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Criteo and MoPub partner to successfully scale in-app native ads on mobile
MUMBAI: Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO), the advertising platform for the open Internet, announced strong results following the launch of in-app native ads with MoPub, the Twitter-owned mobile monetization platform. By launching this engaging ad format, which sees 4X higher clickthrough rates than banner ads, total conversions for Criteo advertisers on MoPub inventory increased 90% from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019. In the coming months, Criteo plans to partner with MoPub to bring additional formats to advertisers via mobile in-app real-time bidding, such as video.
“Mobile continues to be a major focus for Criteo, and just last year our app business grew 54% year-over-year. As we continue to invest in mobile-optimized creative formats, our relationship with MoPub is valuable to provide access to quality in-app supply,” said Marc Grabowski, EVP Global Supply, Criteo. “MoPub provides incremental reach to eligible impressions through ad formats that complement the user experience, which enables us to increase campaign performance for our advertisers.”
For MoPub’s publisher partners, who span across a wide range of verticals and use native formats in India, Criteo values users 34% higher than the average buyer across MoPub's exchange. This demonstrates Criteo’s ability to accurately value users to reach advertisers’ full-funnel campaign objectives.
“We can rely on Criteo to provide a consistent stream of demand from top advertisers and to deliver quality, engaging creatives, resulting in higher returns for our publishers,” said Brian Bravo, Strategic Partner Development, MoPub. “We’re also excited to collaborate with Criteo on native ads, which complement the user experience and drive higher engagement across mobile app verticals — not just social platforms.”
As Criteo continues to see increased demand for its app offerings, it needs supply partners with a large app footprint and in-app technical expertise. MoPub engaged in custom product development to access Criteo’s demand for native ad formats, then helped high-profile publishers with significant native inventory adopt its new Software Development Kit (SDK) specifications. This allows Criteo advertisers to access premium native inventory on mobile at scale.
MAM
Xiaomi India launches Redmi Note 15 Special Edition campaign
OML film puts phone through chaos to showcase durability and camera
MUMBAI: If phones could sweat, this one would still keep its cool. In a market flooded with spec sheets and sameness, Xiaomi India has decided to turn up the heat quite literally. The brand’s latest campaign for the Redmi Note 15 Special Edition swaps predictable product demos for a full-blown kitchen meltdown, with celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor trading calm composure for controlled chaos.
Conceptualised and produced by OML, the campaign takes a sharply unconventional route. Instead of listing features, it throws the smartphone into a high-pressure dinner service, where Kapoor subjects it to a series of exaggerated, almost absurd stress tests chopping chillies on it, splashing water across its screen, and pushing it through a tense culinary gauntlet.
The message lands without spelling itself out. While the kitchen brigade falters under pressure, the phone does not. By the time a junior chef declares it “cooked”, the device emerges unscathed quietly reinforcing its durability, ultra-slim design, and 50 Master Pixel camera.
The approach reflects a broader shift in how brands are speaking to digital-first audiences. With Gen Z increasingly immune to traditional advertising formats, the campaign leans into storytelling, humour, and cultural familiarity to hold attention mid-scroll. The casting itself does part of the heavy lifting Kapoor, known for his composed persona, appears in an unexpectedly stern avatar, adding an element of surprise that fuels shareability.
For Xiaomi India, the idea was to move away from feature-led communication towards something more experiential. By embedding the product in chaotic, real-world scenarios, the campaign attempts to make performance feel demonstrated rather than declared.
The result is less of an advertisement and more of a content piece, one that understands the algorithm as much as the audience. Because in today’s attention economy, surviving the scroll might just be tougher than surviving a kitchen rush.
