MAM
TV ad volumes grew 2% in in July-Sept’22 vs Jan-Mar’22: TAM AdEx report
Mumbai: On Wednesday, TAM AdEx released a television advertising quarterly report from July to September 2022. According to the report, the TV ad volume increased by two per cent for the same period over January to March 2022 and by four per cent over April to June 2022.
The top three industries of advertising on television maintained their ranks during the period as compared to April to June’ 22.
According to the report, food & beverage (F&B) topped with 21 per cent, while auto registered the highest positive shift in ranking, i.e., from 13th to ninth. Household products and education were among the other industries with positive rank shifts. Personal healthcare was the only sector among the top 10 to move down in rank, the report added.
From July to September 22, the top ten categories added a 29 percent share of ad volumes.
Mosquito repellents and ecommerce (online shopping) were the new entrants in the top 10 list. Shampoo moved down from third place in April to June’22 to ninth place in July to September ’22.
FMCG players ruled the list of the top 10 advertisers, with Reckitt leading the list. HUL, Reckitt, and Brooke Bond remained the top three advertisers, with Reckitt replacing HUL in the top position from July to September’22.
For the current period, the top 10 advertisers together contributed 40 per cent of ad volumes. Six out of the top 10 brands were from Reckitt Benckiser.
The top 10 brands added 11 per cent to the total TV ad volumes from July to September ’22.
Procter & Gamble home products and Colgate Palmolive India were the new entrants in the top 10 list.
Adding to this, July to September ’22 had the highest number of brands compared to the previous two quarters.
In terms of categories, toilet soaps topped the list with the highest growth in ad secondages in July to September ’22 vs. April to June’22 i.e. 1.5 times, while mosquito repellents witnessed the highest growth per cent, i.e. 2.2 times, in comparison to April to June’22.
News and GEC (general entertainment channels) were the most popular genres on television, with more than 55 per cent of ad volumes. When compared to the previous two quarters, the volume share of news ads decreased from July to September 22.
The top five genres contributed 90 per cent to the total TV advertising volumes in the first three quarters of 2022.
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
