Ad Campaigns
Midea turns up the heat with Rashmika Mandanna as cool new ambassador
MUMBAI: Carrier Midea India has recruited south Indian and Hindi cinema darling Rashmika Mandanna to add some star power to its air conditioning lineup, as the company looks to fan the flames of desire for its cooling solutions across the sweltering subcontinent.
The partnership arrives as India’s air conditioning market is heating up, with rising urbanisation, swelling disposable incomes and increasing temperatures creating perfect storm conditions for manufacturers. Industry projections suggest the sector will enjoy robust growth over the next five years, with companies jostling for position in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
“The Indian air conditioning industry is evolving rapidly, and consumers are seeking brands that offer not only superior products but also an emotional connection,” said Carrier Midea India chairman and managing director Sanjay Mahajan. “Rashmika Mandanna’s association with Midea air conditioners will amplify our presence and strengthen our commitment to providing smart, sustainable, and high-performance air conditioning solutions.”
Mandanna, who has captured hearts across multiple film industries and boasts a formidable social media following, will headline the Yeh Air Conditioner Nahin, AI Conditioner Hai campaign. The multimedia blitz will span television, digital platforms and retail touchpoints, with the actress’s wide appeal expected to help Midea penetrate deeper into both metropolitan and regional markets.
“I am happy to partner with Midea air conditioners, a brand that truly understands the importance of smart and efficient cooling in today’s homes,” smiled Mandanna, whose charm and relatability align neatly with Midea’s brand values of innovation and modern living.
The marketing strategy extends beyond traditional advertising into the realms of social media activations, influencer collaborations and interactive content. Midea will also deploy retail demo zones at electronics stores, offering customers hands-on experience with its cutting-edge cooling technology.
Carrier Midea India national sales & marketing head Depender Redhu said: “This partnership comes at a pivotal time when we are expanding our distribution network and strengthening our consumer outreach. Rashmika Mandanna’s endorsement will boost brand preference and credibility, helping us reach all of India this year.”
Added head of marketing Alok Kohli:“Today’s consumers engage with brands beyond traditional advertising, and we are committed to meeting them where they are. Alongside TV and digital campaigns, we will leverage social media activations, influencer collaborations, and interactive content to create a deeper connection with our audience. Our campaign will build a more immersive brand experience. We expect to see a significant increase in brand engagement as a result of this association.”
As temperatures soar across the subcontinent, Midea’s strategic play may well prove prescient. With Mandanna’s star appeal and a comprehensive marketing approach, the brand hopes not just to survive but thrive in the Indian summer’s brutal heat—providing cool comfort to sweltering consumers while turning up its market share in the process.
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.
