iWorld
Santa on Air Big FM rings in Christmas with cheer beyond the mic
MUMBAI: Christmas came with a detour this year, taking a joyride through Mumbai’s streets instead of staying on airwaves. Big FM wrapped up its Santa Cause 2025 initiative by turning festive goodwill into real-world smiles at The Stephen High School for the Deaf and Aphasic.
Living up to its belief that entertainment can do more than entertain, Big FM brought together students, RJs and partners for a day designed around inclusion and shared celebration. The highlight was a specially curated bus ride that swept the children across some of Mumbai’s most iconic sights, from Dadar to the Worli Sea Link, Marine Drive via the Coastal Road, and back again, turning the city into a moving Christmas postcard.
Adding star sparkle to the celebration, actor Akanksha Puri joined the festivities, personally interacting with the students and participating in the gifting. Meals were provided by Bombay Tacos, toys and gifts by Ultra Toys, while BIG FM’s RJs Sahil, Dilip, Rani and Vrajesh kept spirits high with games, laughter and festive banter.
Speaking on the initiative, Big FM CEO Ashit Kukian said the network continues to look beyond entertainment to create community-led impact. Santa Cause, he noted, reflects how radio, on-ground engagement and digital outreach can come together to build meaningful connections.
As the year winds down, Big FM’s Santa Cause served as a gentle reminder that the loudest Christmas cheer does not always come from speakers. Sometimes, it rolls through city roads, carried by laughter, shared moments and a little festive magic.
iWorld
Meta introduces new AI tools to boost discovery-to-purchase journey
From shoppable Reels to generative video, platforms get smarter at turning attention into sales.
MUMBAI: Meta is turning “scroll and stop” into “scroll, stop, and shop” and it’s using AI to make the whole journey feel almost effortless. The company has announced several new tools and enhancements designed to help brands guide people from discovery to purchase more effectively, while delivering more relevant and personalised experiences across its platforms.
Creators can now add product links more broadly on Instagram Reels, turning their content into shoppable moments. Businesses in 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share their product catalogues with creators, opening up a new sales channel for brands and fresh monetisation opportunities for creators.
The Creator Marketplace has also been upgraded with enhanced target audience filtering, integrated with Ads Manager. This helps businesses quickly find creators who are a strong match for their goals. Campaigns using Partnership Ads deliver, on average, 19 per cent lower CPAs, 13 per cent higher click-through rates, and 71 per cent higher median brand lift.
Meta is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory with new content categories including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments. According to Meta’s analysis of 59 studies, Reels Trending Ads delivered an incremental 6.6 percentage point Ad Recall lift compared to control groups.
AI-Powered Shopping Enhancements
- Product Set Optimisation is now in testing, allowing retail media networks to promote specific products with detailed reporting. Early results show 17 per cent lower median seller cost per purchase.
- Product Showcase is being expanded so marketers can upload one image or video and let Meta’s AI automatically add relevant products as a carousel when it improves performance.
Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with:
- UGC-style videos featuring avatars and voiceovers
- Easier voiceover translation and text overlay translation in a single streamlined flow
- New tools to automatically turn product catalogues into dynamic video ads for Reels
Early testing of the Advantage+ creative video generation tool showed a 10 per cent increase in CTR and 8 per cent increase in CVR on average. Campaigns using catalog product video saw 20 per cent more conversions per dollar, while Reels placements with catalog product video delivered 33 per cent higher incremental conversions.
Industry voices welcomed the updates. Vikas Chawla of Social Beat called Partnership Ads a “flywheel” for authentic content that converts. Niti Kumar of Spark Foundry and Sadhvi Dhawan of Blink Digital highlighted the power of Reels Trending Ads for cultural relevance and guaranteed share of voice. Ramasish Bhowmik of Adbuffs noted that Meta’s GenAI tools are giving teams a clear competitive edge.
In a world where attention is fleeting but shopping intent can spark in seconds, Meta is betting that smarter AI will help brands turn discovery into decisions faster than ever. The message is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about reaching people, it’s about reaching them at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right product.
