Ad Campaigns
Equitas SFB becomes official banking partner of Chennai Super Kings
Mumbai: Equitas Small Finance Bank announced its partnership as the “Official Banking Partner with Chennai Super Kings. The rekindled partnership symbolises the champion team’s journey of coming back home with Equitas’ campaign “Bank Behind Champions”.
The campaign also showcases Equitas’ contribution in shaping up individuals’ lives through the “Beyond Banking” initiatives. This alliance not only extends a feeling of home for the team but also promises a sense of pride among citizens banking with Equitas across 16 branches in the city of Chennai. As part of this partnership, Chennai Super Kings team will sport the Equitas Small Finance Bank logo on Leading side of headgear.
Excited to join hands with the champion team, Equitas SFB Sr president & country head – branch banking – liabilities, products & wealth Murali Vaidyanathan said, “At Equitas, we firmly believe in taking pride of one’s performance and it is our delight to partner with the home team again as CSK has exhibited their resilience and skills across multiple seasons. Associating with a team of champions, we look forward to strengthen the society by providing crucial financial support to our customers be champions in their respective lives. Being the bank behind Champions, we take pride of performance of our team in spreading joy through our beyond banking initiatives is our journey towards building progressive and committed bank. The campaign is a testament of our championship in acknowledging the progressing needs of our customers to gift them a responsible tomorrow. Just like the CSK team, we at Equitas believe in committing to our customers throughout challenges to assist in their victory on and off the pitch.”
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan said, “We are delighted to announce the return of Equitas Small Finance Bank to our family for the upcoming 2024 season. Our strong bond extends beyond the cricket field, encompassing collaborations for the Super Kings Academy and Junior Super Kings. We believe that their vision of elevating the lives of Indian youth aligns seamlessly with our quest for excellence and are confident of establishing a winning synergy on and off the field.”
Through this collaboration, Equitas is introducing a range of banking benefits up to seven per cent interest on savings, no maintenance charges, reward points on all debit cards, and contactless KYC video services with the aim of building stronger connects. Currently, Equitas aims to further expand its footprint and extend its services for both customers and cricket enthusiasts.
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.
