Ad Campaigns
Ferit Cricket Bash unveils ‘Bade Ziddi’ ad campaign
MUMBAI: In the spirit of the country's love of cricket, Ferit Cricket Bash (FCB), India's independent league for amateur cricketers, has unveiled an exciting campaign ‘Bade Ziddi’ to promote the launch of their new venture. This campaign, which is the brainchild of founder Jasmeet Bhatia and co-founder Mitesh Sharma, Suniel Shetty, Zaheer Khan, focuses on how deeply cricket is ingrained into the psyche of Indians, and how effortlessly it manifests in certain situations.
As part of it, three commercials, humorously invite enthusiastic cricketers to participate in the upcoming league. What makes them more riveting is that they feature its co- founders, cricketing legend Zaheer Khan and Bollywood superstar and sports enthusiast Suniel Shetty.
The central theme of these commercials highlights how cricket lovers from different facets of society, go about their lives, and how cricket plays a central role in every action they take. They masterfully encapsulate the various unique ways in which one’s love for cricket could cause them to react very differently to certain situations, with charming and entertaining results. The commercials end with a power-packed invitation by Suniel Shetty and Zaheer Khan to men of all ages, who are as passionate about cricket as the protagonists, to sign up for the FCB tournament.
FCB itself is a unique venture that brings elements of grandeur and professionalism into amateur cricket, and provides talented players from across the country, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to experience cricket at the highest standards. Renowned stalwarts in their respective fields like Suniel Shetty and Zaheer Khan have been part of the FCB endeavour since day one, which has added to the high-octane spirit of the campaign.
Commenting on the campaign that is swiftly winning the hearts of many a cricket fan, FCB co-founder and cricketing legend Zaheer Khan said, “As someone whose life has revolved around cricket, it is simply endearing to witness the impact of our endeavour via the Bade Ziddi campaign. As an independent cricket league that recognises and rewards amateur talent across the length and breadth of the country, I am elated to have been part of the FCB family with Suniel, Mitesh and Jasmeet. Ferit Cricket Bash presents an opportunity to all Indians to be a part of bigger platform and play with fellow enthusiasts.
Suniel Shetty, Bollywood superstar and co-founder of FCB said, “I am delighted to witness the wide reach of our campaign. Being a sports enthusiast, it has been an exciting journey for me ever since the four of us- Jasmeet, Mitesh, Zaheer and I conceptualised and came together for this tournament. Therefore, I am looking forward to the massive participation of amateur and talented ‘ziddis’ of all age-groups across the country, and to bring this Indian cricketing talent together on a national platform.”
Jasmeet Bhatia, founder of FCB said, "Cricket is worshipped like a religion in our country. The power, respect, and admiration the game commands in the country are truly heart-warming, as is the passion that millions of amateur players display on and off the field. Through this campaign, we hope not only to promote FCB as an exciting league for cricket lovers to enjoy and cherish, but also to galvanise the nation’s love and respect for cricket in a light-hearted, yet profound manner."
With FCB's Bade Ziddi campaign already picking up with rapid registrations across the country and the advent of the league just months away, 2019 will undoubtedly be a historic year for cricket lovers in India.
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.
