Brands
Federal Bank’s AI Onam wishes win hearts
MUMBAI: When petals fall from the cloud, you know Onam has gone digital. This festive season, Federal Bank, in partnership with Hogarth, turned tradition into a tech-powered celebration, swapping generic greetings for personalised, AI-driven messages that felt anything but robotic.
Using WPP’s AI tools and immersive tech from 8th Wall, the campaign let customers scan a simple QR code on posters, print or metro ads, and suddenly find themselves showered with virtual petals, greeted by a Kathakali dancer, or hearing the familiar trumpet of a vallam kali. And instead of a faceless message, it came directly from their own branch manager: part banker, part digital storyteller.
“This Onam, we wanted to bring plug-and-play joy into people’s homes,” said Federal Bank, cmo, M V S Murthy. “Technology is at its best when it strengthens culture and community, not when it overshadows them.”
Thousands of bespoke greetings were shared across Kerala and beyond, with customers responding with joy, nostalgia, and even surprise. For many in the diaspora, the greeting felt like a piece of home arriving at their phone.
For Hogarth India, ceo, Karthik Nagarajan, the idea was simple: “We’re moving from creating content to crafting experiences. Tech should feel human, not heavy,” he noted.
Backed by AI-assisted motion design, the experience was fully browser-based, no app required, making it as seamless as it was striking. Social chatter followed quickly, with younger audiences latching onto the novelty and sharing the moments widely.
As WPP, global vp of Immersive tech & AI, Dale Imerman, summed it up, “This is India showing how creativity and technology can amplify cultural connection at scale.”
For many, this year Onam didn’t just come home, it came alive on their screens.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
