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DBS Bank celebrates ‘Agents of Change’ with SPARKS’ new episode
MUMBAI: In celebration of International Women's Day, DBS Bank India released a new episode of its award-winning mini-series, SPARKS, featuring brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar. Titled 'Agents of Change', the episode traces the journey of Even Cargo, an Indian social enterprise that is paving the way for the female delivery personnel. Even Cargo is a Delhi-based enterprise that trains and employs women from marginalised backgrounds as delivery associates with some of the world’s largest e-commerce companies.
DBS Bank India ED – group strategic marketing and communications Shoma Narayanan said, “We are moving towards creating conversations and engaging customers through innovative storytelling and authentic content. Being purpose-driven has always been a part of DBS’ value system, and we aim to drive meaningful change through SPARKS."
Narayanan added, "SPARKS celebrates real-life heroes working towards creating a sustainable future, and on the occasion of International Women’s Day, we are bringing you the story of one such enterprise. Even Cargo helps women work in professions that have traditionally been inaccessible to them. We are delighted to join hands with Sachin Tendulkar for this episode of SPARKS, and are committed to championing our shared vision of gender equality.”
Even Cargo founder and CEO Yogesh Kumar said, “At Even Cargo, our endeavour is to help in the skill development of women, leading to an increase in their participation in the labor market and therefore, helping them overcome the barriers of unemployment. Women are the driving force behind our organization’s mission, and we are delighted to celebrate their contribution this Women’s Day. DBS Bank and Sachin are equally passionate about championing inclusivity, and we thank them for supporting us in our journey.”
In 2016, DBS Bank launched SPARKS, the first-ever miniseries on bankers in Asia. The last two episodes of Season 1 were inspired by Sachin’s longstanding mission of increasing access to play for less-privileged children. DBS partnered with Sachin to bring this purpose to life and together, lit a playground in the Mumbra district of Thane, transforming the lives of over 7,000 children. Since its debut, the SPARKS series has garnered more than 400 million views and over 34-million engagements from audiences across Asia.
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.
