Mumbai: India’s harvest festivals—Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti—offer brands a powerful canvas to connect with consumers through tradition, emotion and everyday rituals. This season, marketers across categories leaned into culturally rooted storytelling, blending regional insights with modern formats ranging from films and digital activations to immersive OOH and tech-led experiences. From banks and FMCG brands to e-commerce platforms and experiential players, these campaigns show how festive moments can be transformed into meaningful brand narratives that celebrate community, abundance and new beginnings.
Telugu ZEE5
Telugu ZEE5 has launched a Sankranthi brand film featuring Manchu Manoj that celebrates festive togetherness while reinforcing the platform’s promise of entertainment rooted in Telugu culture. Set in a traditional village home, the film captures warmth, humour and family bonding, positioning Telugu ZEE5 as a natural festival companion. Directed by Sai Marthand, the campaign blends nostalgia with contemporary storytelling and highlights the platform’s strong content slate, while also signalling upcoming high-profile releases that continue to strengthen its appeal among Telugu audiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lc_F9UUtLs
Sunfeast Marie Light
Sunfeast Marie Light marked Makar Sankranti in Odisha with a large-scale activation that blended cultural tradition with everyday wellbeing. Drawing on the festival’s deep connection to the Sun and kite flying, the brand encouraged families to step outdoors and celebrate sunshine. As part of the initiative, kites carrying a festive message were distributed with every Blinkit order across multiple cities, reinforcing the brand’s focus on simple outdoor moments and the goodness of Vitamin D.
South Indian Bank
South Indian Bank’s new Pongal campaign in Tamil Nadu celebrates relationships, community, and cultural values through the tagline “Uravugal thaan Tamilagathin Valimai.” Set in a familiar neighbourhood, the film captures everyday moments of togetherness while positioning the bank as a trusted presence in customers’ lives.
Wonderla Chennai
Wonderla Chennai’s first-ever Pongal film uses a festive, family-centric story to highlight its experience-first promise of ‘Majaa’. Set within a modern Tamil household, the film blends tradition with humour before transitioning to Wonderla Chennai, positioning shared experiences and fun as the heart of contemporary family celebrations.
Flipkart
The moment the Pongal pot boils over is a powerful symbol of joy, abundance and new beginnings in Tamil Nadu, and this year Flipkart turned that iconic ritual into a high-impact, tech-led celebration. Conceptualised by 22feet Tribal WW, the campaign reimagined the tradition through an interactive microsite where users time the Pongal boil to unlock better deals as the foam rises higher. Launched in sync with Pongal’s peak Tamil cinema weekend, the idea was brought alive through a full-scale theatrical trailer that matched the emotion, energy and spectacle of the festive season.
Platinum Outdoor
In a heartfelt celebration of Tamil Nadu’s rich cultural heritage and festive spirit, Platinum Outdoor partnered with Continental Coffee to bring alive a unique, culturally immersive OOH campaign for Xtra Strong Coffee across Chennai, moving beyond conventional outdoor advertising to transform key city touchpoints into vibrant, Pongal-inspired visual experiences that deeply resonated with local audiences, with thoughtfully curated cultural elements such as traditional Pongal pot installations, life-like sugarcane décor, banana leaf accents, rangoli-inspired artwork and rich festive colour palettes turning everyday OOH formats into warm, festive moments and setting a new benchmark for culturally rooted outdoor storytelling.
DBS Bank India
This Pongal creative uses familiar festival elements to represent abundance and new beginnings. DBS Bank India has created this visual to acknowledge the cultural significance of Pongal. The DBS Spark is subtly integrated as a beam of light at the centre of the design, representing optimism, clarity and the positive momentum that DBS brings to new beginnings.
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The red kite with the DBS spark symbolises Makar Sankranti’s spirit of optimism and new beginnings, reflecting balance and direction amid change, while linking this festive energy to DBS Bank India’s role in offering stable, reliable banking support.
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Parle-G
Parle-G’s latest Lohri film, conceptualised by Thought Blurb Communications, explores heritage, emotion, and responsibility through a simple, heartfelt narrative. Set in rural Punjab, it portrays a father’s dilemma over ancestral land and a daughter who brings modern understanding to tradition, using restrained storytelling and festive music to reflect Lohri’s deeper cultural values.
Birla Opus Paints
Birla Opus Paints, part of the Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries, has launched a new festive campaign in Tamil Nadu to mark Pongal, spotlighting its Birla Opus Style Colour Smart range of interior emulsions. The digital film captures the essence of the harvest festival through everyday family traditions, showing how refreshed, vibrant interiors can elevate festive moments and bring loved ones together.
Big Basket
bigbasket, a TATA Enterprise, is celebrating India’s harvest festivals through a vibrant influencer-led digital campaign that highlights the country’s rich agricultural traditions while making festive preparations easier with its 10-minute delivery service. The campaign features creators showcasing how families celebrate festivals such as Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Pongal and Bihu through food, rituals, décor and attire, while demonstrating how bigbasket delivers essentials—from til laddoos, revdi and sugarcane to pongal mixes, ghee, pitha mix, black rice and mustard oil—straight to their doorsteps in minutes. By blending authentic cultural storytelling with modern convenience and responsibly sourced products, the campaign shows how bigbasket helps consumers honour tradition without the stress of last-minute shopping.
La Pink
La Pink, India’s first 100% microplastic-free beauty brand, has launched its festive campaign ‘Purity that Belongs to Our Roots’ around Lohri and Makar Sankranti, blending cultural rituals with conscious skincare. The film follows a woman’s journey from Lohri’s bonfire—symbolising letting go of impurities—to Makar Sankranti’s sunrise, reflecting renewal through everyday skincare routines. Rooted in festive symbolism, the campaign reinforces La Pink’s belief that purity is both a traditional value and a modern, everyday commitment.
super.money
Early morning walkers at Carter Road, Mumbai, were surprised on Makar Sankranti to see a giant kite floating above the promenade, drawing instant attention. People slowed down, stopped to look up, and soon gathered around, curious and clicking photos. The oversized kite carried a QR code and the line “Yahan nahi katega…”, playfully referencing the festival’s kite-flying tradition. Scanning the code led to a fun digital experience by super.money, offering cashback on a first UPI transaction and reinforcing the idea that while kites may fall, rewards don’t. Blending a familiar festive symbol with technology, the activation made digital payments feel engaging and accessible. The experience extended on the ground too, with kites shared among visitors, turning the morning into a lively mix of celebration, discovery, and shared moments.
