Brands
TAM AdEx: Service sector drives 31 per cent of radio ad volumes in Jan-Jun’24
Mumbai: TAM AdEx India has released its half-yearly report on radio advertising for Jan-Jun’24, which showed a three per cent rise in ad volumes compared to the same period in 2023.
The services sector remained the top contributor with thirty-one per cent of total ad volumes. The auto sector climbed to second place with ten per cent, followed by banking/finance/investment at eight per cent. Together, the top three sectors accounted for nearly fifty per cent of the total ad volumes. The top ten sectors remained consistent from 2023, with minor rank shifts.
In the top ten categories, ‘properties/real estates’ and ‘hospital/clinics’ retained first and second positions, contributing sixteen per cent and seven per cent of ad volumes, respectively. ‘Cars’ moved up to third position, recording a fifty-seven per cent growth in ad volumes. ‘Retail outlets-jewellers’ grew by twenty-nine per cent, while ‘multiple courses’ and ‘schools’ entered the top ten categories.
LIC of India held the top spot among advertisers, followed by Maruti Suzuki India. The top ten advertisers accounted for twelve per cent of the ad volumes, with LIC Housing Finance being the leading brand, followed by Alishan and LIC Jeevan Utsav. Notably, three brands in the top ten were from the banking/finance/investment sector, and two were from the auto sector.
Gujarat led the states with a twenty per cent share, followed closely by Maharashtra at nineteen per cent. Among cities, Jaipur topped the list, contributing nine per cent of ad volumes, with Nagpur and New Delhi following.
Evening time (5 pm to 9:59 pm) was the most preferred time band for advertising, contributing thirty-eight per cent of ad volumes, followed by the morning and afternoon slots. Ads of twenty to forty seconds in duration were the most popular, contributing sixty-seven per cent of total ad volumes. Shorter ads (under twenty seconds) saw an increase in share compared to the previous year.
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.
