Ad Campaigns
Havas Creative India paints Cannes purple with ‘Ink of Democracy’ campaign
MUMBAI: Havas Creative India has left an indelible impression at Cannes Lions 2025, taking home one Gold in Print & Publishing and two Bronze Lions in Direct and Best Use of Media for its bold campaign ‘Ink of Democracy’, created in partnership with The Times of India.
The campaign transformed the newspaper’s editorial page into a wall of silent protest — printing it entirely in electoral ink purple, the same hue used to mark voters’ fingers. The striking visual served as a powerful reminder ahead of the general elections: democracy thrives when ink hits paper and the ballot.
Havas India, Group CEO, South East Asia and North Asia, Rana Barua said, “Our momentum at Cannes Lions 2025 has been incredible with one Gold in Print & Publishing and two Bronze Lions in Direct and Media for Ink of Democracy. These wins reflect the kind of culture we’ve been nurturing at Havas, a culture rooted in meaning, collaboration, and fearless creativity. It is also a testament of the product and ecosystem we’ve built over the last 7 years. I’m incredibly proud of Anu and our young talents who brought home the lions. A big thank you to Joji and our global teams for the continuous support. Our hearts are full, and I believe this is just the beginning for us.”
Havas Creative India, joint MD & CCO, Anupama Ramaswamy added, “We’re incredibly overwhelmed and humbled to bring home two more Bronze Lions for Times of India – Ink of Democracy in Direct and Best Use of Media, along with our Gold in Print & Publishing. For a country that still begins its day with the newspaper, this was more than a campaign, it was a responsibility. And what could be more direct than telling 1.4 billion people to leave their homes and go vote? We didn’t chase engagement; we sparked participation. We didn’t count likes; we counted inked fingers. This is creativity serving democracy. A heartfelt thank you to our incredible partners at The Times of India, and a big shout out to my brilliantly talented young team — Soham, Ravinder, and Annie. You made this real. These wins matter. They bring visibility, open doors, and most importantly, they shine a light on the next generation of talent. At Havas we are committed to making sure they’re seen, heard, and celebrated.”
Stripped of headlines but not of intent, the campaign challenged apathy with colour and symbolism, proving that sometimes, silence shouts the loudest.
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.
