Ad Campaigns
This Diwali Vodafone says, #LookUp
MUMBAI: From meeting family members, shopping for colourful lanterns and new clothes, enjoying homemade sweets, to shopping online, exchanging greetings on mobile, share update on social media, get gifts delivered on our doorsteps – Diwali celebrations have changed over the years, losing some of its familial togetherness to the easy lure of the digital world. Identifying the need for people to connect and have real conversations, Vodafone is again encouraging us to #LookUp and this time around, celebrate Diwali with our families, by keeping down our devices.
Vodafone has launched a heart-warming video under its successful #LookUp campaign, urging viewers to celebrate Diwali with each other rather than with devices.
The film brings out the changing nature of Diwali celebrations seen through the eyes of a kid. It shows the contrast between how Diwali was celebrated traditionally by the child’s father with lots of love and warmth and how it is perhaps celebrated presently. With its stark difference, the film shows how technology sometimes takes over and people lose out on the connections that really matter.
Vodafone India EVP marketing Siddharth Banerjee says, “In the hyper-connected world, Vodafone again reiterates the need for real conversations, especially on occasions and festivals. Our #LookUp campaign has resonated well with our audience-generating online and offline talkability and driving up brand preference for Vodafone. Hence, after delighting our audiences on Valentine’s Day / Father’s Day and Friendship Day with #LookUp messages, this time around, we are extending our #LookUp philosophy to Diwali encouraging viewers to celebrate with family and friends in essence, the connections that really matter.”
Ogilvy executive creative director Kiran Anthony adds, “In this film we see a modern family through the eyes of a child who while excited to read his dad’s essay on Diwali, sees the family around him in complete contrast. Our endeavour is to remind people that while phones do play an integral part in our daily lives, it is perfectly fine to put them aside during those special occasions & celebrate with your loved ones.”
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.
