Brands
Radio tunes into growth as ad volumes rise 3 per cent in H1 2025
MUMBAI: Radio isn’t just background noise, it’s making advertisers sit up and listen. According to TAM Adex’s Half-Yearly Advertising Report, radio ad volumes grew by 3 per cent in January–June 2025 compared to the same period last year, signalling a steady tune-up for the medium.
Services struck the loudest chord, accounting for a massive 30 per cent share of all ad volumes. Collectively, the top ten sectors spanning auto (11 per cent), banking and finance (10 per cent), education (9 per cent), and food and beverages (7 per cent) captured nearly 89 per cent of the airtime. Durables made a new entry into the top 10, showing the medium’s appeal beyond traditional categories.
Among categories, properties and real estate kept their prime spot with 14 per cent share, but hospitals and clinics surged into second place, clocking 18 per cent growth, while jewellers glittered with 17 per cent growth. Pan masala puffed up by 78 per cent, and commercial vehicles raced ahead, multiplying their presence 27 times over.
On the advertiser leaderboard, Maruti Suzuki India overtook LIC of India to claim pole position, while newcomers like Vishnu Packaging and Muthoot Financial Enterprises accelerated into the top 10. Jeena Sikho was the leading brand on radio, followed by Maruti Suzuki Arena and SBI.
Regionally, Gujarat topped the charts with an 18 per cent share of ad volumes, with Maharashtra close behind at 16 per cent. Jaipur retained its crown as the country’s leading radio city, commanding 9 per cent of the pie, ahead of Nagpur and Delhi.
Evenings were prime time, accounting for 37 per cent of ad volumes, followed by mornings (31 per cent). And when it came to messaging length, advertisers kept it short and snappy 94 per cent of ads were under 40 seconds.
With over 360 categories and 8,000 advertisers using radio in the first half of 2025, the medium is proving it’s still music to brands’ ears blending reach, resonance, and regional punch in equal measure.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
