By Our Staff
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has released guidelines for influencer advertising. After extensive feedback from all stakeholders – advertisers, agencies, influencers, and consumers, the guidelines were framed which are applicable to commercial messages or advertisements published on or after June 14, 2021. The guidelines make it mandatory for influencers to label the promotional content they post and ensure that it is identified as paid promotion. Post releasing the guidelines, ASCI saw a compliance of around 97% on the digital front, with a majority of the influencers following the ASCI code and marking the adverts as paid posts.
In a recent development, ASCI shared that the paid partnership tag that influencers carry in their advertorial posts on Instagram meets the principles of the ASCI guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media. ASCI agrees to this as an acceptable alternative to its disclosure labels. This decision will go a long way in reducing the burden on brands and influencers and will encourage greater compliance from all parties.