iWorld
Lose the hate, lose the fear, lose the shame with Voot’s ‘Untag’
MUMBAI: After the success of its web series It’s Not That Simple starring Swara Bhaskar, Viacom18’s OTT platform Voot has announced another 6-episodic original series. Titled Untag, the series starts today.
The series is presented by Moto Z, and the association with the series goes far beyond just sponsorship as the brand is deeply embedded into the show.
It delves into the lives of regular people with seemingly harmless tags…their dreams, their inhibitions and most importantly their struggles. It gives the audience a fresh and light perspective of six characters, each dealing with their imposed tags, trying to become much more than what the world has labelled them as.
“At Voot, we focus on creating differentiated, yet relatable content that resonates with today’s digital generation. We are glad to announce the launch of our latest Voot Original ‘Untag’ – a story of people living with tags and how it’s important to go beyond such tags that prevent you from becoming the best version of who you are. We are delighted to partner with Moto Z for this series especially because Moto Z’s proposition of ‘Different is Better’ is also the key message that ‘Untag’ wants leave its viewers with,” said Voot head of content Monika Shergill.
The series has a power packed star cast featuring Meiyang Chang (Nischay), VJ Andy (Cyrus) Dipannita Sharma (Anahita), Shiv Pandit (Prithvi), Anjali Anand (Shikha) and Naveen Polishetty (Sumeet).
“We are quite thrilled with this association with ‘Untag’ on Voot. Like the Moto Z with Moto Mods enable you to break away from mundane smartphone usage and make it different by allowing you to transform it in a snap. Similarly, ‘Untag’ is a journey of 6 individuals who are trying to break away from the tags they have received from the society. The show looks really cool and different just like the Moto Z and Moto Mods. And we hope the viewers resonate with the key message of the show – different is better,” Motorola Mobility and Lenovo Mobile Business Group marketing head Rachna Lather.
Untag celebrates friendship, relationships, love and the uniqueness of each of these journeys. It is astory about losing the tags, the labels, the fear and most importantly the shame! It showcases the philosophy of you’re different, you’re better than the tag you’re given.
The series is scripted by Zaheer Shaikh and is directed by Ashima Chibber.
http://www.voot.com/shows/untag
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.
