iWorld
Airtel rings loud in Kerala, leaves rivals dialling up network upgrades
MUMBAI: Kerala’s telecom battlefield just got a lot more interesting—Bharti Airtel didn’t just up the ante, they’ve thrown down the gauntlet with a signal so strong, competitors are scrambling for a better connection. In a dramatic twist worthy of a telecom thriller, Airtel has rolled out an impressive 2,500 additional network sites across Kerala, cementing its position as the top telecom player in ‘God’s Own Country’. It seems Airtel knows that when it comes to connectivity, second place just doesn’t cut it.
Deployed swiftly across all 14 districts, Airtel now boasts over 11,000 network sites, the most by any telecom operator in Kerala. Whether you’re chilling on the serene beaches of Varkala, exploring the tea-drenched hills of Munnar, or cruising on the Kochi water metro—Airtel’s got you covered. With such a dense network, it’s almost as if Airtel is personally ensuring your TikTok uploads never buffer.
Bharti Airtel COO – Kerala, Gokul J proudly stated, “Kerala remains a critical market for Airtel, and we are committed to offering our customers the best network experience. In the last two years, we have made significant investments in the state in network densification across all the 14 districts. This has resulted in delivering a ubiquitous voice and data experience for our customers, no matter where they are in the state. We remain committed to Kerala and will continue to invest in technologies that will help elevate service experience for our customers.”
These enhancements aren’t just marketing fluff—Opensignal recently handed Airtel multiple awards, crowning them the king of Kerala’s telecom jungle. Airtel emerged as number one in several categories, including seamless 5G video streaming, unbeatable live video experiences, exceptional gaming performance, and the fastest upload speeds around. Let’s just say, Airtel users now have bragging rights when it comes to flawless video chats and lag-free gaming sessions.
With Airtel’s supercharged connectivity, Kerala’s beautiful landscapes are more than just Instagram-worthy—they’re reliably Insta-uploadable. So go ahead, snap, game, stream, and upload without a care; Airtel’s got your back. And your signal.
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.
