Ad Campaigns
Budweiser 0.0 launches #RuleTheNew initiative in association with Zoya Akhtar and Jay Oza
NEW DELHI: In a bid to inspire and empower consumers to safely adapt to the new normal, Budweiser 0.0 has unified creator communities and individuals across the country in its latest initiative called ‘Rule the New’. As we press play on our lives, individuals across the country are eager to step out and socialise. However, the challenges posed by the current times demand a new sense of responsibility. To champion this change, the brand is crowdsourcing innovative hacks that showcase ways in which people are cautiously moving forward, resuming their routine activities, getting back to work, or simply catching up with their friends.
Ensuring users have easy access to a library of creative solutions to inspire them, Budweiser 0.0 has also launched a Rule The New Instagram handle that curates the best entries received across social media on the daily. These hacks have been shortlisted by the brand, in association with leading personalities of the Indian film fraternity, Zoya Akhtar & Jay Oza. Gratifying their commitment towards a better tomorrow, the participants stand a chance to win compelling rewards, from daily give-aways to interesting prizes worth Rs 15,00,000. The top 20 best entries will also win a chance to present their work to the creative stalwarts, Zoya and Jay, and interact with them. For the first time ever, Budweiser 0.0 will also be releasing its next film which comprises content sourced from creators across India via this unique initiative.
AB InBev VP marketing – south Asia Alexander Lambrecht said, “Even as the lockdown continues to ease, individual caution is vital to collectively combat our current challenging circumstances. Budweiser has always played a role in energizing the community, bringing people together to share great times. As we adapt to our new reality, we strive to continue doing the same – offering support and uniting our communities in meaningful ways – while underscoring utmost caution and safety. The ‘Rule The New’ initiative ensures that our partners and patrons are aware of, and well-equipped, with hacks to effectively conquer the new normal safely. We are delighted with the overwhelming response garnered to date, and the absolute creativity of each hack only re-instills our belief that together we will emerge triumphant.”
Cinematographer Jay Oza opined, “What keeps the world spinning is creativity and the people behind it – with Budweiser #RuleTheNew this belief is even stronger for me now. Being on this jury also brought me closer to the creator community and some fresh ideas.”
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.
