Ad Campaigns
Gatorade’s ‘Turf Finder’ initiative utilises data to unlock urban playgrounds
Mumbai: Gatorade, PepsiCo India’s iconic hydration brand, has introduced its ‘Turf Finder’ initiative aimed at promoting the love and will for playing sports, amidst the hustle and bustle of India’s metropolitan areas, in partnership with Leo Burnett India. Gatorade seeks to inspire young individuals to embrace physical activity as a key part of their daily lives.
Addressing the scarcity of recreational space in urban India, Gatorade’s ‘Turf Finder’ initiative is committed to finding us places to play, wherever and whenever space permits in the city. Utilizing historical maps data, Gatorade will pinpoint appropriate locations, including vacant parking lots or empty streets, and transform them into accessible playing areas for citizens across India’s metropolitan cities. The first Turf will be launched in Mumbai, with successive releases planned for other metropolitan cities, including Bengaluru.
To launch the initiative, Gatorade has released a compelling film that depicts the chaotic and fast-paced lifestyle of city dwellers. Amidst the frenzy of bustling schedules and cramped quarters, the film delivers a powerful reminder, that all one needs is the will to play and we will find them the space. Gatorade is leading the charge by showing us how these spaces can be used to embrace an active lifestyle.
Speaking on the initiative, PepsiCo India associate director, energy & hydration Ankit Agarwal said, “Gatorade has consistently championed the importance of fitness and an active lifestyle as integral components of well-being. However, in today’s fast-paced and chaotic society, finding both time and a suitable space for physical activity poses a significant challenge. We firmly believe that this initiative will make sport accessible to a lot more people, thereby cultivating a healthier lifestyle. By providing convenient and inviting spaces for play, we hope to inspire communities to embrace the intrinsic value of staying active amidst the demands of modern life.”
Adding further, Publicis Groupe – South Asia CCO & Leo Burnett – South Asia chairman Rajdeepak Das said, “This is a true HumanKind idea where we are using technology to find solutions for modern day problems. Our cities are temporal in nature, they behave different by day and different by night. We have validated this spirit and used historic Google map data to find empty spaces at specific times which can be made into a turf. The most exciting part is that this campaign can be scaled across the country and not only promote an active lifestyle but also make a cultural impact in communities making sport an equalizer.”
Gatorade’s new initiative will be amplified through a 360-degree campaign across digital, outdoor, and social media. Gatorade is available in 3 variants – Blue Bolt, Orange, and Lemon at 250 ml @Rs 20 and 500 ml @Rs 50 – both in traditional and modern stores and through leading e-commerce sites/apps.
Consumers can visit Gatorade’s exclusive website to find out more details and clues on the upcoming Turf drops – www.gatoturffinder.com
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.
