As quick commerce rapidly reshapes how Indians discover, evaluate and purchase brands, the boundaries between media, retail and performance are blurring faster than ever. Recognising this shift, WPP Media India, in collaboration with Meta, has launched a comprehensive Collaborative Ads Playbook designed to help brands navigate the convergence of social discovery and commerce-led outcomes.
Grounded in campaign data, retailer signals, platform intelligence and market research, the playbook outlines how brands can move beyond siloed media planning to unlock measurable business impact across the funnel. It explores the growing role of hyper-local targeting & CPAS-driven collaborations, offering a practical framework for brands operating in an always-on, high-intent commerce environment.
Three significant pillars behind this playbook- Karthik Shankar (Head of Digital Investments, WPP Media India), Sairam Ranganathan (Head of Commerce, WPP Media India) and Gaurav Jeet Singh (Director, Agencies & VC Partnerships, India at Meta) spoke to IMPACT Magazine and walked us through the thinking, insights and ambitions behind the playbook.
Sairam Ranganathan, Head of Commerce, WPP Media India
Ranganathan, on the other hand, positions the playbook as a response to a structural shift in consumer behaviour, where quick commerce has become both a discovery and transaction engine. He frames commerce not as a tactical add-on but as a core business channel demanding full-funnel integration. Ranganathan highlights the role of CPAS, pin-code level planning and continuous presence over event-led spikes, stressing that relevance and speed are now critical to performance.
Read the edited excerpts below:
Q] To begin with, how did you come up with the idea of the Collaborative Ads Playbook? What kind of insight or research led to this?
As WPP Media and as market leaders, one of the things expected from us is to spot trends and shape the market. One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen, not just as marketers, but as consumers is the growth of quick commerce. Think about the last time you walked to a kirana store for daily shopping. Today, most of that happens through quick commerce. We believe this behaviour is here to stay, and it has significant implications for marketing. The question is no longer why brands should look at quick commerce, but what they should do within it. That’s increasingly what our clients are asking us. That’s what led us to create this playbook, working closely with Meta.
Q] As you mentioned, quick commerce is growing, and the playbook states that it is expected to reach Rs 2 lakh crore by 2028. What should brands focus on right now in terms of investments or campaigns to ensure they don’t fall behind?
In marketing, budgets typically follow consumer attention. As more consumers spend more time on a platform, advertising investments move there. Quick commerce, however, is not just a discovery platform, it’s also where transactions happen. Because of this, it becomes a business imperative. For brands already selling on marketplaces, quick commerce should be viewed as a core business channel. The focus needs to be on full-funnel integration while also driving direct sales.
Q] For this collaboration, WPP Media and Meta are already working together. Is there any plan to bring in quick commerce platforms as well, like an official partnership?
When we work with Meta, quick commerce platforms are already part of the ecosystem. The signals come from these partners, Meta brings them together, and traffic is driven back to the respective platforms. The platforms are working closely with us. If the question is whether they will come more to the forefront, then yes.
Q] Is this partnership already in action, or is it more of a test bed right now?
This is already in action. It’s not a phase-one or early-stage setup. We’re in good shape. Can we do better and do more? Absolutely. There’s significant headroom to improve.
Q] The playbook also talks about data becoming very hyper-local, even pin-code based. Do you think hyper-local planning or focus will become the new normal for advertising, and if so, why?
The ecosystem keeps evolving. Television remains mass-based, while digital enables far more personalised, one-to-one communication. Both will continue to coexist. In the context of quick commerce and this playbook, pin-code targeting plays a strong role because not all pin codes are the same. Affluence varies widely. This allows us to de-average cities. Earlier, planning was city-based. Now, cities can be broken into smaller pockets, allowing communication to go much deeper and become more relevant. When communication is relevant to the audience and the context, it drives better outcomes, not just for the brand, but for the business.
Q] With this partnership coming together, will there be any change in budget investments from the brand side? How will it shift?
Budget allocation is both an art and a science. Earlier, plans were largely TV-led. Today, in an omnichannel world, some brands are digital-first and others are TV-first. With quick commerce and CPAS becoming key elements, budgets will naturally shift. If one channel gains, another will give way.
Q] WPP has already run over 1,000 CPAS campaigns. From that experience, what are the mistakes brands should avoid repeating?
I wouldn’t call them mistakes, but there are clear learnings. One is that many brands use CPAS very tactically, only around big moments or sale events. Our belief, and something the playbook highlights, is that if a brand sells throughout the year, CPAS should be viewed as an always-on approach. The second learning is about creativity. In quick commerce, consumers don’t spend more than a minute or a minute and a half. Communication needs to be built with that behaviour in mind, unlike platforms where time spent is higher. A quicker call to action that helps consumers move smoothly from discovery to purchase makes a real difference. These are the two big takeaways: treat CPAS as always-on, and build creatives keeping the brand, category and specific quick commerce platform in mind.
Karthik Shankar, Head of Digital Investments, WPP Media India
Shankar outlines how the Collaborative Ads Playbook is rooted in real-world learning from managing large, complex brand portfolios at scale. Drawing from campaign data, retailer signals and cross-platform insights, he explains the need to dissolve traditional silos between media, trade and quick commerce. For Shankar, the playbook is less about chasing new formats and more about redefining success metrics, shifting the conversation from clicks and impressions to tangible business outcomes.
Read the edited excerpts below:
Q] Please guide us through this playbook, what it is about and how you arrived at it. What insights or research data led to the launch of this playbook?
We felt that with the kind of portfolio we manage, and the tools and capabilities we have, especially the ability to connect retail signals with media efficiencies and drive both performance and business goals, it made sense to codify this learning into a playbook. That was really the starting point. We see this as an opportunity to bring more efficiency into how agencies work with brands, and also to blur the lines between retail quick commerce, trade-led thinking and media buys, which have traditionally operated in silos.
Q] How will this playbook change the way brands think about or plan their media investments and advertising?
There are already enough signals in the market. What this playbook does is bring together inputs from retailers and brands, from both a trade and a media lens. It also includes our own campaign data, external insights and extensive research. By bringing these disciplines together, the playbook helps brands think in a more integrated way. It’s not just about media metrics anymore; it’s also about business metrics. That’s where we see it guiding brands most clearly.
Q] The playbook talks about the connection between social discovery and quick commerce. If a brand is entering a quick commerce platform for the first time, what would be your suggestion? What kind of simple investments would you recommend?
When you look at pure efficiencies, Quick commerce platforms already have category-level playbooks around SKUs and listings, and these differ by brand and category. But at a broader level, the real opportunity lies where trade-linked buys and media buys start to converge. The focus should be on getting more out of media beyond just media metrics. Retail media allows brands to test how media outcomes translate into business outcomes. At a basic level, strong A+ content, clean product listings, and starting with display or high-impact formats to capture intent are good first investments.
Q] For these investments, do you think a unified, always-on approach works better, or are seasonal or festive spikes more effective?
It depends on the maturity of the brand, but an always-on approach is generally advisable. Sales happen every day, and competition today is at an SKU and hyper-local level. Brands need to ensure availability, visibility, pricing, discounting and media amplification are working together consistently. This isn’t a siloed setup. It’s always-on, with intensity varying based on where the brand is in its journey.
Q] The playbook also mentions measurement beyond clicks. How do you see this influencing budget decisions or performance expectations for brand campaigns?
As silos break down, measurement will move beyond media and mindset metrics towards real business outcomes. The playbook looks at metrics like new-to-brand users, incremental ROAS, and how multiple discovery touchpoints contribute to closing the purchase cycle. That shift is what will start influencing both performance expectations and budget decisions.
Gaurav Jeet Singh, Director, Agency and VC Partnerships, Meta India
Gaurav Jeet Singh presents the other side by decoding how social platforms are collapsing the gap between inspiration and purchase. He explains how discovery-led behaviour on Meta platforms is increasingly translating into real-time commerce outcomes, particularly through Collaborative Ads and CPAS. He underscores the importance of deep collaboration between brands, agencies and commerce platforms, noting that many of these systems are already operational today.
Read the edited excerpts below:
Q] The Playbook highlights that the journey from 'seeing a product' to 'buying it' is now happening in one flow on social media. What does current user behaviour tell you about why social platforms are becoming a natural place to shop?
Social media is now the primary platform of brand and product discovery for people, influencing purchases not just online but also offline. When people come on our apps, they are naturally in discovery mode creating powerful opportunities for brands of all sizes to tap into the impulse shopping behaviour. This shift is accelerating, and as the Playbook shows, 75% of shoppers are now making more unplanned purchases and moving quickly from inspiration on Meta platforms to checkout on quick-commerce apps—often within the same session. The rise of the 10–20 minute delivery has compressed the entire shopping journey into a seamless flow making solutions such as Collaborative Performance Advertising Solutions (CPAS) increasingly important. CPAS enables brands and quick commerce platforms to partner on performance marketing, directing shoppers straight from ads to retailer apps or sites to complete purchases. With nearly half of festive purchases in India now happening on quick commerce platforms, CPAS is set to play a key role in driving the next phase of growth for this industry.
Q] CPAS connects dynamic product catalogs + retail data + AI optimisation, delivering measurable sales. What breakthrough capabilities can brands expect in 2026 around attribution or automation?
The momentum we’re seeing across quick commerce, especially in categories such as fashion, beauty, health products and kitchen essentials, comes from the way CPAS blends discovery signals with live retail data. The Playbook shows how this becomes especially powerful in fast-scaling segments. Fashion accessories and bags, for example, have crossed ₹40 crore a month and doubled in just six months, driven by real-time catalogue accuracy and dynamic optimisation.
In the coming year, automation could become more predictive and better trained at driving the most impactful results for brands. It’ll be interesting to see how Generative AI can help the shopping experience become more immersive and real for the consumer. Attribution will also sharpen, with clearer, retailer-verified visibility into how discovery on Meta translates into completed purchases. Together, tighter automation and stronger attribution will give brands a faster, more precise path to sales.
Q] The Playbook places strong importance on collaboration between Meta, agencies and quick-commerce platforms. Practically speaking, how functional are these collaborations now or is it something that is planned for the future?
The partnership between consumer brands, commerce platforms and agencies is not new, and with technology and AI this relationship is set to only deepen in the future. What’s important to note, however, is that many of these collaborations are already highly functional today, with Collaborative Ads being a strong example of how discovery on Meta is already translating into real-world commerce outcomes on quick-commerce platforms.
By connecting brand demand with a platform’s catalogue, availability, and fulfilment signals, Collaborative Ads enable practical, high-intent use cases where consumers can move from inspiration to purchase in a matter of minutes. Agencies play a critical role in making this ecosystem work at scale. They are building strong, frictionless pipelines that integrate creative, data, targeting, and measurement across Meta and quick-commerce platforms. This allows brands to move faster, optimise more effectively, and focus on measurable business impact rather than isolated funnel metrics.
With AI, short-form video formats like Reels, and Business Messaging reshaping the digital landscape, agencies are working towards improving their skills and operating models to meet these opportunities. At Meta, we are partnering with agencies of all sizes to help them meaningfully transform themselves and become future-ready, to grow and tap into new business opportunities.
Q] Looking at advertisers right now, what are they doing well when it comes to using Meta for commerce, and what do you think they can improve immediately?
Advertisers are using Meta effectively by pairing strong discovery-led creative with catalogue-powered performance campaigns. The same has also been highlighted in this playbook: it shows that when brands activate CPAS for both targeting new customers and retargeting, supported by creators and short-form video, they achieve significant ROAS improvements and stronger lower-funnel results.
The Playbook highlights how brands like Coca-Cola and Britannia are already seeing meaningful gains – Coca-Cola recorded a 39% lift in ROAS and 2.5x stronger conversion rates for its sugar-free portfolio, while Britannia improved ROAS from 0.6 to 1.0 and reduced Cost Per Purchase by 45%, with some campaigns reaching up to 5x ROAS.
The immediate opportunities lie in strengthening catalogue and inventory accuracy, which then further helps improve efficiency. Rather than focusing on isolated lower-funnel tactics, advertisers have the ability to expand into a full-funnel commerce setup, which allows brands to connect discovery, consideration, and purchase in one continuous experience. Additionally, as the commerce journey becomes more signal-driven, automation will be able to allow brands to customize their campaigns and adapt in real time based on shifts in user behaviour, pricing, and live product availability.
