Ad Campaigns
Metro Shoes honours modern masculinity in festive campaign film
Mumbai: Metro Shoes’ latest campaign, ‘Takes You to the New,’ is redefining the narrative of modern masculinity in India by celebrating men as equal partners in progressive relationships. Created by Talented, this thought-provoking campaign film brings to light the small and meaningful ways men break societal barriers to support equality, open communication, and shared decision-making in relationships.
In a refreshing portrayal of camaraderie and growth, the film underscores how modern Indian relationships are embracing individual growth and a balanced approach to shared responsibilities. At the heart of this evolving relationship is a man who embodies empathy, vulnerability, and strength—qualities that make him a true partner. Set to an upbeat soundtrack and featuring Metro Shoes’ latest footwear collection, the film captures the couple’s natural chemistry in a range of joyful moments, reflecting the brand’s celebration of modern, festive, and wedding season styles.
Metro Brands Ltd., president, Alisha Malik explains, “This film reaffirms Metro’s role in the lives of our customers, showing them the way to new, uncharted, but essential territories. The Metro man is secure, progressive, and is an agent of change. He leads by example, unperturbed by social conditioning. And this film highlights his role from small to pivotal moments in their journey. With Take you to the new, our constant endeavour is to showcase the lived experiences and unique perspectives of modern Indians which connects with our customers on a personal level.”
Talented, founding member and creative, Pooja Manek adds, “Sebestian and Anuja are not crazy in love, they are calm in love–clear about their place in the world, their boundaries with in-laws and extended family, and immensely secure in this partnership. That’s what mature love does. And that’s how secure men in a relationship behave. The film also reimagines what is considered the ‘natural’ destiny for a married couple in India and showcases the power of collective agency and reproductive choice, driven by not just the woman, but the couple together.”
Director Ria Singh remarks, For me this film is a celebration of what love truly means. It is an intimate, tender portrayal of love, soft masculinity and healthy relationships built on equality. Our aim was to show love that has been built on respect and agency. Pooja’s script gave us a chance to shift the gaze on men in this micro feminist tale and I was lucky to have the most incredible team who got together to bring this incredible script to life. To make sure we do this right, we had Intimacy director Neha Vyas hold a workshop with our actors a day before the shoot. It helped bring out the chemistry and the vulnerability while making sure they felt safe on set.”
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.
