Pepsi has rolled out yet another summer campaign with actor Yash.

The campaign aims to empower the youth of India that own who they are without seeking validation through society.

Building on this very philosophy, this allegorical TVC showcases how as individuals we are constantly surrounded by a sea of voices. The sea of voices is constantly telling us what to do, what to like and whom to swipe and if we listen to them to the societal voices too much, they will Judge us, control us, and soon enough drown us. Embodying the persona of the irrepressible Pepsi guy, Yash encourages everyone around him to challenge this noise, follow their hearts and just Rise up Baby.

Commenting on the association, Saumya Rathor, Category Lead, Pepsi Cola, PepsiCo India, said, “The response we have received since we joined hands with the Yash has been nothing short of phenomenal as the country has truly appreciated this epic partnership. As promised, we are back with a blockbuster film featuring Yash, embodying our all-new campaign. He narrates the new positioning in his extraordinary style, empowering the youth with self-expression, self-confidence, and self -belief. The TVC echoes the irrefutable truth that this generation truly is Unstoppable and Gravity has absolutely nothing on them!”
Sharing his excitement on the new campaign, Pepsi®️’s ambassador, rocking star Yash said, “This film is very personal to me as it encourages one to be confident, expressive and a go-getter, despite all odds. It reflects the voice and purpose of the younger generation today. I had a great time shooting for this film and I hope the audience will enjoy and relate to it, the way I did.”

The campaign film was unveiled by Yash as he posted the video reverberating the ‘Rise up Baby!’ attitude with millions of fans over Instagram. The film will be amplified over traditional and digital platforms across the country.

Apis India has launched a campaign during the holy month of Ramadan.

The campaign, titled “Ibaadat Ke Iss Mahine Rakhein Sehat Ka Saath”, aims to promote individual well-being by blending the spiritual and personal aspects of Ramadan through Apis India's range of dates clubbed with other relevant products consumed in the month of Ramadan. Beyond just health, the campaign also celebrates the community bond that Ramadan brings together.

As part of its digital campaign for Ramadan, Apis is implementing a multifaceted strategy that includes a variety of initiatives. In addition to the ongoing social media campaign, the brand has planned a Pan-India contest and an influencer campaign on social media. These efforts are designed to engage with a wide audience and promote the brand's message of overall well-being during the holy month.

The contest invites participants to create unique recipes using Apis dates and other products for sehri and iftar promoting the diverse delicacies of the season through the brand.

As part of Apis India's “Ibaadat Ke Iss Mahine Rakhein Sehat Ka Saath" campaign, the brand's social media strategy includes an online contest that leverages the overarching narrative.

Being a social media contest that engages the community, Apis India is also relying on other factors to reach out to a broader community. Through influencers from the Muslim community, the brand aims to spread awareness, while maximising the influencers by using them as a catalyst to boost the activity. The brand is also focusing on targeted ads during this holy month to amplify its online campaign.

To expand its reach beyond the digital sphere, the brand also includes hoardings, billboards, and banners to complement the social media campaign. In addition, the brand will organise an on-ground activity inspired by its video advertisement which conveyed the message of togetherness across religious lines and promoted the brand as an icon bringing people together.

The on-ground activity will see Apis visiting areas in the national capital with a significant Muslim population and distributing hampers containing Apis Dates and other products to the underprivileged during iftar. Through this initiative, Apis aims to increase consumer awareness about the significance of physical well-being during Ramadan and create a deeper bond within the community. By leveraging its campaign, Apis hopes to make a lasting impact on individuals and communities across the country.

Viacom18 has launched ‘Search Hijack’, the latest campaign from its stable of the thrill-a-minute women’s T20 league. Search Hijack encourages viewers to catch the WPL as it heads into a high-octane play-offs stage.

The campaign features stylish southpaw Smriti Mandhana.

The campaign germinated from the core idea that male baby names in India are inspired by cricketers while parents tend to turn towards film stars for their female baby names.

Viacom18 aims to disrupt the status quo and encourage parents to look at a wider canvas comprising our women cricketers while choosing names for their baby girls. The campaign gives new parents baby girls’ names that will soon go down in history.

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Search Hijack, conceptualized by 22feet Tribal Worldwide, makes girl name recommendations to new parents each time they run a search on Google. It uses Google’s retargeting feature to serve up an ad featuring Smriti Mandhana where she gives parents a glimpse of the trendiest names of stars from the future, being that of India’s most popular women cricketers.

“It is not just a wonderful feeling to be the face of this campaign by Viacom18 but also to throw weight behind the thought that drove it,” said India’s Vice Captain Smriti Mandhana.  “These are small steps towards big changes in the way we function as a society and I do hope that somewhere everything we do while wearing the India badge on-field will inspire the next generation of aspiring cricketers to come.”

“Our vision is to develop the WPL into the world’s biggest women’s sporting league. Search Hijack is one of the many efforts we are making along those lines, to grow awareness about our women cricketers and their exploits on the field which will make them household names,” said Viacom18’s Creative Head of Marketing, Shagun Seda. “Our aspiration is to popularize these names to an extent where ‘Smriti’ or ‘Mithali’ are just as much sought after names as ‘Sachin’ or ‘Rohit’ eventually.”

Vishnu Srivatsav, National Creative Director, 22Feet Tribal World Wide, said, "The launch of the WPL wasn't just a sporting event; it was the start of an era and a historic moment in sports made possible only by the endeavours of a long list of heroes. We wanted to celebrate these women in a way that ensures their legacy lives on. We realized that we needed to intervene at a moment that ensures their name is carried on—the moment when parents-to-be were searching for their baby's name. And so, the name search hijack was born.” 

Snickers, the chocolate bar from Mars Wrigley, known for its brand proposition of 'You're Not You when You're Hungry' is back with two new quirky films, introducing two new characters – Alexander and Einstein. The latest digital and TVC films capture the daily struggles of Gen Zs and Millennials. These struggles further turn up in dramatic and exaggerated reactions, especially when hunger strikes. The new brand films bring to life two relatable and popular characters to present a humorous take on the sudden onset of 'Hunger Pangs'.

Talking about the launch of the new SNICKERS® films, Varun Kandhari, Director of Marketing, Mars Wrigley, India said, “The brand proposition of SNICKERS®, ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’, has become iconic and is loved by consumers across the world. The campaign has a simple message that while stress and hunger can get to the best of us, one can always grab a SNICKERS®. The films are also relatable for younger generations dealing with highly stressful situations such as exams and have an universal appeal. At Mars Wrigley India, we are led by our purpose of creating a billion better moments for consumers and communities, and we are confident that the audience will love the new TVC as we celebrate the joy associated with SNICKERS®.”

The film with Einstein opens with two friends deeply involved in pre-exam night preparation, showcasing how one of them transforms into the iconic character Einstein in a dramatic way. The character is hungry and stressed and starts believing that scores are inconsequential. To bring her back to her senses, her friend offers her a SNICKERS® and gets her to focus back on studying. The second film with Alexander, highlights the pre-exam anxiety and stress, showcasing how one of the friends is all set to wage a war. Seeing his friend transform into a character like Alexander, his friend offers him a SNICKERS® and rushes him to the examination hall.

On the campaign, Akashneel Dasgupta, Chief Creative Officer, Network Advertising, said, “You are not you when you are hungry’ is such an enduring, versatile idea for SNICKERS®. It’s an idea that keeps giving campaign after campaign. We are happy to be a part of this one which makes small hunger relevant in the lives of young people and students.”

Additionally, the SNICKERS® consumer packs especially curated for exam fever are available at the nearest stores and have a promo code that offers 100% assured UPI cashback on INR 20, INR 35, and INR 50 SNICKERS® variants.

The films are available in nine languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Bengali, Oriya, Gujrati, and Marathi on both TV and digital platforms. Below are the links to the Hindi version of the TVCs.

Havas Group unveils Havas Play, a new global network that will earn consumers’ attention and create enduring business impact through meaningful experiences at the intersection of entertainment, sports, technology, and fandom.

As a dedicated network within the Havas ecosystem, Havas Play will unify existing agency brands and expertise within the organization, scaling across all of Havas' major markets and retiring the Havas Sports, and Havas Sports & Entertainment brands in markets where they currently exist.

In India, three entities, Havas Sports and Entertainment and Havas Content, both of which are part of Havas Media Group India, and Cake India, which is part of Havas Creative India, will combine and rebrand as Havas Play.

R Venkatasubramanian, President and National Head of Investments, Havas Media Group India, has been given the additional responsibility to lead Havas Play in India. Havas Play will be part of the Havas Media Group India network, which is led by Mohit Joshi as its Chief Executive Officer. Under the new structure, Arun Kumar Rao, Senior VP, Prachi Narayan, Vice President and Rajika Mittra, Managing Partner, will report to Venkat and will manage Sports, Content and Entertainment mandates, respectively.

The first fortnight of March saw brands cranking up their creativity and social consciousness meter for Women’s Day and Holi. In the sea of ad campaigns, some mindfully trod the thin line between entertaining and impactful. In this edition of our fortnightly series, we look back at some of the campaigns that we thought hit the mark. These are our pick of the best ads between March 1 and 15. As always, the ads have been listed alphabetically. 

Godrej

Godrej released a short TVC for Kala HIT Mini inspired by superhero movies. The ad featured a vigilant mom who turns into a Black Widow-esq character armed with the Kala HIT to zap mosquitoes that were bothering her son. The film made by Bates CHI & Partners Indonesia employs some interesting theatrics, which makes for one entertaining commercial.

Ola Electric

A Holi with robots? With all the buzz around artificial intelligence, Ola Electric decided to spotlight robots in its futuristic ad for Holi. J and V-Ru (geddit?) play two inquisitive robots who decided to get inspired by the festival of colours in their own quirky way. The ad campaign was created in collaboration with Manja.

Rich Marie

Sourav Ganguly as Bollywood’s most camp-style villain wasn’t on anybody’s bingo card this year. Yet, Bisk Farm treated us to this delightful ad with the cricketer as “Robert” complete with his own “Mona Darling.” You don’t have to be a Bollywood aficionado to know that the ad is a tribute to Yaadon Ki Baarat and its legendary villain.

Tanishq

Among the Women’s Day campaigns, Tanishq stood out with its rather refreshing take on eulogising women as “superwomen.” The brand highlighted that the notion that women can multitask and “do anything” often works in their detriment. It can saddle them with the “burden of potential” and set them up for failure.

Savlon

When it comes to choosing an impactful “hand ambassador”, Savlon picked the one that scored 34,357 runs for India. Sachin Tendulkar’s hand starred as the world’s first hand ambassador, representing Savlon Swasth India Mission. In the ad, the cricketing great’s hand does all the talking, making some important points about hand hygiene. The spot has been conceptualised by Ogilvy India.

Hamdard Laboratories (Medicine Division) has announced a special summer campaign for its products- Cinkara and Naunehal Gripe Syrup. The campaign highlights how Cinkara and Naunehal Gripe Syrup help in coping with the health issues, arising out of nutritional gaps in case of Cinkara and teething issues in case of Naunehal Syrup.

“Hamdard has revived its popular campaign, ‘Zindagi ka josh har dum’. Cinkara, the most recalled brand of Hamdard is a complete health tonic that restores lost energy, increases appetite, and improves conditions of fatigue. The tonic contains six essential Vitamins along with four minerals and nine effective herbs to keep the body strong, healthy, and agile. While India is the playground for Cinkara, it has a larger footprint in UP, Bihar , West Bengal and Delhi /NCR,” the company said.

Abdul Majeed, Chairman & Managing Trustee, Hamdard Laboratories India ( Medicine Division) said “My late grandfather had a vision for the brand and its role. The Cinkara packaging is inspired by our tricolor, hoping that one day it would become the tonic of the nation. For more than 40 years now, Cinkara has been one of the most popular and affordable health tonics in the country. At Hamdard, it’s our constant endeavor to provide products that are targeted at holistic wellness and keep us energetic to fight life challenges- “Jindagi ka Josh Har Dum” justifies the brand truth”.

“It is always a wonderful feeling to know that Hamdard products touch so many lives, in so many ways. People from different states, and different strata of society swear by our products. Our medicines are affordable and effective. In most cases, Hamdard products have been in families for generations. Through this campaign, we hope to further expand our reach and help people lead healthy and happy lives, free from the burden of illness and health issues” said, Suman Varma, CMO, Hamdard Laboratories.