MAM
Abhay Kaul’s Adtomica swipes right on Tinder as agency on record for India brand partnerships
MUMBAI: Love may be fleeting, but creative chemistry endures. Following the viral impact of Tinder’s 2025 ‘Move On’ campaign, independent creative shop Adtomica has been named the agency on record (AOR) for Tinder’s brand partnerships in India. The campaign, built around the emotionally liberating act of binning mementos from past relationships, delivered both heartbreak therapy and a bold marketing statement.
Executed in collaboration with quick commerce platform Blinkit, the campaign distributed 150,000 Tinder Plus vouchers at 75 per cent off via Singles mode. Adtomica led the charge on creative direction, integrating the offers directly into the platform with in-app assets that drew heavy engagement.
“Tinder is a brand that dares to be bold, and we love that. As their agency on record for partnerships in India, we’re excited to keep building experiences that are platform-first, culturally sharp, and always rooted in value for users”, said Adtomica founder & CEO Abhay Kaul.
Tinder’s team credited Adtomica for nailing the cultural pulse and turning insight into action. “Tinder is more than a dating app — it’s a reflection of how young India explores identity, connection, and self-worth. With the ‘Move On’ campaign, we wanted to create something emotionally resonant yet unmistakably bold. Adtomica understood that instinctively. Their ability to translate cultural insight into real-world engagement made this campaign truly memorable. We’re excited about what’s next”, said a Tinder spokesperson.
With Tinder continuing to shape gen z’s social rituals in India, Adtomica now carries the creative baton to expand its brand partnership playbook. If the last campaign was any hint, expect more swipe-worthy ideas to follow.
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.
