Netflix to leverage gen-AI for immersive in-show advertising
Netflix is set to reinvent the advertising landscape by leveraging generative AI to integrate ads into its popular shows and films.
During Upfront 2025, Amy Reinhard, president of advertising at Netflix, announced the streaming giant’s plans to roll out the new AI-powered ad format by 2026 on its ad-supported subscription tier. The launch is expected to redefine how brands engage with target audiences within the streaming environment.
The new ad-tech will employ generative AI to seamlessly marry branded products with the aesthetics of Netflix’s popular titles such as Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Wednesday. In a nutshell, the product placement on the ad creatives will be more context-aware, visually blending with the show’s look and feel.
The new ad format will consist of two types: mid-roll ads that will appear during streaming, and pause ads that will appear whenever the user hits pause. Pause ads will feature interactive elements such as QR codes and clickable overlays. The objective of this initiative is to make advertising less intrusive and more immersive.
Zepto launches paid analytics platform ‘Zepto Atom’ for brands
Homegrown 10-minute delivery giant Zepto has announced the launch of “Zepto Atom”, an advanced data insights subscription for consumer brands in India.
Zepto Atom intends to use an in-house tech-powered analytics tool to disrupt the Rs 1,000+ crore consumer analytics industry in India, which is currently dominated by legacy multi-national companies.
“Zepto Atom is a serious attempt by our Category and Tech teams to build a disruptive new product in the Consumer Analytics industry in India,” CEO Aadit Palicha said.
“We believe we can harness the millions of data points Zepto generates every day to give brands customised and real-time insights on their products at a much more competitive price point than they are currently incurring.”
Palicha noted that Zepto intend to invest significant engineering bandwidth behind improving this product over the next 12 months, with new features in the pipeline like AI-generated customer personas or automated survey features targeted for certain customer cohorts.
The Zepto Atom subscription is a top-off to the already existing Zepto Brand Portal (which gives brands listed on the Zepto platform basic day-to-day data on their performance on Zepto and is available for free).
Key features of Zepto Atom
Among the features of Zepto Atom is its ability to deliver PIN-code-level market share and brand performance data, allowing consumer brands to track their presence across India’s fragmented neighborhood economies with extraordinary precision.
The platform enables marketers to identify hyperlocal demand gaps and growth pockets—for instance, highlighting how a brand may be underperforming in Hyderabad’s western suburbs, with actionable cues to improve pricing, marketing, or distribution in those zones.
Another functionality is real-time visibility into live sales metrics. Zepto Atom updates brand partners every minute with data on product sales, customer impressions, and conversion rates, offering them a continuously evolving view of campaign effectiveness and pricing strategies.
Snapchat Launches New Report Series Looking at Gen Z in India
Snapchat has partnered with The Economic Times on a new report into Gen Z trends in India, which will include ongoing editions and updates to share key insights into various aspects of young user engagement in the nation.
Using data insights from Kantar, the report will include a range of data notes and pointers on India’s Gen Z audience.
As per Snap:
“For marketers and advertisers, the index highlights the top brands winning with Gen Z and delivers actionable insights into what’s driving engagement, affinity, and loyalty. For anyone trying to understand young India, it offers a deep dive into the evolving mindsets, values, and sentiments shaping how this generation thinks, feels, and connects with brands.”
VDO.AI Rolls Out Remote-Enabled Interactive CTV Ad Format
VDO.AI, a global advertising technology innovator, has launched a first-of-its-kind Remote-Enabled Interactive Connected TV ad format that transforms traditional TV advertising into an interactive experience. With this breakthrough, viewers can now engage with ads using their TV remote controls, marking a major leap in how brands connect with audiences in the living room.
VDO.AI‘s Remote-Enabled Interactive CTV Ad Format allows viewers to explore product options, participate in polls, and unlock exclusive offers, all from the comfort of their couch. Brands can embed clickable overlays, dynamic carousels, and QR code-based journeys that drive real-time engagement and seamless mobile conversions. With support for contextual targeting, location-based personalisation, and remote-enabled controls, the new format brings campaign interactivity and relevance to scale, empowering brands across industries to build deeper connections and drive real outcomes on Connected TV.
VDO.AI’s new CTV format has already delivered 2x higher attention rates, a 5x increase in bottom-funnel actions such as sign-ups and app downloads, and click-through engagement rates exceeding 10%, transforming Connected TV from a passive viewing channel into a high-impact, results-driven performance medium.
Instamart teams up with Home Centre to deliver décor and kitchenware in just 10 minutes
Instant gratification just got a stylish upgrade. In a first-of-its-kind partnership, Instamart has onboarded Home Centre, bringing premium home décor and kitchenware products to India’s quick commerce circuit—with delivery promised in under 10 minutes.
Starting this week, users in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Gurgaon can browse and order over 120 curated products from Home Centre via the Instamart app. The offering includes a wide array of everyday and aspirational items—from serveware, dining sets, and organisers to table lamps, clocks, and kitchen essentials.
The move marks a significant shift in quick commerce strategy, as Instamart expands beyond daily necessities into lifestyle retail. With over 35,000 products already spanning groceries and electronics, the company is now catering to urban consumers who expect instant access to products that enhance not just their routines but also their homes.
Traditional retailers embrace dark stores to compete in Q-commerce race
In a strategic shift to keep pace with the surging demand for instant grocery delivery, major brick-and-mortar retailers including Reliance Retail, More Retail, and Spencer’s have begun rolling out dark stores across key Indian metros. These small, non-customer-facing fulfilment hubs are designed to enable sub-30-minute deliveries within a 2–3 kilometre radius—bringing traditional retailers into direct competition with quick commerce giants such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto.
This pivot follows a period of reluctance among legacy players, now grappling with shrinking market share in urban centres. According to NielsenIQ’s January–March 2025 report, ecommerce volumes soared by 40%, while traditional trade dipped 2.2% and modern trade declined 7.7%.
That’s it today.
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