MAM
TheSmallBigIdea bags social media mandate for Dharma Productions’ ‘Good Newwz’
MUMBAI: Strengthening its presence in social media marketing of films, full service digital agency, TheSmallBigIdea has now bagged the social media mandate for Dharma Productions’ upcoming comedy film ‘Good Newwz’. The account was won post a multi-agency pitch. As per the mandate, the agency will be responsible for the ideation and implementation of the entire social media promotion of the film set to release on 27 December, 2019 across India.
The mandate includes managing the social media strategy for the film. The agency will be responsible for conceptualising and executing social media campaigns across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In addition to this, TheSmallBigIdea will strategize and execute content associations to create engagements and interactions across social media platforms. The agency will work towards the objective of showcasing ‘Good Newwz’ as the ‘Blockbuster Movie of the Year’
TheSmallBigIdea CEO and co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai said, “This is our first film with Dharma Productions and we are quite excited about it. The film has all the right elements to make it a blockbuster, from a superb plot to a great starcast. After films like Badhaai Ho, Dream Girl and Bala, Good Newwz gives us at TheSmallBigIdea yet another opportunity to work on a compelling script with great performers."
Dharma Productions marketing head Siddharth Kadam said, “‘Good Newwz’ is an exceptional script with an amazing cast and great songs. Our fundamental aim was to have an agency on board who could take into consideration the magnificence of this project and deliver a fresh take on a unique plot. With a great approach, great execution & involvement in campaigns, we’re pretty excited to collaborate with TheSmallBigIdea for this movie!"
Previously, TheSmallBigIdea has successfully promoted movies such as ‘Bala’, ‘Dream Girl’, ‘Badhaai Ho’, ‘Junglee’, and ‘Judgementall Hai Kya’ to name a few.
TheSmallBigIdea provides services such as social media management, video content production, digital media planning & buying, social listening & ORM services, augmented & virtual reality amongst other ancillary marketing services. Recognized for their propriety creative-tech tool ACE, ‘TheSmallBigIdea’ has enabled brands to arrive at campaign messaging by integrating insights from social sentiments & enterprise data.
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.
