Countdown begins for BSmart National Ad Film Contest in Bengaluru

Business Standard edtech app BSmart’s mega event “Brand Canvas 2026” is all set to witness its grand finale in Bengaluru today. As the final chapter of the national event unfolds at Kristu Jayanti University, Airport Road campus, it promises a day of excellence, when some of the youngest and sharpest minds of the country aspiring to be top managers and entrepreneurs gather for the final leg of the seven-month long competition.

 

A brain child of Business Standard, the learning app BSmart, preferred by management students and subscribed to across the country, flagged off Brand Canvas 2026 for the first time early February. The national competition quickly garnered massive attention. 

 

 

B-Schoolers turned up in thousands to participate in the event of which 10 teams progressed to the grand finale. Today, they will clash to find a place in the ultimate moment of glory of brand recognition and celebration.

 

Brand Canvas 2026 is a national level ad-film making contest where B-School students had to create 30-second commercial advertisements based on real brand problem statement provided by four prominent brands in the country – PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority), UTI Mutual Funds, Manyavar & MilkyMist Capella.

 

The challenge commenced on February 14, with an introductory session by ad-film maverick Prahlad Kakkar, the mastermind behind some of the iconic campaigns such as Pepsi’s “Nothing official about it”, Maggi’s “2 Minutes”, to name a few.

 

The foundational session set the tone for the challenge mentoring the student teams on weaving raw ideas into impactful commercial ads. The legendary ad-film director also came back in the last week of February for a masterclass workshop on brand thinking and storytelling through ad-films.

 

The event witnessed brand immersion sessions by experts from PFRDA, UTI Mutual Fund, and MilkyMist. They walked through the ad-briefs, the challenges, and highlighted the purpose for making the advertisements.

 

Students registered for the event in teams, with each comprising four members. Each team could pick one ad-brief from among the four brands on a first-come first-serve basis and create advertisements to address a specific problem statement for the respective brands.

 

Thousands of B-school students from across India turned up for the contest to showcase their creative talent and delivered some exceptional ad-films. The films were evaluated by esteemed jury members composed of academicians from B-schools, experts from Business Standard and corporates, including the participating brands.

 

The jury travelled to the corners of the country to evaluate and interact with the students. They were impressed as students demonstrated their passion and excellence in making the ads, within constraints for costs and large equipment. Many of these ad films are now being showcased on social media and other channels of the participating brands and Business Standard.

 

Seventy-eight teams advanced to the national qualifiers, which were conducted during the last two weeks of May. Marketing and advertising stalwarts from Business Standard, the participating brands in the Brand Canvas event, well-known brands like Castrol, and senior editors from Business Standard formed the elite panel of the jury. 

 

After four intensely competitive national qualifiers, the jury shortlisted 10 teams that advanced to the grand finale and will now be vying to win the coveted competition and register their names as the first-time winners of the prestigious national ad-film contest.

 

The grand finale will feature a panel discussion on “AI – A Collaborator or Disruptor in Branding?”. Industry leaders from UTI MF, PFRDA, Milkymist and Havas Creative Network will form the elite panelists. This will be followed by the evaluation round where the 10 teams will present their work to the jury.

 

Along with the recognition, the winning team will be awarded a cash prize of ₹2 lakh, the first runner-up will win ₹1 lakh and the second-runner up will take home ₹60,000.

 

The ad-film challenge opens a sea of opportunities to the top teams of the contest in the form of internships, projects and future collaborations with top brands.