Zed Black and MS Dhoni Mark a Decade With Festive TVC

Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH) brand Zed Black Agarbatti has returned with a festive commercial led by MS Dhoni, continuing a partnership that has now run for ten years. The film is the centrepiece of the brand’s festive push under the campaign thought ‘Prarthna Hogi Sweekar’, this time framed around the theme ‘Ek Naye Kal Ki Umeed’.

01 · The campaign

The creative, conceptualised by Oberoi IBC, collects the many hopes people carry into prayer: national progress, family peace, happiness, health and prosperity. Dhoni appears as the thread that brings these private prayers together, and the film ends on Zed Black 3-in-1 Premium Agarbatti with the proposition, ‘Prarthna Hogi Sweekar’.

In doing so, the brand positions the product less as an incense stick and more as a participant in the hopefulness of the season.

02 · Why the Dhoni equation endures

The brand says its decade-long association with Dhoni has helped build consumer connect across generations and geographies. Earlier films earned attention with distinctive portrayals such as his retro Indian cricket jersey look and a Guruji avatar. The latest film instead casts him as a unifying presence—an approach that leans on the familiarity the partnership has already built.

For marketers, this is the discipline worth noting. The brand is not merely repeating a face; it is repeating a thought. The campaign line remains ‘Prarthna Hogi Sweekar’, so each new film adds to the same memory structure rather than starting from zero.

• Familiarity lowers attention cost during the clutter of festive advertising.
• The celebrity is an emotional bridge, not just a product demonstrator.
• A consistent campaign thought lets equity compound year after year.

03 · The festive bet

MDPH director Anshul Agrawal noted that festive season is an important period for the prayer and fragrance category, with consumers increasingly looking for differentiated products and richer ritual experiences. This year’s strategy is built around ‘Prarthna Hogi Sweekar’, a wider portfolio and what the brand calls a strong media play.

That media play runs 360 degrees across television, OTT platforms, print and YouTube, designed to keep the film visible throughout the festive window.

04 · What the leadership says

MDPH director Ankit Agrawal said, “Prayer is deeply personal, but the hope behind it is universal,” explaining that ‘Ek Naye Kal Ki Umeed’ was meant to capture different prayers while bringing them together through hope for a better tomorrow.

For Oberoi IBC managing director Anand Oberoi, the task was to have Dhoni bring alive that shared belief: “Different prayers, different hopes, but one shared belief that every heartfelt prayer will be heard.”

05 · What to take from it

A decade-long celebrity relationship is a marketing asset only if it is treated as a long-term brand platform, not a series of one-off endorsements. Zed Black is pairing that consistency with portfolio expansion and cross-channel reach to convert a familiar face into festive salience.

The risk, as with any long-running celebrity anchor, is dependence. The campaign’s answer is to keep the message bigger than the star—hope itself, not Dhoni alone, carries the story.

Source: MediaNews4U

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.