Airtel Ads Launched, Offers Brand Engagement Services Targeted at Telco's Subscribers

Airtel Ads has been launched as the telco entered the Indian ad tech space with a brand engagement service targeted at its subscribers. Airtel looks to allow brands of all sizes to curate campaigns aimed at its pool of 320 million customers. Airtel Ads will be consent-based, that means that Airtel subscribers will have the option to opt in to access Airtel Ads, or choose not to. The launch comes a day after Airtel announced its tie-up with Qualcomm to accelerate 5G rollout in the country.

At a virtual press meet on Wednesday, Bharti Airtel Chief Product Officer Adarsh Nair launched Airtel Ads - offering a platform to minor and major brands to reach out to Airtel's expansive pool of customers with advertisement campaigns that are “consent-based” and “privacy-safe.” “By abstracting Airtel's unique strengths of quality customers, best-in-class network and world-class digital platforms, Airtel Ads offers innovative channels for brands to reach the right audiences. What truly differentiates Airtel Ads is its razor-sharp focus on quality over quantity and real impact vs vanity metrics,” said Nair.

During the meet, Nair said that Airtel subscribers will have the choice to opt in and give consent to brands to show their promotional campaigns. However, he also clarified that no rewards are being planned as of now to lure in users to opt in for Airtel Ads. Airtel will rigorously comply with ad-tracking standards and norms to allow complete transparency with advertisers.

Airtel Ads will also ensure that no advertisement frauds are promoted in the form of false impressions and clicks, the company assured. Nair said, “We combine the privacy that is paramount to our customers with the trust and transparency that is vital to the brands we serve.”

During its beta phase testing, Airtel Ads delivered campaigns for over 100 brands including the likes of Harley Davidson, PepsiCo, Tata AIG, and Zomato.

Airtel recently announced a partnership with Qualcomm on 5G rollout in India. The company will utilise Qualcomm's 5G radio access network (RAN) platforms to roll out virtualised and open RAN-based 5G networks.

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