MAM
Spotify leverages Scibids’ AI to boost customer acquisition
Mumbai: Headquartered in Paris, Scibids, which works in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) for digital marketing, recently launched a campaign. This, it said, helped music streaming service Spotify deliver a 30 per cent increase in registrations at a 24 per cent lower cost per registration.
Spotify leverages programmatic marketing to run customer acquisition campaigns. In order to further turbocharge its marketing ROI, Spotify recently introduced Scibids’ artificial intelligence solutions into its ad tech stack.
Scibids AI worked with the Google Display and Video 360 team and Spotify’s agency, MatterKind, to create custom algorithms that were specifically engineered to boost Spotify’s customer acquisition. Google’s DSP platform, Display and Video 360, has some of the most advanced tools for advertisers, allowing them to create and push sophisticated algorithms to optimise campaigns. Scibids, as an AI solution customisable to the needs of a brand’s media buying strategies, created algorithms designed specifically to improve Spotify’s cost per registration.
Scibids managing director- Asia Pacific Rahul Vasudev said, “Scibids is proud to partner with Spotify and MatterKind, who share our vision of smarter optimization enabled by AI. In this case, the challenge on the Google Display & Video 360 platform was to break the glass ceiling of performance and turn exchange-based media buying into a competitive acquisition channel for Spotify. Results like these prove that AI has the ability to dramatically improve marketing ROI by carrying out real-time computations that were previously impossible. The icing on the cake is that the teams can then focus on more value-adding tasks.”
Spotify head of media, CRM & partnerships Shipra Srivastava said, “We leveraged the power of AI to unlock scale with efficiency by using Scibids AI to add custom insights to Display and Video 360’s bidding mechanism. This proved to be useful in optimising not only the top of the funnel but deeper metrics for us as well.”
The challenges for digital marketers looking for efficient brand and sales growth have multiplied, and the imminent demise of cookies and other identifiers means that running addressable marketing is actually becoming more difficult. Scibids said that it has built an AI that extracts the most discerning combination of variables for each campaign, enables reach on the open web and creates optimal algorithms to optimise KPIs as DSP campaigns start scaling up.
Scibids added that it has recently also started operations in India with Samir Karpe as the country manager with teams across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Brands
Jubilant Foodworks to end Dunkin’ franchise in India
Pizza chain operator will not renew agreement when it expires at end of 2026.
MUMBAI: When the doughnuts stop turning and the coffee goes cold, even a global giant like Dunkin’ can find the Indian market a tough brew to crack. Jubilant Foodworks has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with Dunkin’ when the pact expires on 31 December 2026, according to a Reuters report. The operator, best known for running Domino’s outlets in India, said it would evaluate options for its existing Dunkin’ stores, including a potential sale or transfer of franchise rights, in consultation with the US-based brand.
The decision follows years of underperformance in a market where local tastes and intense competition have made it difficult for international coffee-and-doughnut formats to gain traction. Jubilant, which has increasingly focused on its core pizza business and newer bets like Popeyes, indicated that the exit would not materially affect its financial or operational position.
Dunkin’ accounted for just 0.61 per cent of Jubilant’s revenue in the fiscal year ending 2025 and recorded a loss of approximately Rs 191 million, according to a regulatory filing. The company operated 27 outlets as of December 2025, having shuttered seven stores over the preceding year.
The retreat comes even as Jubilant’s broader business shows signs of momentum. The company reported a 65 per cent rise in quarterly profit for the October to December period, reaching Rs 70.9 crore, up from Rs 42.91 crore a year earlier.
For Jubilant, the exit reflects a sharpening strategic focus. For Dunkin’, it marks another setback in a market that has proven resistant to imported café concepts without significant localisation.
In the cut-throat world of Indian quick-service restaurants, sometimes the sweetest deals are the ones you quietly walk away from leaving more room for the brands that truly rise to the occasion.
