MAM
WATInsights launched under Recogn
MUMBAI: WATConsult, a leading and most awarded digital and social media agency, part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has launched a new property called WATInsights, under its market research division, Recogn.
WATInsights will offer periodic reports which provide powerful insights and trends on the Indian digital landscape. Through these reports, WATConsult aims to help marketers understand the digital consumer better and translate the insights into actionable strategies.
The first report released is based on the usage of brand apps and their impact on brand consideration. Below are the key findings of the study:
· 81% of respondents are currently using or have used brand app(s), while 19% have never used them
· Majority of the respondents use news related brand apps followed by over-the-top (OTT) apps and business / finance apps
· 76% of respondents discovered brand apps through their friends and family and 66% were influenced by them to install
o 46% discovered via ads featured on traditional media platforms (TV, radio, newspapers) and 48% were influenced by them
o 58% discovered brand apps via in-built app stores and 40% were influenced. Surprisingly, 20% discovered brand apps at the point of purchase and installed them straightaway
· Relevance, Usability and Entertainment are the factors essential for improving the satisfaction levels of brand app users
· A large majority of users are more likely to purchase a brand product / service after using the brand app than watching the brand’s add on media
WATConsult CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “The changing demographics and technologies have brought about a shift in the way consumers engage with brands, products and services. The customers’ purchase and consumption behaviour is in a state of constant flux and marketers need to keep pace with this to stay relevant. Keeping this is mind, we have launched WATInsights, which will showcase industry insights and help marketers take better decisions in creating campaigns.”
The entire report can be viewed on – http://recogn.in/watinsights.php
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.
