MAM
Bloomberg|Quint WhatsApp Service – India’s only business news service which offers customized news & stock updates on the go Over 3.5 lakh subscribers in less than 8 months
MUMBAI: WhatsApp has become synonymous with communication on the Internet and with brands deploying innovative means to engage with customers using the app, it has gone beyond being just an informal messaging app. One such innovative use of WhatsApp to engage with audiences is the Bloomberg|Quint (BQ) WhatsApp Service. The service uses advanced features for users to consume personalised business news and stock updates. Users can simply key-in their topic of interest and receive the latest information on that topic. The BQ WhatsApp Service is a first-of-its-kind offering in the business news space with a reach of more than 3.5 lakh users and a 90% daily engagement rate.
Bloomberg|Quint is the only news service in India which deploys a technology called ‘news-bots’, which allow users to create their personalized news streams. The WhatsApp service also makes use of ‘stock-bots’ to provide real-time information about any stock. BQ has recently introduced its ‘Stock Watchlist’ feature, which allows users to set ‘stock alerts’ on WhatsApp. This helps users get the latest stock updates tailored to their requirement. This distinctive service assists and enables new-age decision makers and executives to stay updated, on the go.
Commenting on this commendable achievement, Mr. Ankit Dhadda, Head – Product & Marketing, Bloomberg|Quint said, “As the fastest growing business news portal, we realised that readers have a packed schedule and their need for crisp and curated content is higher than before. Hence, WhatsApp works as a perfect platform for content distribution. We utilized the mobile web space to convert mobile traffic into WhatsApp subscribers in just 2-clicks. The focus was on enabling BQ WhatsApp subscribers take better and faster business decisions.”
Adding on to the uniqueness of the service, he said, “The product is a clear breakthrough innovation in the news space in India and has helped us augment our stellar performance. Although a few brands have already imitated the first layer of the product, we are continuously innovating in this space and have a clear competitive advantage.”
Ms. Menaka Doshi, Managing Editor at Bloomberg|Quint said “Bloomberg|Quint’s Whatsapp service is used by a wide audience ranging from business leaders to financial market experts mostly for two reasons. Its timeliness, we bring all big breaking stories to our readers and viewers in real time. And the convenience. No more flipping through tons of stories across numerous websites and social media platforms to find what’s important and relevant to your business day. Just check the BQ whatsapp feed on your phone and read the story whenever you have time.”
According to an internal research conducted by BQ, on mobile, pages per session is almost 60% higher for users coming through WhatsApp as compared to users coming through other sources. Over 56% of the users consume news on Bloomberg|Quint via BQ WhatsApp. 49% users find WhatsApp News Service more useful as compared to other platforms used to disseminate news.
BQ WhatsApp Service was launched to deepen its engagement with users and augment its distribution footprint. Subscribers to the service receive Bloomberg|Quint’s much acclaimed “All You Need To Know” morning podcast, business and financial news and more. Users can also interact with the service through a hashtag-based search to consume content of their interest across markets, business, politics and opinion.
To subscribe to the service, users have to click on this link and save the number as a WhatsApp contact, and send a message saying ‘Start BQ’ to initiate their subscription.
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.
