Ad Campaigns
Malabar Gold signs Manasi Parekh as brand ambassador to target the Gujarati community
Mumbai: Brands are increasing targeting specific communities and geographies to build connects with them. That’s exactly what Malabar Gold & Diamonds is doing.
It has signed on national award winning actress Manasi Parekh as the face of its latest campaign aimed at educating customers on responsible and transparent gold purchasing. Recently awarded the national award for best actress for her performance in the Gujarati feature film Kutch Express, Parekh will represent the brand over the next two years, connecting with both national and international Gujarati audiences.
Adding depth to the campaign is Viral Shah, a state and national award-winning filmmaker who has established himself as a cornerstone of the Gujarati film industry with critically acclaimed films like Kutch Express and Golkeri. He is thrilled to collaborate with Malabar Gold & Diamonds to have directed their first Gujarati campaign with Manasi Parekh.
The ad showcases Parekh adorned in an exquisite range of Malabar’s jewellery designs, from traditional gold pieces to contemporary rose gold diamond styles and everyday accessories. These visuals are set across relatable, everyday scenarios—such as a baby shower, a bridal shower, a conversation between neighbours discussing gold purchases, and celebratory moments—highlighting the emotional and practical aspects of buying jewellery from a trusted source. Each scene underscores the joy of gifting and the assurance that comes from purchasing jewellery through a transparent and reliable process.
Manasi Parekh’s style in the campaign reflects her personal blend of effortless chic with a deep sense of heritage. Sharing her excitement about the association, Parekh said, “ I love how this campaign emphasizes honesty and transparency, helping people feel confident about the gold they’re buying. Each piece I wore felt special, not just for its beauty but for the trust it symbolizes. I’m proud to contribute to this important narrative, celebrating quality and integrity—values that are close to my heart and, I believe, resonate with so many of us.”
Malabar Group chairman MP Ahammed said, “We selected Manasi Parekh for this campaign because of her strong cultural roots in Gujarat, which makes her a perfect ambassador for our brand among Gujarati customers. Renowned for her impactful work in both television and film, Manasi resonates across generations, adding broad appeal to our campaign. Her alignment with Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ values of responsibility and authenticity strengthens our message around fair pricing and ethical practices. Her warm, approachable presence naturally opens up a conversation about Malabar’s commitment to transparent gold buying, making this campaign genuinely meaningful to the people of Gujarat and the diaspora worldwide.”
The campaign has launched across multiple platforms, including TV, print, digital media, social media, and hoardings, with a specific focus on reaching the Gujarati community. As Malabar Gold & Diamonds continues to grow, this initiative reinforces the brand’s dedication to responsible gold-buying practices, fostering trust and confidence among its customers on a global scale.
Further emphasising its commitment to social responsibility, Malabar Group allocates five per cent of its profits to ESG (environmental, social & governance) initiatives, with a focus on health, housing, education, environmental sustainability, and hunger eradication, along with women empowerment programs. These initiatives reflect Malabar’s dedication to creating a positive societal impact, aligning with its vision of contributing to a more responsible and sustainable world.
Ad Campaigns
Amazon Ads maps 2026 as AI and streaming rewrite ad playbooks
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.








