medium.
The pattern of spending was as revealing as the volumes. More than 85 per cent of all political ad insertions were recorded in the weeks immediately before polling, a concentration that points to a deliberate, last-mile strategy. Ad volumes peaked during weeks four and five in both the 2021 and 2026 cycles, suggesting that parties have settled on a consistent playbook of high-frequency messaging in the home stretch.
The contrast between media types was equally instructive. Print advertising maintained a relatively even spread across the campaign period, serving as a vehicle for sustained, detailed communication. Television and radio, by contrast, displayed sharp spikes in the closing weeks, deployed as blunt instruments for high-impact bursts at the precise moment voters are making up their minds.
What the 2026 cycle signals most clearly is a shift toward more structured, data-driven media planning. The increase in overall volumes, combined with sharper peaks in campaign intensity, suggests that political advertisers are beginning to think less like propagandists and more like performance marketers, balancing broad reach with targeted engagement and watching the returns closely.
Kerala’s election advertising has, in short, grown up. The question for the next cycle is whether digital finally gate-crashes a party that print and television have so far kept firmly to themselves.
