MAM
Skoda assigns creative mandate to Publicis India
MUMBAI: Popular automobile brand Skoda Auto India has extended its partnership with its creative Agency on Record (AoR) Publicis India by another three years.
The agency was awarded the extension after a hotly contested multi-agency pitch and will continue to manage the business out of its Mumbai office.
As part of its mandate, the agency will continue to provide mainline strategy and creative communication solutions to Skoda. It will handle all the sub-brands from Skoda including Rapid, Octavia, Superb, Kodiaq and soon launched Karoq.
Skoda Auto India head of marketing and product Tarun Jha says, “Skoda India is currently in a positive growth phase, and will be launching products across segments in the next few years. We were looking for a partner to help us achieve our goals and further strengthen Skoda’s equity in the Indian market. Publicis India showcased a thorough strategic and strong creative framework which was in alignment with the brand’s vision for the future. We are happy to be renewing our creative partnership with them and look forward to a great body of work in the coming years.”
Publicis Ambience COO Paritosh Srivastava mentions, “We expected nothing less given the body of work created by us in the last three years, which has also been recognised by the global Skoda team. It was a long and tough pitch and we are thankful that the team at Skoda has entrusted us for another three years. We are lucky to have been a part of an exciting transformation that Skoda India has undergone in the last three years from product design to experience to after-sales and are delighted that it has given the brand a boost in India.”
In Skoda Auto’s almost two-decade long presence in India, Publicis India has the longest association as its agency partner.
“There are always newer and bigger challenges in the tremendous growth journey we’re on and we are ready as trusted partners to help Skoda Auto India overcome them in the next few years,” adds Srivastava.
Over the past few years, Publics India has rolled out a series of campaigns for a range of brands under Skoda Auto. Be it the launch of the new Superb, new Rapid, new Octavia and even the Kodiaq, each communication material that has been released has resulted in significant returns for the auto-maker in India. Not to forget the extremely positive views and likes garnered from the customers across its social & digital channels.
The agency is currently working on a new brand campaign for Skoda Auto that would be unveiled very soon.
In India, the agency works with an impressive array of clients that include Nestle, Citibank, Zee, Garnier, Heineken, Nerolac, Skoda, Malaysia Tourism, HDFC Mutual Funds, etc.
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.
