How, We Made Promotions Live for the 450+ million Airtel Base in Just 2 Minutes!!

Introduction

In today’s dynamic and fast-paced telecommunications industry, the ability to deliver timely and targeted promotions to customers is more critical than ever. As customer expectations continue to evolve, so too must our promotional strategies and capabilities. At Airtel, we have always been committed to innovation and excellence, striving to provide our customers with exceptional value and experiences. However, like many organizations, we faced challenges in executing promotions efficiently and effectively across our vast customer base. This led us to embark on a transformative journey to overhaul our promotions platform, culminating in the development of a groundbreaking solution that enables us to make promotions live for the complete Airtel base in just 2 minutes. This whitepaper outlines the problem we faced, the innovative solutions we implemented, and the remarkable results we achieved.

Problem Statement:

The Challenge of Time and Efficiency

In the ever-evolving landscape of telecommunications, speed and efficiency are paramount. Traditional methods often fall short, consuming valuable time and resources. At Airtel, we faced a pressing challenge: our existing system took a staggering two months to make promotions live across our entire customer base.

The Limitations of the Old System

Our previous system operated on a push-based model. This meant that we had to manually identify user segments and assign campaigns to them. This approach was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and inconsistencies. The sheer scale and complexity of our customer base made it increasingly challenging to execute promotions in a timely and effective manner.

SOLUTION:

The Paradigm Shift: Introducing a Pull-Based System

Recognising the need for a more agile and scalable solution, we embarked on a transformative journey to overhaul our promotions platform. The cornerstone of this overhaul was the transition from a push-based to a pull-based system.

Cohorting Based on User Attributes

One of the key innovations in our new system is the use of user attributes for cohorting. By analyzing specific user attributes, such as usage patterns, preferences, and demographics, we were able to create targeted user segments. This allowed us to tailor promotions more effectively and deliver personalized experiences to our customers.

Leveraging Optimus: A Centralized User Attribute Store

Central to our revamped platform is Optimus, our centralized User Attribute Store. By consolidating user data in a single, unified repository, we were able to streamline the promotion deployment process significantly. Optimus serves as a source of truth for our new system, enabling real-time access to user attributes and facilitating seamless integration with our promotional campaigns.

Technical Innovations: Powering Scalability and Efficiency

To ensure the scalability and efficiency of our promotions platform, we incorporated several advanced technical solutions:

Reactive Programming

We adopted reactive programming principles to design a scalable and responsive system. By leveraging reactive streams and asynchronous processing, we were able to handle a large volume of concurrent requests and deliver real-time updates to our users. This enabled us to scale our platform seamlessly and provide a consistent user experience, even during peak load times.

Rule Evaluation with Drools

For the evaluation and recommendation of promotional campaigns, we implemented Drools — a powerful rules engine. Drools allowed us to define complex business rules and decision logic in a declarative manner, enabling faster and more accurate campaign recommendations. By offloading rule evaluation to Drools, we were able to optimise performance and enhance the overall responsiveness of our promotions platform.

What is Required to Make Promotions Live?

To make promotions live, two key components are essential:

1. Who Are We Targeting?

• Target Audience: Identifying the right target audience is crucial. With our new system, we can create targeted user segments based on specific user attributes, allowing us to tailor promotions to the unique needs and preferences of each segment.

2. What Are We Offering as Benefit?

The value proposition of the promotion plays a significant role in attracting and retaining customers. At Airtel, we offer a diverse range of benefits, including free data, discounts, and cashback rewards. These incentives are designed to provide tangible value to our customers, encouraging them to engage with our promotions and services.

3. How Many Times Can the Benefit Be Earned and Redeemed by a Single Customer?

To ensure fair and sustainable utilisation of our promotional offers, we have implemented guardrails that limit the frequency with which users can earn and redeem coupons over a specified period. These guardrails help us manage costs effectively while still providing valuable incentives to our customers.

Self-Serve Portal: Empowering Teams for Seamless Collaboration

In addition to the core functionalities of our promotions platform, we have also introduced a self-serve portal that serves as a collaborative workspace for our marketing and finance teams.

• Marketing Team (Maker): The marketing team uses the self-serve portal to create and customize promotions. This streamlined process empowers them to design campaigns that resonate with our target audience, leveraging the rich user attribute data available in Optimus.
• Finance Team (Checker): The finance team plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance and financial viability of promotions. They utilize the self-serve portal to review and approve promotions, ensuring that they align with our budgetary constraints and regulatory requirements.

By fostering collaboration between the marketing and finance teams through the self-serve portal, we have further enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of our promotions platform.

Achieving Unprecedented Speed and Efficiency

The implementation of our pull-based system, coupled with the use of User-attribute lake for user attribute management, has yielded remarkable results. We are proud to announce that we can now make promotions live for the complete Airtel base in just 2 minutes — a monumental leap from the two months it used to take with our old system.

Conclusion: A New Era of Promotional Agility at Airtel

The successful transformation of our promotions platform stands as a testament to Airtel’s commitment to innovation and customer-centricity. By embracing a pull-based model, harnessing the power of User-Attribute lake, and implementing a self-serve portal for seamless collaboration between teams, we have not only accelerated our promotional activities but also enhanced the overall customer experience.

As we continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, we remain steadfast in our mission to deliver unparalleled value to our customers and stakeholders alike. The future is bright, and at Airtel, we are excited to embark on this journey of continuous growth and innovation.

Acknowledgment:

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to several individuals who played a pivotal role in the development and implementation of our new promotions platform. Special thanks to Sharad Saxena, Rohan Shah, Bhanu Pratap Singh Negi , Vishal Mohan, Shubham Saxena, Umesh Shukla, Vinay Pipersania, Hemant Kumar Chaurasia, Akansha singh, Riya Aggarwal, Prakhar Tiwari, Satvik jain for your exceptional contributions, dedication, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Your expertise, collaborative spirit, and tireless efforts have been instrumental in achieving this significant milestone. Together, we have set a new standard for promotional agility and efficiency at Airtel, and we look forward to continuing this journey of innovation and excellence.