‘Decoding forecast trends’

How do marketers utilise AI to predict trending products and popular gifting categories in the festive season?

At Mobavenue, we believe AI has transformed itself from being a technological enabler to becoming the strategic core of festive marketing. In an era where consumer sentiment shifts by the minute, AI empowers marketers to decode emotional triggers and forecast trends with precision. Through advanced sentiment analysis and predictive modelling, brands can identify emerging product categories and gifting preferences well before they peak in popularity. Visual trend recognition further refines this process by capturing subtle design cues and evolving aesthetic choices that resonate with audiences. Combined with hyper-personalisation and AI-led segmentation, marketers can now craft experiences that feel deeply individual and yet scalable across millions of consumers.

What truly differentiates AI-driven festive marketing is its agility. At Mobavenue, our real-time optimisation engine ensures that campaigns evolve dynamically based on live behavioural signals – allowing brands to stay aligned with changing consumer moods throughout the festive cycle. This convergence of data intelligence and creative insight is not merely improving festive marketing performance; it is reshaping how brands create emotional resonance and long-term loyalty in a cluttered marketplace.

What key shifts are you observing in consumer behaviour during the festive season? And, how is AI helping brands adapt to these changes?

We are witnessing a clear evolution in how Indian consumers approach festive shopping. There’s a visible shift towards higher spending intent, earlier shopping cycles and a distinct digital-first mindset. Today’s consumers are seeking brands that align with their values, ethics and lifestyle aspirations, where experience-led gifting is rapidly replacing price-driven choices. Regional and vernacular nuances are also redefining festive consumption patterns – from localised language preferences to culturally resonant creatives. This diversity demands agility and precision; and, that’s where AI becomes indispensable. Through dynamic creative optimisation and vernacular personalisation, AI ensures every brand interaction feels timely, relevant and emotionally connected.

How significant is the festive season in driving overall annual ad spends for brands?

The festive quarter remains the single most influential period for India’s advertising ecosystem, driving substantial growth and innovation across sectors. According to The Economic Times, India’s festive ad spends are set to rise by nearly Rs5,400 crore this year – reflecting a 10 per cent incremental growth over normal festive performance. Additionally, according to AppTrove, brands that plan strategically during this period witness nearly 17 per cent higher RoI. What’s interesting this year is not just the quantum of spend, but how intelligently it’s being deployed. Marketers are moving beyond volume-led advertising toward AI-powered precision planning and performance optimisation. The festive season has effectively become a real-time experimentation lab for brands – where AI helps decode audience behaviour, drive contextual storytelling and measure outcomes with unparalleled accuracy. It’s no longer about being seen more; it’s about being seen smarter, and that’s where data-driven creativity is transforming festive marketing into a performance powerhouse.

What sets 2025 apart is not just the scale of investment but the sophistication with which brands are deploying their budgets. Economic reforms such as recent GST rate rationalisations and personal income tax adjustments have effectively enhanced disposable incomes and consumer confidence. This has fuelled a tremendous boost.

How is Mobavenue leveraging AI to decode consumer intent and sentiment during high-volume festive campaigns?

During the festive season, ad volumes surge exponentially – and this is when Mobavenue’s AI infrastructure truly demonstrates its scale and sophistication. Our proprietary AI and machine learning engine identifies high-intent and lookalike audiences across CTV, mobile and digital screens – in under 100 milliseconds. Operating at a scale of millions of ad impressions daily, our system analyses billions of data points – from engagement behaviour to conversion signals – to deliver real-time, data-backed optimisation decisions. By blending predictive analytics with emotional intelligence, our AI framework allows brands to anticipate festive demand, match the right offers to the right audiences and deliver hyper-contextual experiences across India’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape. In essence, AI transforms festive marketing from static campaigns into living ecosystems – adaptive, responsive and continuously learning to maximise impact and efficiency.