Ad Campaigns
Bata launches festive collection campaign with Kartik Aaryan
Mumbai: Bata India launches a special collection ahead of the festivities, rooted in artisanal craftsmanship and high fashion design details with an enticing film that spotlights Bata’s brand Ambassador and superstar Kartik Aaryan. The festive campaign, Celebrate Every Step is an exciting chapter of the global brand’s ‘Make Your Way’ campaign that celebrates stories of grit & success for those who stride to shine. The campaign captures his journey of becoming a Bollywood sensation. In the film, Kartik is seen celebrating all the roles he has played in his life, even the setbacks that helped him come back stronger inspiring individuals to trust their journey & celebrate every step! The latest collection features classic brogues, monk strap loafers and laced-up derby shoes for men & trend-setting heels in Ombre colours, mules with crystal bow accents and shimmery yet technology-infused Bata Comfit sandals for women. Just in time for the festive season, the collections start at just INR 2499, available across Bata stores and online at bata.com.
Bata India head of marketing Deepika Deepti said, “At the heart of ‘Celebrate Every Step’ is a powerful insight: today’s India is about individuals who dare to change their trajectories and make their own way. The campaign shines a spotlight on the inspiring journeys of Kartik Aaryan and other youth icons, with each story resonating with the ambition of today’s new age of consumers. The Artisanal Leather & Starlight collection, offers unmatched style, comfort and confidence that you need to bring in the festivities this season.”
Brand ambassador Kartik Aaryan shared his excitement for the campaign, “I’m super excited to be a part of Bata’s ‘Celebrate Every Step’ campaign. As an actor, I have played many roles but this campaign inspired me to pause and celebrate the biggest role I have ever played – Me! This festive season is all about expressing yourself, standing out, and looking fabulous while you’re at it. Time to step into the celebrations, both inside and out, with style!”
FCB India national creative director Udayan Chakravarty said, “The storytelling in the video takes the form of a dramatized mixed media biography instead of a conventional ad – leaning heavily into Kartik’s life, retrieving and drawing heavily from old photographs, archival footage and personal anecdotes. Through, Celebrate Every Step, we have tried to narrate Kartik’s story of grit that only Bata has the right to tell – having been there with Kartik, every step of his way.”
Joining Kartik in this journey, are the new-age icons who have carved their own unique path to success – the multi-talented force, Designer and Entrepreneur Masaba Gupta who has constantly challenged status quo and continues to reinvent herself through unseen paths. The campaign also celebrates Singer, songwriter and now actress and musician Lisa Mishra who made an indelible mark in popular culture, Urooj Ashfaq who took her comedy to a global platform, winning accolades and hearts of GenZ alike and Alaya F who shined bright even in unconventional roles, breaking stereotypes. By bringing them together, Bata India applauds those who break the glass ceiling and truly embody the spirit of ‘Make Your Way’, the brand’s global campaign for its 130th anniversary.
Shop Bata’s latest festive and occasion-wear collection at your nearest Bata store or online at bata.com today.
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.
