By Reena Rose
Every Diwali, India’s advertising industry is pushed to its limits. Briefs land just days before campaigns are expected to go live, clients chase instant impact, and agencies scramble to marry cultural relevance with creative speed. With 42% of digital media spending already programmatic in 2024, projected to cross 70% by 2025, this festive season may well be the first real stress test of whether artificial intelligence is an ally or a rival for agencies.
On one hand, the appeal of AI is obvious. Generative tools can churn out campaign drafts, translations, and festive greetings in seconds. Programmatic platforms are automating media buys with unprecedented precision. For brands under pressure to “do more with less,” AI looks like the shortcut they’ve been waiting for. Even Google said that advertiser adoption of AI-generated creative tools has increased by over 250% in the past year in India.
Regardless, speed is only half the equation. Festivals in India are not just marketing moments; they are cultural touchpoints. According to industry reports from 2024, festive ad spends typically spike 20–25% compared to the rest of the year, with almost 40% of annual brand budgets concentrated in this window. In such a high-stakes season, campaigns can’t just “look” right; they must feel emotionally right. A Ganesh Chaturthi activation in Maharashtra, a Durga Puja campaign in Bengal, or a Diwali film in Uttar Pradesh each demands a local sensibility that algorithms don’t yet grasp.
The most progressive agencies are not resisting AI but rewiring their workflows around it. Generative tools are used to create first drafts, explore multiple visual directions, or automate repetitive execution. This frees up human talent to do what machines can’t: shape narratives that resonate across diverse Indian audiences.
The risk lies in brands bypassing agencies entirely and leaning on AI-first content models. While this may deliver low-cost, quick-turnaround content, it comes at the cost of nuance and long-term brand building. As a recent Kantar study also found, 67% of Indian consumers prefer ads that feel ‘human-created’ rather than AI-generated. In the festive season, where emotion drives purchase, that gap matters.
This Diwali will likely reveal both the opportunities and the limits of AI. We will see campaigns that achieve impossible speed thanks to automation and others that stand out because of the human touch in storytelling. The winners will be those who understand that AI is neither a magic wand nor a threat, but a tool.
Festivals are about meaning, not just messaging. AI can help us move faster but it is still people who know what’s worth saying.
(The author is a Creative Director at Wunderkint)
