MAM
Havas develops CTS transparent client facing programmatic solution
MUMBAI: Client Trading Solution (CTS) – a game-changing programmatic solution that gives clients complete visibility and control over their campaigns – has been launched by meta programmatic solutions pioneer Havas Group to act as a control tower, offering clients complete visibility across trading desks, DSPs and providers.
Clients can ensure the quality of their campaigns across their own objectives (visibility, fraud control, brand safety, trading practices, costs, spending, products, formats, channels, countries, etc). The platform delivers exceptional visibility of digital workflow at every stage of the campaign – programmatic media planning, partner negotiation, ad-serving, campaign setup, monitoring, optimisation and reporting – within a fully independent, technology agnostic ecosystem that is open to all partners. The innovative product was developed by award winning data scientists, MFG labs.
Havas group global managing director Dominique Delport said, “Client Trading Solution is a significant breakthrough. For the first time, we have an offer that gives clients full visibility and control. This innovative, platform gives brands full visibility on costs, investments, outcomes and ROI, across trading desks, DSPs, inventory, providers, marketplaces. Any advertiser using it can see exactly what’s behind all programmatic solutions, with complete transparency allowing us to work hand-in-hand with our clients to build the best strategies for their business.”
MFG Labs product manager Raphael Mirat said, “CTS complements Havas Group’s programmatic offer. It really shines when clients want both power and control, as it gives them unprecedented flexibility to allocate budget across DSPs and trading desks, without sacrificing anything on supervision and reporting. For the first time, clients have all their trading operations and related data in a single platform, secure and efficient, built on a dedicated infrastructure.”
Together with MFG Labs, Havas Group launched the industry’s very first Meta-DSP in 2014 and the Media Quality Barometer in 2015. CTS is the most advanced solution on the market allowing full programmatic transparency for clients. The platform has already been used successfully by Telefonica and has received endorsements from Telefonica, tech partners and leading industry bodies.
Client Trading Solution was developed by Havas Group’s leading tech and math entity MFG Labs. CTS is already being used by traders to manage campaigns for clients via one central, shared platform. Its rich product ecosystem already includes optional features such as Campaign Parameter Optimizers (powered by MFG Labs), DMP Capabilities and Inventory Quality Assessment (powered by Artemis Alliance, Havas Group’s data capacity) and Smart First-party Segments (powered by Constellation).
“MediaMath has applauded Havas’ continued commitment to programmatic innovation — CTS is an important and differentiated achievement that will deliver increased transparency, control and ROI to digital marketers.”, added MediaMath co-founder and head of key accounts Erich Wasserman.
Strategic Partnerships EMEA Doubleclick by Google director James van Thiel said, “Google is proud to be part of this initiative. With the integration of DBM into Havas’ Client Trading Solution, it is now much easier for us to collaborate together with both agencies and clients. This innovative solution delivers a more efficient and transparent way for the industry to focus on results.”
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.
