MAM
TVS strengthens two wheeler fleet with new offerings
MUMBAI: Two wheeler major TVS Motor Company has introduced three new products – Star City, Victor Edge and Scooty Pep+. The offerings are targetted at different consumer segments with an emphasis on better styling and engine capabilities.
Speaking on the occasion TVS VP marketing Prasad Narsimhan said, “These launches have been timed to coincide with the big season Diwali coming up. We have experienced 20 per cent top line growth so far this year and our aim is to reach 25 per cent. While it is true that some of our earlier products did not get a satisfactory response that is the case even with the competition. We try to learn from mistakes and we know that with innovation comes a certain amount of risk. Our plan now is to consolidate existing brands. It is important for us to add value so that customers keep coming back. We designed these products keeping in mind the fact that customers view them as a personal expression and not simply as a means to get from point A to point B.”
TVS will use one of its brand ambassadors Bollywood actress Preiti Zinta to promote Scooty Pep+. The product is targetted at young women and girls. TVCs featuring Zinta will break shortly. The company is also looking to use her on the ground as well when it conducts initiatives like test drives. The product is being positioned as being both powerful and playful. The message is that the new version of the product has more urban look to it compared to the earlier models.
To promote the three products it will also use print and outdoors. Its marketing budget will marginally increase for this year. The Victor Edge is being positioned as a Traffic Cutter. TVCs will show how the product ensures a smooth ride even when the roads are bad and the traffic unbearable. Sachin Tendulkar is the brand ambassador of TVS Victor and the company is looking at using him in sone capacity for the new launch. Star City meanwhile is being positioned as being the birth of a superstar. As Narsimhan says today customers want everything regardless of the price. These products were designed keeping this aspect in mind.
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.
