AI-Driven Campaigns: Indian Brands Cut Costs by 85% and Boost Creativity

A new era of advertising is dawning in India, where algorithms play the role of directors, prompts act as art directors, and virtual celebrities step into the spotlight. Brands across various sectors, from FMCG to beverages and entertainment, are embracing AI-led campaigns to reduce production timelines, cut costs, and unlock storytelling formats that were previously unattainable.

For Mondelez India, the use of AI is not just about cost savings but also about enabling what was once impossible. Their Valentine’s Day campaign for Cadbury Silk utilized generative AI to transform consumer-submitted moments into over 500,000 unique animated videos. "Traditional production methods simply can’t achieve this scale or speed," said Nitin Saini, VP-Marketing at Mondelez India.

Saini emphasized that AI must operate within brand safety parameters, ensuring voice consistency and legal compliance. "The human touch is still central," he added, reflecting a growing consensus that AI is a creative multiplier, not a replacement.

No campaign has perhaps illustrated this shift more vividly than Emami’s “DermiCool Warriors” ad film, a sci-fi-inspired, AI-visual-generated ad that reimagines the classic jingle. Created using tools like MidJourney, Kling AI, Suno AI, and Adobe Suite, the film was executed by just eight people, compared to the 100–150 professionals typically required for such a production.

"This AI-driven campaign cost us just 15–20% of what a similar CG-heavy film would have," said Kaushik Vedula, AVP – Marketing, Emami Limited. "That’s an 80–85% reduction in production costs, with comparable quality and significantly more agility."

Carol Goyal, Managing Director at Aesthetic Intelligence Lab, highlighted the use of AI across full campaign pipelines. For Tata Gluco+, her team used Runway ML, Leonardo.ai, and ElevenLabs to reduce campaign turnaround time by over 70%, delivering regional variants within a week. Goyal estimates that AI-led campaigns can reduce costs from ₹50–60 lakhs to ₹8–12 lakhs, depending on scale and scope.

However, these savings often redistribute costs to areas like prompt engineering, voice licensing, GPU compute time, and human QA. "Once trained, AI workflows offer compounding returns. You can iterate faster, localize better, and scale without bottlenecks," she said, citing their Wipro Consumer campaign that was delivered 5x faster at a fifth of the cost.

Agencies are also experimenting with AI-generated celebrities and assets. Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO of TheSmallBigIdea, shared how his team pioneered AI movie posters for Merry Christmas using MidJourney—long before AI became standard in creative rooms. "We now use stacks like ChatGPT, KlingAI, and Runway ML," said Pillai. "There’s no DOP, no art director—just you, your vision, and discipline. AI demands ownership, not delegation."

However, Pillai cautioned against romanticizing the tech. "AI is cost-effective if you’re not using celebrities or physical locations. But it’s not always cheaper—and rarely precise. You’re often one prompt away from accidentally mimicking a global campaign or infringing on someone’s IP."

Despite the promise, marketers and creators agree that AI’s growing presence raises difficult questions. Brand safety and voice consistency are high risks, especially for legacy brands not speaking to Gen Z. IP and copyright risks are also significant, as models trained on internet-scale data can inadvertently lift protected material. Vedula and Goyal both underscored the importance of licensed, responsible AI use.

Consumer trust is another concern, with AI deepfakes and avatars on the rise. Brands must ensure transparency and disclosures to maintain credibility. "When prompts start defining brand voice, you risk losing its soul," said Pillai.

Still, the consensus is clear: brands that experiment with AI today will be better prepared for the creative economy of tomorrow. "AI is not a gimmick—it’s a strategic asset," said Goyal. "Those who embrace it early will build custom workflows, own their own AI voice models and digital twins, and dramatically cut time-to-market."

Vedula agrees. "It’s not about cost alone. It’s about story-first thinking. AI is just the best way to serve that story—when used responsibly."

As Vishnu Srivatsav, National Creative Head at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, put it, "AI is still just a tool. It’s the absurdist, human stories—like Italian Brain Rot—that win hearts. We just need the right minds behind the machine."

As AI shifts from buzzword to backbone, experts highlight how India’s brands are racing to master its potential—not just to cut costs, but to redefine what creativity looks like in the machine age.