Personalisation and real-time adjustments: AI trends expected this festive

With the second half of the year comes the line of festivals that get consumers and brands equally excited. Indians recently celebrated Onam and Janmashtami, and are on the heels of bidding adieu to Ganesha. As the biggest celebration of the year – Diwali inches closer, consumer sentiments are improving. A report by YouGov said that 31% of urban Indians are likely to spend more than last year during Diwali in 2023. 

Festivities have taken full charge of consumer sentiments, and this is a sign for brands and agencies to roll out their festive campaigns. As brands pour in more efforts to resonate well with consumers through their festive campaigns, each year new trends emerge. Last year, experts had predicted OOH/DOOH would take over the advertising realm. This year, the trend that seems to stand out the most is Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to a recent report by Dentsu Creative, 87% of CMOs think that AI will represent the future of advertising and marketing.

With increased adoption of AI this festive, brands are expecting to see a 'ladi' of personalized campaigns, use of AR/VR and larger-than-life CGI-led campaigns.

Here is what digital experts think would take over the festivities this year, courtesy of AI: 

George Kovoor, Chief Creative Officer, Wavemaker India

In a rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, artificial intelligence has emerged as a transformative force, enabling marketers to unlock new levels of efficiency, personalization, and performance. 

To say that AI has transformed the digital marketing landscape would be the understatement of the year. It has enabled marketers to unlock seemingly impossible possibilities and has taken advertising and communication to never-before levels.

As we enter the festive season, here are my 3 reasons why AI will create the biggest fireworks in Indian advertising.

1. Personalisation at scale - One of the biggest challenges brands have faced is to combine creativity and personalized data to deliver marketing solutions that are relevant and innovative and to do it at scale. Today, AI makes that possible. AI gives us the capability to combine data, technology and creativity to unlock a level of content be it video, audio or editorial at a scale and efficiency like never before.
2. Efficiency - AI has completely transformed the creative process – from ideation to production, to distribution AI offers solutions faster, cheaper and at a scale most agencies and brands could only dream of. AI has not only revolutionized the thinking and ideation process it has also completely transformed every aspect of film or video production from shooting, editing, dubbing and music production. This is just one single aspect of how AI has changed advertising in India. Today the sky is the limit, quite literally.
3. Performance – AI combination automation and intelligence to create solutions that are more powerful, effective and cost effective. Thanks to AI we can create advertising and communication that are customized to platforms, timing and languages. India is a land of diversity, through the magic of AI we can reach multiple regions, multiple target groups, in multiple languages, all with just one tool!

Preetham Venkky, Chief Digital Officer of DDB Mudra Group

1 out of 5 campaigns will use AI in some form or the other. I think that brands will leverage AI this festive season in the following three ways: 

• AI as a generative tool - This could be visual output, copy output or in some cases, small parts of the video output as well. 
• AI as a personalized tool - When it comes to contextual advertising, brands are able to make use of AI to create personalized content. This could be in the form of personalized ads, emails or messages. 
• AI for interactive experiences - Here the consumers can directly interact with the ad by using a certain hashtag, website, etc. and then get an AI-driven output. 

Lastly, I think that everyone is aware of the tools available, it's just that some of the work will be average while others might be very unexpected. 

Jay Morzaria, Head of Creative, Rephrase.ai

AI isn’t just one possibility, it is a world of possibilities. And from what I can sense, brands are keen on exploring these possibilities. Festive time is often a time when the largest spends are allocated and it's an opportunity for brands to break clutter.

We are only just getting started with AI.  We haven’t even scratched the surface yet. A part of it has to do with the evolving nature of the technology and a part of it is to do with the plethora of options already available that it becomes difficult to remain on top of everything. 

I look forward to seeing some strides being made in AI-generated art. We have already seen some campaigns being made where we saw the yesteryears recreated or the future imagined. I think that can go a notch above this year. AI-generated music has also made its way into advertising. I feel that trend will only carry forward as we see new innovations and new ideas into it. Real-time contextual advertising will achieve scale. I also feel that chatbots employed by various organisations will become much more sharper and precise with their recommendations. 

Having said that, I firmly believe that AI is just a tool that will aid in better execution and help you achieve scale. However, the core idea coupled with the right AI tool is what will really create magic. So, I would urge brand managers and marketing teams across brands to not think of doing AI campaigns as just a way to fulfil KPIs but to find an idea that has merit and warrants the need to be coupled with an appropriate AI tool. 

Madhu Sudhan, Co-founder, Punt Partners

There is considerable interest among brands in exploring AI-driven campaigns this festive season. Most marketing teams have already begun to adopt AI to enhance productivity in their internal operations, so there is a widespread consensus that AI expands the scope beyond what was previously possible.


Already we are seeing very different use cases where advertisers have engaged with partners to produce interesting work using the capabilities of generative AI. We are far from realising the full potential of AI because we are in the tactical-tool first exploratory stage of what can be done with AI where the first-order use cases are being ticked off the list. What brands will need is to dig deeper and find AI-native use cases which allow for fresh ideas to be executed. 

I believe one trend we would all like to avoid, but chances are we won't, is the proliferation of mid-journey illustrations as ‘AI’ campaigns. However, I am hopeful that we will see more personalized use cases and unique ideas where AI capabilities assist us in doing what we do best – telling compelling brand stories and creating novel experiences for customers.

Abhimanyu Vyas, Business Head - Data and Analytics, PivotRoots

The best use of AI this festive season would be large-scale adaptation of creative and video generation. The use of tools like Midjourney, ZMO.AI for creating adaptations and personalised creatives is now a reality. Generative video tools like Synthesia are helping build multiple video variants to personalise messages in the festive season.

I feel the fields of reporting and insights are one of those underexplored areas when it comes to AI for marketing. Brands are still relying on old-fashioned dashboards and Excel-based reports.

Generative Business Intelligence is another growing area that brands are still warming up to. If utilized well it will help to get anomaly alerts, insights, and others.

The biggest trend would be the use of AI in personalised messaging using generative AI. Discount and offer personalisation based on user cohort is also something brands will explore as festivities are synonymous with discounts in India.

Amer Ahmad, Director of Technology at Blink Digital

There is immense interest among brands and clients in using AI for festive campaigns. AI has been a buzzword since the launch of ChatGPT but has continued to be "buzzing" for so long due to its versatility - I foresee its use well beyond the upcoming festive period. 

Two areas that I'm personally excited for and feel we've only scratched the surface are AR (and game development as a wider category) and behavioural/emotion recognition. 

I expect to get a lot of personalised greetings in different digital formats - maybe a few video greetings from celebrities too!

Raghav Bagai, Co-founder of Sociowash AI Studios

Generative AI is not just a buzzword anymore; it’s a revolutionary concept that has captured the collective imagination across industry; with agencies and brands alike. In the last year or so we have seen multiple brands that have not only used generative AI but also excelled at it. 

The full and complete potential of AI, especially in regards to its use in Advertising and Marketing is yet to be explored at its full extent, since it is evolving at hyperspeed; however, we currently have a significant amount to work with as well. 

We are definitely going to see an uptick in the use of generative AI for static posts & carousels during the festive season, especially for topical spots and offer creatives. 

Arjit Sachdeva, Co-Founder, VDO.AI

To fully harness AI's potential in festive campaigns, brands should focus on data-driven insights and personalization. AI can analyze vast amounts of consumer data, helping brands understand preferences, behaviours, and trends. This information allows for hyper-targeted messaging, ensuring campaigns resonate with individual consumers on a deeper level. Additionally, automation is key. Brands can use AI to optimize ad placements, real-time adjustments, and even content generation. 

Programmatic advertising is set to play a pivotal role in how businesses promote their products and services during this festive season. With the surge in online shopping and digital consumption during festive periods, advertisers will leverage AI algorithms to automate and personalize their ad campaigns, ensuring they reach the right customers at the right time.

Ethical and responsible AI is expected to be a significant focus during this festive season. As consumers become more aware of the ethical implications of AI, businesses will need to demonstrate their commitment to responsible AI practices. This includes ensuring transparency, fairness, and privacy in AI-driven applications, especially in the e-commerce and customer service sectors. 

Vivek Kumar Anand, Chief Business Officer – DViO Digital

AI is helping with efficiencies that are much required during the festive time. Picture this: The festive season rolls in, and every marketer feels the weight of creating that perfect, buzz-worthy campaign. The stakes? High. The timeline? Tight. But here's where AI steps in, cutting through the chaos. AI helps us get zero to one, laying the foundation and propelling ideas from a mere concept to a tangible starting point. From there, the human touch - that spark of creativity - takes over, shaping these ideas into award-winning masterpieces. 

AI isn't just about creative brilliance. AI can help in many ways; it can keep an eye on competitors' offerings, automate discounting, suggest products that shoppers might like, guess how much stock stores should keep, and even handle repetitive tasks to make things run smoother. Two words echo loudly when thinking of AI in the festive brand landscape: efficiency and delight. And that's precisely how brands are harnessing AI's power.

Some key trends to watch include Personalized Shopping Experiences, Visual Search, Supply Chain Optimization, Predictive Analysis combined with Inventory Management, Dynamic Pricing, and Personalized Interactive and immersive Ads. As we welcome this festive season, brands powered by AI are set to transform how we shop, celebrate, and relish the festivities! 

Mithun Mukherjee, ECD, FCB Kinnect

I think after the wave created by Cadbury last year with ‘Shahrukh Khan’ my ad, the AI narrative has moved forward by leaps and bounds. AI gives one the power to ‘imagine’ what a particular person might get out of a different cultural experience. For ex. what would a Malayali celebrating Durga Puja wear? Or what would the food experiences be if different festivals came together? The possibilities are endless, especially with the underlying message of unity and celebration. It might be an interesting way of looking at festivals with this superior technology that we now have.

There are new AI builds that are being constantly brought to the forefront. End-to-end video generation is a capability that seems to have come through in bits and pieces, but not a lot of brands have taken to it yet. We can expect a few of those in the near future.

One of the trends that already seems to have exploded on the scene is CGI-based videos that almost look real. One can expect a lot more of those soon this festive season.

Anupreet Singh, Chief Revenue Officer of gan.ai

Most effective ideas are usually the most simple ones. Think of AI to do things that would otherwise be super time-consuming or impossible, don’t use AI for the sake of doing an AI campaign. Everything about AI is underexplored right now, unless we come across 5 AI-powered campaigns a day, we haven’t even scratched the surface. In the next few months, every other campaign will have some influence of AI - either in the creative side of things or the distribution side of things.

A lot of creatives will be powered by the likes of midjourney, a lot of personalised video campaigns will be powered by Gan.ai, and campaigns that lack personalisation or are text-only will get overshadowed by personalised images and videos.

Think of a campaign without the use of AI, and then think how can AI make it 10x better. Right now most brands are doing the complete opposite of it.