Ad Campaigns
Pat Cummins and Ruby the Kangaroo invite Indian fans to “Come and Say G’day”
Mumbai: Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins stars in the latest installment of Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’day campaign, aimed at captivating Indian cricket fans during the highly anticipated five-Test series between Australia and India. Featuring brand ambassador Ruby the Kangaroo, the campaign invites millions of Indian viewers to explore Australia’s breathtaking tourism experiences beyond the stadiums.
Titled ‘Howzat for a holiday?’, the campaign will air during match intervals on Indian TV screens, showcasing Australia’s iconic destinations and unique adventures. With 50 million cricket fans expected to tune in, Tourism Australia leverages this opportunity to inspire travelers to experience the wonders of the land Down Under.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison highlighted the significance of this campaign, “India is a key market for Australian tourism, and with arrivals from the country on the rise, the Test series is the perfect platform to promote Australia as a holiday destination to a captive audience. While we have their attention firmly on cricket, this is an unmissable chance to encourage travelers to Come and Say G’day and discover what Australia has to offer.”
The campaign features 30, 15, and six second advertisements, as well as digital and out-of-home creatives. The content will also roll out in the UK next year, coinciding with the Women’s Ashes in January 2025 and the Men’s Ashes in November 2025.
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer Susan Coghill praised the campaign’s versatility, “’Howzat for a holiday?’ proves the adaptability of Ruby the Kangaroo as a brand ambassador, alongside Pat Cummins. Ruby has been central to all our campaigns, from the FIFA Women’s World Cup to this cricket-focused push. We’re thrilled to showcase a uniquely Australian experience to Indian audiences with this campaign.”
Key Campaign Highlights:
● Howzat for a holiday? leverages cricket’s massive viewership in India.
● Content series featuring retired cricketer David Warner promotes his favorite Australian destinations.
● A four-part social media campaign and celebrity engagements with Bollywood talent spotlight Australia’s allure.
● Creative assets localized for the UK market in time for the Ashes.
Pat Cummins expressed enthusiasm about his role as a Tourism Australia Friends of Australia advocate:
“Sports bring people together, and this campaign highlights how cricket and tourism can connect cultures. I’m excited to show Indian fans the incredible beauty and adventures waiting in Australia.”
Test Series Schedule:
● Perth: 22–26 November 2024
● Adelaide: 6–10 December 2024
● Brisbane: 14–18 December 2024
● Melbourne: 26–30 December 2024
● Sydney: 3–7 January 2025
Ad Campaigns
Amazon Ads maps 2026 as AI and streaming rewrite ad playbooks
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.








