Ad Campaigns
Beardo’s latest ad features Vicky Kaushal for its fragrance
Mumbai: Beardo, a male grooming brand, has launched a new digital film for their flagship fragrance- Whisky Smoke EDP, featuring actor Vicky Kaushal. Rated NFB (Not for Boys) the film is set in a high-stakes poker game that pits a group of boys against the lone Kaushal, clearly distinguishing a boy from a true Beardo. Donning a smoldering avatar, Kaushal warns the audience that this scent is exclusively for men.
Kaushal’s character in the ad represents the musky and attractive scent of Beardo’s Whiskey Smoke perfectly. The notes of whiskey, tobacco, and spices, make the fragrance a great choice for a sophisticated and confident man. The film highlights the stark difference between a grown man and boys by showcasing that they have different priorities and the former focuses on things that are more important than impressing their peers.
Talking about the film, Kaushal said, “When the concept was shared with me by team Beardo, I was excited to be a part of the same as it perfectly blends the essence of the fragrance Whiskey Smoke which is masculine and bold. We have tried to incorporate this very thought in a fun yet thought-provoking manner which goes with the very ideology and success that Beardo is known for.”
Sharing his thoughts on the ad, Beardo CEO Sujot Malhotra said, “When we started conceptualizing this film, we were absolutely clear about the message it was going to portray. The gap between boys and men is not just about age, but rather it’s about mindset and attitude. Whiskey Smoke is specifically designed for men who know what they want and are not afraid to go after it. We’re thrilled to have Vicky Kaushal as the face of our fragrance line and especially of this campaign, as he perfectly embodies the spirit of a true Whiskey Smoke Beardo.”
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.
