Macaw Paints is betting that a wish-granting character will do more for the brand than a familiar face. Earlier this year, the Shyam Steel-owned decorative paints brand launched its second television commercial with Kartik Aaryan, this time casting him as the Macaw Genie, a magical figure who turns colour wishes into festive home makeovers.
Built on the line “Macaw ke rang, magic ke sang,” the TVC opens with a man petting a macaw, only for the bird to transform into Kartik Aaryan’s larger-than-life Genie. The character grants one home-transformation wish at a time, finishing with a before-and-after reveal that ties directly to the brand’s 10,000+ shade portfolio.
From celebrity face to brand property
In an interview with MediaNews4U, Megha Beriwala Gupta, Marketing Director, Macaw Paints and Shyam Steel Group, explained the shift. Instead of saying “Kartik Aaryan endorses Macaw Paints,” the brand can now own “Macaw Genie equals the person who makes your colour wish happen.”
“It is an investment in building a distinctive brand, not simply an investment in VFX.” — Megha Beriwala Gupta, Marketing Director, Macaw Paints and Shyam Steel Group
The difference matters in a category where festive home painting is a high-relevance window. A character is repeatable across TV, digital, social, retail and on-ground activations, while a straightforward celebrity endorsement often ends up as one more face in the ad clutter.
What Macaw is doing differently
- It converts a celebrity into a recurring character rather than a one-off ambassador.
- It folds the 10,000+ shade range into the story as the reason the Genie can grant any colour wish.
- It positions the instant makeover as emotional magic, not a literal claim about painting speed.
- It uses one colour-and-magic platform across Durga Puja and Diwali, adapting execution for each festival and market.
The equity test
For a young brand, last year’s lesson was that visibility alone is not enough. This year, Macaw is concentrating spend behind one memorable idea and carrying it through every consumer touchpoint. The measure of success, Gupta says, is whether Macaw moves from a new entrant to a recognised and trusted paint brand by 2027, with stronger awareness, growing distribution and repeat purchases.
The practical takeaway for marketing teams: audit whether your ambassador is an asset or a rental. If the campaign still works next year without the celebrity, you have a property; if it collapses, you have a sponsorship. Macaw’s Genie is an attempt to build the former, using colour as the magic and the range as the proof.
Source: MediaNews4U
