Navratri and Durga Puja are sacred, chaotic, emotional and now, fully monetized. Every year, brands compete to make the festival their content calendar, and 2024 was no different. But here’s the thing: not every brand gets it right. Some turn pandals into product placements, while a few manage to capture the soul of the festival and maybe even improve it.

This year’s campaigns show a fascinating dynamic: brands are no longer just celebrating festivals, they’re curating experiences that live online as much as they do offline.

Food, Colour, and Participation

Take Badshah Masala’s #BadshahSangNavrang. Nine colours, nine recipes, nine days of participation. It’s not just about spice; it’s about involving the audience in the ritual. Similarly, Ashoka Foods’ #NineDaysOfNavratri used colour-coded dishes to make people taste the festival. Even Licious went the nostalgia route, invoking home-cooked meals that pull at memory and emotion.

Here’s the perspective: food is no longer just sustenance, it’s a vehicle for cultural participation. Brands realized that if you can insert yourself into these intimate, memory-laden rituals, you’re no longer an advertiser, you’re part of the story.

Technology Meets Tradition

Finolex Pipes’ “Peedhiyan Badlengi, Parampara Nahi” and Pulse Candy’s Pulse Ka Pandal illustrate another trend: tech isn’t replacing rituals; it’s extending them. AI visuals and virtual pandals make the festival accessible to anyone, anywhere. The perspective here? Digital amplification doesn’t dilute tradition, it democratizes it. If done right, a campaign can make distant celebrations feel local and personal.

Jewellery, Romance, and Emotional Depth

Kalyan Jewellers (#TraditionOfTogetherness) and BlueStone (9 Shades of Love / #NavRang) show that even the most commercial categories can tell stories with heart. Kalyan connected jewellery to the modern Indian woman’s strength, while BlueStone used colours to capture nuanced emotions in relationships.

The takeaway: Jewellery isn’t just adornment; it’s emotional shorthand. The campaigns that rise above the clutter are the ones that link products to values and experiences instead of just looks.

Meme Culture and Main Character Energy

Then there’s the Swiggy Instamart campaign with the Falguni Collection. It didn’t just sell essentials, it sold identity. Navratri isn’t only about devotion; it’s about being seen, flexing your outfit, dancing your best dandiya. Style Baazar’s #PujoiEbarIAmTheShowstopper doubled down on this by letting the consumer be the hero of their own festive narrative.

Perspective: festivals today are part devotion, part performance, and brands that understand both win.

Social Storytelling as a Brand Strategy

Finally, Pond’s #DuggaDugga and Finolex’s Embracing New Beginnings remind us that there’s still room for social storytelling. Highlighting women idol sculptors or tying adoption to the Goddess’s narrative shows that festivals can be catalysts for social messaging.

The edge here is clear: brands that take risks with empathy and relevance not just gimmicks create long-term resonance.

The Bigger Picture

If you step back, these campaigns reveal a tension every brand now navigates: how to be part of a sacred tradition without commodifying it. Some brands lean into memes, colors, and spectacle. Others lean into narrative, emotion, and social causes. The most memorable campaigns do both.

In 2024, the line between ritual and marketing blurred beautifully. Whether it’s a colour-coded curry, a virtual pandal, or a story about resilience, the festival became a stage where brands weren’t just selling, they were participating, shaping, and even enhancing cultural experiences.

And maybe that’s the real lesson: the brands that understand Navratri and Durga Puja don’t just decorate the festival, they live inside it.