Platforms blending video, AR & creators will play an important role: Yagnesh Ravi, Snap

As brands increasingly look to connect with younger audiences in more meaningful ways, digital platforms are evolving beyond traditional interruptive advertising towards formats that are interactive, immersive and integrated within user experiences.

For Snap Inc., this shift is closely tied to the rise of Gen Z as a major force shaping digital culture and consumer behaviour in India, according to Yagnesh Ravi, Lead – Ad Solutions, Snap Inc India.

“We’re giving brands an opportunity to not be an interruption in someone’s consumption, but actually be a part of people’s creation,” Ravi said.

With a user base that is heavily skewed towards younger demographics, Snapchat has positioned itself as a key platform for brands seeking to build relevance among Gen Z consumers.

Around 90% of Snapchat’s users in India fall within the 13–34 age group, placing the platform among the key spaces where younger audiences create and share content.

India emerging as a major growth market

India has become one of Snap’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by growth across users, creators and advertisers.

According to Ravi, the platform’s user base in the country has grown significantly over the past few years, increasing from roughly 100 million users to around 250 million today.

“India has been a story of momentum and growth for Snap,” Ravi said, noting that expansion in the country has been visible across users, creators and advertisers on the platform.

The scale of India’s Gen Z population, combined with increasing digital adoption, has made the country an important market for brands looking to connect with younger audiences.

AI increasingly central to advertising on Snap

Artificial intelligence now plays a significant role across Snapchat’s advertising ecosystem, supporting campaign optimisation, targeting and creative delivery.

Ravi said AI is embedded across multiple layers of the platform’s advertising infrastructure, including ad ranking and delivery through its self-serve advertising tools.

Snap has introduced a Smart Campaign Solution Suite, which includes Smart Budget, Smart Bidding and Smart Ads, designed to automate campaign management and improve efficiency for advertisers.

The platform has also introduced AI-enabled Sponsored Snaps, allowing creatives to be dynamically customised for different users.

According to Ravi, AI now cuts across optimisation, targeting and creative execution, enabling brands to improve campaign performance while reducing manual intervention.

Moving beyond reach to engagement metrics

While Snapchat supports full-funnel campaigns, Ravi said many advertisers on the platform are increasingly focused on deeper engagement indicators rather than simple reach.

Brands often evaluate performance using “mind metrics”, including top-of-mind recall among Gen Z audiences, brand affinity and interaction with ad formats.

To measure outcomes, Snapchat conducts internal brand lift studies and also partners with third-party research firms.

The platform is also exploring attention-based measurement models, which evaluate how users engage with advertising rather than simply counting impressions.

Ravi noted that Snapchat’s formats are designed to create lean-in, opt-in attention, where users actively engage with branded experiences rather than passively consuming advertising.

Cricket as a real-time conversation layer

Within this broader strategy, Snap recently introduced “Cricket in a Snap”, a property designed to allow brands to participate in real-time fan conversations during cricket tournaments.

The initiative builds on user behaviour already observed on the platform, where users share reactions and discuss match moments with friends while watching games.

Rather than functioning as a traditional second screen, Ravi described Snapchat’s role during matches as parallel streaming, a layer of real-time conversations happening alongside the live broadcast.

“When you are watching a match and somebody takes a crazy catch, you send a Snap to your friends about it. We become the layer that brings people together around that moment,” Ravi explained.

To support this engagement, Snap has introduced immersive advertising formats including AR fan zones, live score integrations within AR lenses and chat-based triggers linked to real-time match moments.

The aim is to allow brands to become part of user-generated content and conversations rather than appearing as traditional advertising.

The future of digital advertising

Looking ahead, Ravi expects digital advertising to become increasingly automated, immersive and commerce-driven over the next 12–18 months.

Platforms that combine video, augmented reality and creator-led storytelling are expected to play an important role in helping brands connect with younger audiences.

According to Ravi, formats that blend naturally with user experiences rather than interrupt them will increasingly shape the next phase of digital advertising.