Much to ad watchers' delight, it was a fortnight of many creative and entertaining ads. Needless to say, we had a hard time zeroing down on the most memorable ones. We got to see our favourite celebs in their zany avatars (Boy, were we surprised by Rahul Dravid!). Some ads tickled our ribs while others made us think.

Here is our pick of the best ads between September 1 and 15. As always, they have been listed alphabetically.

Britannia

This Britannia Timepass ad by Lowe Lintas Bangalore hinged on the thought that the empty mind is indeed a devil's workshop. The ad demonstrates that in the absence of a "Chatpatang" flavour, the mind tends to do "Utpatang Timepass." The quirky ad showcases the 'Britannia Timepass' product line.

Everest

Everest did the unthinkable this week by getting Bollywood's twin icons Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together for an ad. The film directed by another cinematic legend, R Balki, shows how the stars try to evade nosy paps outside their vanity vans.

Sebamed

How often does one see fathers promote baby care products? Sebamed deviated from the usual ad norm of having mothers as spokespersons and designated a dad instead. Who better to talk about your product's pH than Karan Johar, probably the most famous single dad in India?

Farmley

Although Rahul Dravid has showcased his comic timings in a few ads before (CRED), it's the first we got to see him try mimicry. The cricketing great stars in healthy snacking brand Farmley's 'Healthy ko Rakhe Healthy' campaign where he channels Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay Verma character from Deewar (The Wall? Anyone?). "Aaj inke pass badam hai, kismish hai, pista hai, walnut hai, anjeer hai, kaju hai, peri- peri makhana hai, tumhare pass kya hai...aur bhi hai?" says Dravid in an ode to the legendary monologue from the film.

Greenply

We enjoyed Jr NTR's "mass" entry in this Greenply ad for the brand's first-of-its-kind zero-emission plywood. To drive home the message, Jr NTR kicks a plywood cutout made in his own likeness since it doesn't meet his standards for zero emissions.

JSW Inspire

JSW Inspire has been roped in as the sports performance and lifestyle partner for the Asian Games 2022. The brand launched Team India's kits at an event earlier this month. The film launched for the association is an ode to the different arts and crafts of India that served as an inspiration for Team India's jersey. The film shows the jerseys flying over the vast Indian terrain, imbibing the iconic artistic patterns from each region.

Parle Krackjack

KrackJack plays up its sweet-and-salty proposition in this funny ad by Thought Blurb Communications. The ad tips hat to its "Krack" and "Jack" characters played by Boman Irani and Vijay Patkar from the 90s with Raghav Juyal and Dharmesh Yelande reprising the roles.

Rexona

Rexona extends its support to FIFA’s Women’s Football objectives with the ‘Breaking Limits: Girls Can’ series in India with the aim to help more girls play football. Directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram, the video tells real stories of girls watching boys play football and talking about their challenges in a sport where only a few women have managed to access equal opportunity.

Kurkure Chaat Fills

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Sara Ali Khan plays a ruthless gangster set on extracting information on the elusive and mysterious "maal." The ad by Leo Burnett introduces PepsiCo Kurkure's Chaat Fills product touted to provide snackers with a "multi-textural snacking experience." Much like the snack, the ad is a medley of sweet-and-sour moments and a delight to watch with suspense and comedy in equal parts.

Scapia

This Scapia campaign is an experience in surrealism as we watch foreigners -- from Spanish to Korean -- mouth dialogues in shudh Hindi in perfect enunciations. The films are inspired by the real-life experiences of Indian travellers. They showcase how the cultural barriers break while travelling, which Scapia intends to enable by making travel more accessible. The film also features a real-life Mariachi band and features original music from a Korean-Pop artist.

Levi’s has launched its campaign “For Now, For A Lifetime” to celebrate special moments and to talk about how they go on to be memories that stay with us, and ultimately shape each and every one of us.

The brand’s “For Now, For A Lifetime” campaign captures what following your instinct looks like. The film, inspired by real-life moments and instances, starts with Deepika Padukone sneaking away from a set, hopping into an auto-rickshaw and disappearing into the night.

In pairing a dark denim shirt and lighter high-loose jeans or a perfectly coordinated, jumpsuit-like look, Deepika Padukone brings a fresh and modern take to denim in this new campaign. Anchored by iconic product – timeless, but always on-trend blue jeans, the for-all-seasons trucker jacket and a wide range of much-loved graphic tees.

“The ‘For Now, For A Lifetime’ campaign is an embodiment of what it truly means to Live in Levi’s® and how our product is so deeply woven into our consumers’ lives. This campaign, featuring Deepika Padukone, is a celebration of moments when you can truly be your most authentic self. Enabling this for our consumers is what we strive to do, from how we create our product to how we bring it alive for our consumers,” said Amisha Jain, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, South Asia-Middle East, Africa and Non-EU markets (SAMEA), Levi Strauss & Co.

Britannia Bourbon has introduced "Chocolate over Chocolate over Chocolate", an upgrade that is set to delight the taste buds of chocolate enthusiasts and elevate the Bourbon experience to new heights.

Conceptualized by The Womb, the TVC creatively brings to life the delightful mystery of Britannia Bourbon's new triple-layered chocolaty experience. As the TVC unfolds, viewers are immersed in a playful debate – is it truly chocolate on chocolate on chocolate, or perhaps chocolate below chocolate below chocolate? With each layer beautifully accentuated, the TVC not only tantalizes the taste buds but also sparks curiosity, inviting everyone to savour the delicious layers of Britannia Bourbon and decide for themselves.

Amit Doshi, Chief Marketing Officer at Britannia Industries Limited stated, “Britannia Bourbon has been the quintessential creme biscuit of India for generations. A treat to the taste buds and sparking joy in every household, teaching us the real treat for chocolate layers between the sugar-sprinkled biscuits. Britannia Bourbon has captivated millions with its rich flavour that is so unique to create a cult following like no other.”

He continued, “Today, we take a momentous step forward by introducing the all-new Britannia Bourbon with the new packaging that highlights its multiple layers of chocolate. This is a testimony of our dedication towards delivering innovative & superior taste experiences for our consumers. The much loved classic Britannia Bourbon for its exquisite blend of chocolatey goodness, and now we're taking that delight to new heights with three delectable layers of chocolate indulgence. We have increased the product supremacy by adding more chocolate to make it even more indulging. The television commercial creatively conceptualised by our partners, The Womb, brings to life our new brand proposition, which celebrates not just the layers of chocolate but also the layers of emotion, nostalgia, and joy that Britannia Bourbon brings to every bite.”

Suyash Khabya, Creative Head at The Womb said, "AM and Planning said Britannia Bourbon ki brief hai 'Chocolate pe Chocolate pe Chocolate'. On expected lines, Creative said 'Don't agree'! It's Chocolate below Chocolate below Chocolate'. And Boom! That was the idea. A debate. But rather than keeping the debate to a gully in India, we took it global. Gave it scale. We got the world to argue, and aggressively. A simple idea but unignorable. Or is it the other way around? Now, that's another debate."

Cheil India has crafted a new campaign for Samsung Galaxy Smartphones with a fresh take on making great tech affordable.

The campaign features two Galaxy products from the house of Samsung and is inspired by the tradition of hand-me-down gadgets within the family.

“Keeping true to our philosophy of making great tech affordable, The Samsung S23 Series builds on the philosophy of affordability where consumers can choose upto 24M no cost EMI along with an unmatched exchange bonus on their old device driving our mission of Digital India,” says Aditya Babbar, Senior Director, Mobile Business, Samsung India.

The campaign is anchored around a film and its essence is affordability. The film is about offers. For such a tactical film, Cheil India approached it in an entirely new light. They weaved in a storyline around siblings. How one avails the zero down payment offer on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and returns his old phone to his younger sister, and how she upgrades that for a Galaxy Z Flip5 with an additional discount. The follow-up ads establish the archetypal relationship that a brother-sister have and the role the Galaxy S23 Ultra plays in each aspect of their relationship.

“We have shared our smartphones with our siblings and all we did was capture this moment in a tongue-in-cheek manner, not to mention the attractive offers that make it easier to upgrade to Galaxy phones” says Vikash Chemjong, CCO, Cheil India.

Speaking about the campaign, Srijib Mallik- Head of Business-Samsung, at Cheil India, said, “Hand-me-down is common practice amongst siblings. However, with our attractive offers, one can get into the aspirational Galaxy series. Through slice-of-life films, we have catapulted this observation into a theme that holds the entire campaign together.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the new buzzword in town. While marketers have been using it for some time now to engage with their consumers more effectively, the newest lovers of the transformational technology, it seems, are advertising agencies. The agencies, say industry leaders, are using AI for the pitching process to win businesses. Though it is still work-in-progress when it comes to full-fledged use of the tools, industry leaders say AI provides them data-driven insights which help create pitches more efficiently and faster, thereby freeing up time for creative thinking. 

We spoke to experts to understand how actually AI has taken a seat at the pitch meetings.

New weapon in the arsenal

According to Rajni Daswani, Director - Digital Marketing, SoCheers, AI has now become a fundamental tool in the arsenal of agencies. “The technology is revolutionizing our ability to dissect many aspects, like providing valuable insights, that help us tailor our pitches for the clients. It helps us target audience, personalize content, provide data-driven insights and create pitches more efficiently and faster. It acts as a personalized assistant, streamlining tasks and freeing up time for strategic and creative thinking.”

Azazul Haque, CCO at Media.Monks, says they have been using AI when the idea needs it. “Whether to use AI tools for pitches depends on the idea. But for many pitches and for existing clients, we do use AI tools to create proof of concept. But we are using AI when the idea needs it and not for creating generic bulk content. We used machine learning for creating proof of concept in campaigns done for Tata Tea,” he adds.

While the industry is still getting a hang of the technology, some have started using different tools, says Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Rediffusion. “AI is still work in progress. The art guys are still experimenting and learning every day. So, the real results from AI are yet to be experienced. Right now, you hit the high notes on one nice visual but struggle with the next one. It is an evolving business. When Photoshop came, it was a big leap forward. Now AI will take us to new realms. The pace of change really needs a cerebral leap forward. This is as much about good copywriters giving the right search word commands as art directors learning new skills,” he explains.

Sharing how they are using AI for pitching, Siddharth Bhansali, Founder, Noesis.tech (Zoo Media), says AI is used as a starting point to get better insights, soemthing that wasn’t possible earlier. “AI is revolutionizing the way agencies craft their pitches. First and foremost, it provides data-driven insights that allow us to understand potential clients' needs, industry trends, and audience behavior with unprecedented precision. Instead of relying solely on intuition or broad industry knowledge, we now have access to detailed analytics that guide our strategies”, he said.

Explaining the technicalities of the usage, Preetham Venkky, Chief Digital Officer, DDB Mudra Group, shares, “AI technology has created two kinds of tools. There are AI-first tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney and AI-augmented tools like Adobe Firefly. In the case of pitches, it is important to focus on the brand, which means the visuals, the copy, expression and the tone have to be focussed on the brand. So, in the case of pitches, we don’t use AI-first tools very much unless it’s an AI-driven concept. But we do use AI-augmented tools. After we win a client and if there is an interesting idea that needs to be showcased, that is where we use AI-first tools.”

Exercising Caution

One of the most common points that all experts made when asked about using AI for business pitches is that it helps them to get better insights of the audiences that they are targeting for the client, but one can depend on it only to an extent, atleast for now.

Shares Rahul Pahwa, Sr. VP and Business Head said (North), Grey Group, “Has AI been a gamechanger? I feel not yet. But it has enabled individuals to write quickly, and there are tools that help them to enhance their productivity and efficiency. For pitches, you have to know and be aware that everyone knows about these tools and so if you depend on AI to gain that edge, then it's a game of who knows the software better. Individuals use AI as a starting point, there are some advanced tools that can help you with scientific data in the strategy stage. So, at a strategy and research level, it helps to an extent.”

Venkky too shares the same concerns. “AI has been very useful in data interpretation. But for instance, if you are targeting a category, you are trying to look at the dynamics and if you are taking data from reports, it might be insufficient in front of the client because everyone might have the same reports. With AI tools you can get nuggets of deeper information and that’s how we use AI.”

Human intelligence is the real magic

Experts say that AI is just the starting point or the skeleton of the work, but the actual magic is still done by human intelligence and it is what makes a wholesome pitch and makes them win a business as well as forge a long-lasting relationship. 

According to Venkky, AI is a sous-chef while human intelligence is still the main chef. “AI is a great sous-chef. It’s a great prep chef and humans have to be the main chef. The sou- chef does 80% of the work but it’s the 20% of a human touch that make the 80% impactful.”

“Right now, it is not a gamechanger to win businesses. Human intelligence is still the fundamental of winning pitches. AI can’t help you create something new because it is definitely human creativity that gives you the edge,” says Pahwa.

Adds Haque, “AI will change the way industry functions. Bulk generic content, like always-on content, will mostly be created by AI in times to come. Just like industrial machines replaced handicrafts in the past, AI will replace human basic skill set-led departments like content writers, graphic designers, etc. It will create a future of thinking-led creative agencies. It might make the agencies leaner. Agencies might offer better ROI to the clients. Be it existing or new business.”

Himalaya Wellness Company has announced the launch of Rumalaya Active Spray's new television advertising campaign aimed at providing consumers with quick and long-lasting pain relief. The campaign’s theme, "Rumalaya Active Spray: Your Pain Relief Partner," showcases Himalaya’s commitment towards delivering clinically tested, safe, and effective pain relief lasting up to six hours.

Rumalaya Active Spray’s new TVC campaign is an all-India advertising campaign on television, covering leading national and regional channels, targeting key markets such as West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. In addition to TV advertisements, Himalaya is also advertising the product digitally on platforms like YouTube and Meta pan India to reach a wider audience. The campaign promotes the Rumalaya range of pain relief products, including spray, gel, liniment, and balm, to increase awareness about its diverse offerings.

"We have utilized digital platforms to target high-affinity consumers and drive e-commerce conversions. Himalaya has featured Rumalaya Active Spray ads during live Asia Cup matches and makes our products available in over one lakh outlets. Additionally, we engaged in experiential marketing through sampling activations at popular melas/gathering/fairs to reach a diverse audience," says Vikas Bansi, Business Head-OTC, Himalaya Wellness Company.

He further added, “In order to complement consumer activation efforts, we have also conducted product detailing and sampling activities, along with Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs targeting relevant healthcare professionals, especially doctors specializing in pain management. With a foundation rooted in consumer insights and a comprehensive marketing strategy, we expect the Rumalaya Active Spray TVC campaign to generate significant consumer awareness and demand.”