MxMIndia

Tag: Srinivasan K Swamy

  • Introduces 'Independent Review Process' to the overall complaints procedure

    ASCI strengthens complaints process. Hires retired IAS officer as Chief Complaints Officer. Justice Mudgal to head review procedure

     

     

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has announced an Independent Review Process which will facilitate an independent mechanism to review recommendations made by Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) if either the advertiser or the complainant is dissatisfied with such recommendations.

     

    The new Independent Review Process will have a Chairman, who will be a retired Judge of the Supreme Court/High Court, assisted by the Secretary General/Chief Complaints Officer, along with the Chairman or Co-chairman who was involved in the CCC recommendation and a Technical Expert, where necessary. Currently, Justice Mukul Mudgal (Retired Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana, High Court) has been appointed by the self-regulatory organisation as the Chairman for all Independent Review Process cases henceforth.

     

    Meanwhile, ASCI has also appointed Dr CBS Venkataramana, a recently retired IAS officer as Chief Complaints Officer (CCO), who will drive complaint redressal and 360-degree stakeholder interactions.

     

    Srinivasan K. Swamy

    Commenting on these initiatives, ASCI Chairman Srinivasan K. Swamy said: “ASCI is constantly evolving and seeking effective measures to enable self-regulation in advertising and compliance to ASCI codes. The inclusion of the Independent Review Process mechanism creates transparency for both advertiser and complainant in further facilitating fair judgement of complaints. Further, the appointment of Dr. Venkataramana will go a long way in ensuring speedier and more effective complaint redressal process.”

     

  • The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) Global Best Practice Gold Award was presented to ASCI at the EASA's bi Annual meeting in Athens for the "ASCIonline" Mobile App

    ASCI wins Gold at Global EASA Best Practice Awards 2016

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has bagged the Gold Award for its mobile app “ASCIonline” to receive consumer complaints against ‘false’ advertisements at the Global EASA Best Practice Awards 2016 held in Athens earlier this month (May 8). The self-regulator was awarded the prize for launching the best initiative globally providing “Prompt and efficient complaint handling at no cost to the consumer”.

     

    It may be recalled that in June 2015, ASCI launched its Consumer Complaint Mobile App – ASCIonline to provide easy and convenient access for lodging complaints, increasing ASCI’s reach across India

     

    Said Srinivasan K. Swamy, Chairman, ASCI, on the achievement: “We are delighted to receive this esteemed honour from EASA for recognising our efforts towards strengthening ASCI’s role in self-regulation in the country. Continuing with the mission to protect consumers’ interest, ASCI embraced technology to connect with the consumers and curb misleading advertisements. After three successive wins in the past, acquiring another Gold has further provided cognisance for the SRO on an International platform as well.”

     

    Adding to the global recognitions, ASCI is now a part of the Executive Committee of International Council on Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS), which unites global Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) and international industry associations to form a powerful body that will facilitate the establishment of new SROs in emerging markets, help empower them and provide a platform to discuss and work on solutions regarding the global challenges faced for self-regulation in advertising.

     

  • Of the 1876 complaints received,1225 complaints were upheld by self-regular Advertising Standards Council of India

    The ASCI Jan-Dec 2016 Complaints Roster

     

    The Advertising Standards Council of India has been on overdrive over the last few years. At MxMIndia, we compiled the various communiques we receive from ASCI on the decisions taken by the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) for the months of January to December 2016. The last of these was received in end-March 2017.

    This report carries summaries of the monthly CCC communiques, a table compiling the key numbers and an interview with veteran adperson and ASCI President Srinivasan K Swamy.

    Together healthcare and personal care contribute to more than a third of the complaints upheld. Education is second, with the number of complaints upheld nearly 50 per cent of the complaints upheld in August and September 2016. Read on… the interview and the numbers….

     

    We have seen a steady rise of complaints against healthcare and personal care advertisements being upheld. Would you be able to attribute any reasons for this?

    ASCI started their suo moto surveillance through the National Advertising Monitoring System (NAMS) in 2012. Every month on an average 1600 TV and 45000 print advertisements are monitored to track down advertisements making misleading, false and unsubstantiated claims. Among complaints against misleading advertisements, most are from Education sector and Healthcare Products and Services, hence you see this rise in the trend of the complaints on an annual basis. Complaints against Personal Care product ads are relatively less.

     

    Both education and healthcare-personal care complaints to a greater malaise that afflicts our society. Advertising making false claims and also playing with the lives of individuals and families. Do you think the government must do more to check these?

    Government regulators including The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Ministry of AYUSH have partnered with ASCI to address all misleading advertisements in their respective sectors. These regulators take appropriate action when non-compliances of CCC recommendations are reported to them by ASCI.

     

    Are there any trends that you would like to highlight that need highlight from the various complaints received and acted upon in 2016.

    The growing rate of digitalisation of media in our country has had critical impact on consumers and their behaviour. At ASCI, in comparison to the other platforms to lodge your complaints, the WhatsApp number alone contributes to approximately 15% of the total number of advertisements complained against by consumers. Besides the traditional medium of Print and TV advertisements, Digital advertisements going live on Websites, Mobile Apps, Social Media Ads, etc. are getting more and more attention of consumers as well and their share in the complained advertisements has increased from 11% to 14%.

    This year,we also saw an increase in the number advertisements complained against in new sectors such as E-Commerce. This digital shift has clearly been a highlight for ASCI too. Self-regulation of advertising content as per ASCI code for direct or indirect (e.g. paid blogs) advertisements in online digital channels/sites by both advertiser and media is a need of the hour.

     

     

     

    January 2016:In January 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 51 out of 102 advertisements. Out of 51 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 13 belonged to the Education category, 12 to the Food & Beverages category, followed by 11 in the Healthcare category, 6 in the E-commerce category and 9 advertisements from other categories.

     

    February 2016:

    In February 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 80 out of 133 advertisements. Out of 80 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 48 belonged to the Education category, 13 in the Healthcare category, followed by 5 in the Food & Beverages category and 14 advertisements from other categories.

     

    March 2016:

    In March 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 90 out of 156 advertisements. Out of 90 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 32 belonged to the Education category, 30 in the Healthcare & Personal Care category, followed by 10 in the Food & Beverages category and 18 advertisements from other categories.

     

    April 2016:

    In April 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 67 out of 141 advertisements. Out of 67 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 27 belonged to the Healthcare & Personal Care category, 10 in the Food & Beverages category, 7 in the E-commerce Category, 4 depicting Automotives, followed by 4 in the Education category and 15 advertisements from other categories

     

    May 2016:

    In May 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 109 out of 155 advertisements. Out of 109 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 41 belonged to the Healthcare & Personal Care category, 23 to the Education category, followed by 12 in the Food & Beverages category, 9 in the E-commerce Category, 9 in Consumer Durables Category and 15 advertisements from other categories.

     

    June 2016:

    In June 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 98 out of 159 advertisements. Out of 98 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 39 belonged to the Education category, 25 in the Healthcare & Personal Care category, followed by 11 in the Food & Beverages category, 6 in Ecommerce category and 17 advertisements from other categories.

    July 2016:

    In July 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 134 out of 183 advertisements. Out of 134 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 44 belonged to the Healthcare category, 44 to the Education category, followed by 24 in the Food & Beverages category, 8 in Personal Care Category and 14 advertisements from other categories.

     

    August 2016:

    In August 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 152 out of 209 advertisements. Out of 152 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 27 belonged to the Healthcare category, 66 to the Education category, followed by 17 in the Food & Beverages category, 10 in Personal Care Category, 5 in clothing and accessories category and 27 advertisements from other categories.

     

    September 2016:

    In September 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 151 out of 199 advertisements. Out of 151 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 39 belonged to the Healthcare category, 75 to the Education category, followed by 10 in the Food & Beverages category, 8 in Personal Care Category and 19 advertisements from other categories.

     

    October 2016:

    In October 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 98 out of 162 advertisements. Out of 98 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 37 belonged to the Healthcare category, 31 to the Education category, followed by 6 in the Food & Beverages category, 5 in Personal Care Category and 19 advertisements from other categories.

     

    November 2016:

    In November 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 100 out of 152 advertisements. Out of 100 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 43 belonged to the Healthcare category, 17 to the Education category, followed by 11 in Personal Care Category, 7 in the Food & Beverages category, 6 in the E-Commerce Category and 16 advertisements from other categories.

     

    December 2016:

    In December 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 95 out of 125 advertisements. Out of 95 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 58 belonged to the Healthcare category, 10 in the Food & Beverages category, followed by 9 in Personal Care Category, 4 to the Education category, and 14 advertisements from other categories.

     
  • Announces an exciting Contest inviting practitioners to create a 60 sec Video on the theme – "An Advertising Brief is incomplete without the ASCI code"

    ASCI introduces a new initiative for its e-learning course

    By A Correspondent

     

    In its endeavour to promote self-regulation and to strengthen self-discipline among creators of advertising, the Advertising Standards Council of India has introduced a new initiative inviting participants to create a 60-second video using the theme – An Advertising Brief is incomplete without the ASCI code. The 60 second video would encourage advertising practitioners to create an important message that every advertising brief ought to have objective, proposition, communication, etc. but it is still incomplete if not checked against the ASCI code for self-regulation in advertising. This will help guide the creative expression to be creative yet responsible and get their advertisements “Right the first time”.

     

    Participants can submit their entries by uploading the 60 seconds video, highlighting the ASCI e-Learning programme on YouTube.

     

    Commenting on e-Learning programme and the new initiative, Srinivasan K. Swamy, Chairman, ASCI, said, “We have received an encouraging response to the e-Learning programme so far. This has been helping personnel working with advertisers, creative/media agencies or the media, etc. to pro-actively learn and appreciate the dos and don’ts of advertising. We believe that – Be it an advertiser briefing an agency or an agency briefing their team, it’s time we add the ASCI Code sign off to every advertising brief. This is crucial for longevity of any ad and saves money, time & hard work gone in making the ad, by avoiding major pitfalls that require modifying or withdrawing advertisements. We expect a very enthusiastic response from the advertising community to this initiative which would help them internalize the key message.”

     

    On successful completion, participants are awarded with a certificate.

     

     

  • The WhatsApp platform registers 200 million monthly active users in India

    ASCI’s WhatsApp number marks one year of protecting consumer rights

    By A Correspondent

     

    Empowering consumers to register their grievances against objectionable advertisements through an easy access and effective medium, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has successfully completed a year of its digital initiative – Snap and WhatsApp (+91 77100 12345).

     

    The WhatsApp platform registers 200 million monthly active users in India. With more and more consumers accessing WhatsApp, ASCI’s WhatsApp number has radically increased its outreach. In a year since launch, the WhatsApp number contributes to approximately 15 per cent of the total number of advertisements complained against by consumers, noted an ASCI commuique.

     

    Commenting on the success of WhatsApp initiative, Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, ASCI, said, “By ensuring that the advertisements are truthful, decent, non-offensive, legal and fair in competition, ASCI is ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers. ASCI has provided Indian consumers a very powerful tool through its WhatsApp number (77100 12345) to take action against objectionable advertisements and thereby protecting consumer rights in this digital age. We are delighted to see that our proactive step of launching this number a year ago has been a success with more and more consumers reaching ASCI using this platform.”

     

  • This partnership will put in place, a much needed formal mechanism to monitor and curtail misleading advertisements in the AYUSH sector

    Ayush ministry partners ASCI to co-regulate misleading ads

     

     

    Progressing with the impetus towards supporting co-regulation in advertising, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) has signed anMoU partnering with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Addressing the cases of misleading advertisements with respect to Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Medicines, treatment and related services, ASCI will comprehensively monitor these advertisements across print and electronic media. ASCI has been given a self-monitoring mandate by the Ministry of AYUSH to identify potentially misleading advertisement in the AYUSH sector and process complaints through its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC). The Ministry of AYUSH will also redirect complaints against misleading advertisements they receive to ASCI, which will be reviewed using ASCI’s code and guidelines. The MoU also requires ASCI to report to the Ministry of AYUSH, advertisements in potential violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder as well as non-compliance of ASCI’s CCC recommendations for the Ministry of AYUSH to take further action.

     

    This partnership will put in place, a much-needed formal mechanism to monitor and curtail misleading advertisements in the AYUSH sector and will lead to effective implementation though strong support locally from the State Licencing Authorities as well as Centrally through the Ministry of AYUSH.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Ajit M. Sharan, Secretary,  Ministry of AYUSH said: “We are happy to announce this partnership with the ASCI. It is yet another important step taken by the AYUSH ministry to ensure that Indian consumers have access to safe and effective medicine. The arrangement would also ensure that any advertisement making claims for diseases and disorders, in violation of the notification issued by our ministry for indications that have been prohibited from claiming, are immediately brought to our attention. We have entered into anMoU with ASCI to effectively weed out such advertisements so that consumers are protected from unscrupulous manufacturers selling products making false claims. This is vital for the propagation of AYUSH system of medicine within India and beyond.”

     

    Added Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, ASCI: “At ASCI, we have been relentlessly working to encourage self-regulation in advertising content and ensuring the protection of the interests of the consumers. AYUSH is among top three sectors where we find a high incidence of misleading advertisements and some of the advertisements in the AYUSH sector claiming treatment of certain diseases in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Regulations have been a cause of concern. ASCI’s partnership with the Ministry of AYUSH will provide the necessary support to our efforts in effectively curtailing misleading advertisements in this sector.”

     

     

  • Tributes from Venu Srinivasan, Srinivasan K Swamy and Karthik Kumar

    A&M captains pay tributes to the late CM

    By Santosh Jangid

     

    Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, leader to many Tamilians and Amma to millions, 68 years old Jayalalitha died on Monday, 5th after undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital In Chennai for 73 days. She was hospitalised on 22nd September and suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday post which she was put on life support.

     

    Jayalalitha was credited with various water projects, launched several people friendly welfare schemes to safeguard the poor from high prices of basic amenities and several other projects for people welfare.

     

    Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company paying his tribute to the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said, “We at TVS Motor Company along with millions of citizens of India, are deeply saddened at the demise of our Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Selvi J Jayalalithaa. Our heartfelt condolences to her family and supporters. She promoted industry and commerce in order to generate employment and for economic progress and prosperity of the State.  She will always be remembered for her relentless efforts towards the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu.”

     

    And will it impact business in Tamil Nadu? Said Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, R K Swamy Hansa group on how the demise of Jayalalitha will impact the business in Tamil Nadu: “It is sad that Chief Minister passed away yesterday. I don’t think it will impact the business in Tamil Nadu. People who are depending on the Tamil Nadu government will probably have some loss. Many people don’t depend on that. The media would have a small setback because the spending will go down a little before they start again. Things will be normal otherwise.”

     

    Meanwhile, Karthik Kumar, Director, Rage Communications, the Chennai-based digital agency, expressed his condolences. : “The Honourable Chief Minster was an exceptional human and an excellent administrator. In the commerce field she will be remembered for her creation of the auto hub in Chennai’s outskirts which houses the factories of Hyundai, Ford, BMW among others. A key element of her contribution appears to be the multiplier effect her decisions had in commerce or social benefits. For example, her development of the Sriperumbudur industrial area led to the economic activity spreading beyond Chennai to other districts such as Vellore and at the same time improving the commerce network in terms of ports and interstate transport. Similarly, her social welfare projects whether the free distribution of laptops to students or creating of low cost services such as the Amma canteens carried the benefits beyond the obvious. Her passing away will certainly by missed. However, the edifice of administration will likely endure.”

     

  • The Chief Guest for the evening was N Murali, the President of The Music Academy, Madras

    Rotary Club Guindy awards Lifetime award to SK Swamy

    By A Correspondent

     

    Srinivasan K. Swamy

    The Rotary Club of Guindy presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa group for “exemplary contribution to the advertising and marketing industry and to the society at large”. This is the third time in the Club’s history of 22 years that they have chosen to honour an individual. Swamy, just earlier this year received Advertising Agencies Association of India’s Lifetime Achievement Award and The Advertising Club Madras’ Distinguished Service Award.

     

    The Chief Guest for the evening was N Murali, the President of The Music Academy, Madras. He recalled Swamy’s contribution to various industry bodies in India, Asia and also at the global stage. He appreciated Swamy’s devotion to social, charitable and religious causes he is involved in.

     

  • Monica Tata, COO – BTVi, was elected as Vice President and Pradeep Dwivedi, former CMO of the Dainik Bhaskar group, is the new Secretary. Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Jaya Advertising, has been elected as the Treasurer

    Neeraj Roy elected President of IAA India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Neeraj Roy

    The India Chapter of International Advertising Association has elected Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO, Hungama Digital Media as its President. Monica Tata, COO – BTVi, was elected as Vice President and Pradeep Dwivedi, former CMO of the Dainik Bhaskar group, is the new Secretary. Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Jaya Advertising, has been elected as the Treasurer.

     

    In addition, Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, MCCS India (ABP News), Janak Sarda, Director, Daily Deshdoot, Abhishek Karnani, Director, Indian National Press, Shreyams Kumar, Director, Mathrubhumi and Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director, VRL Media Ltd have been elected as members of the Managing Committee.

     

    Speaking about the development Neeraj Roy said, “International Advertising Association in India over the past few years has played a key role in bringing the Media, Marketing and Advertising community together and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to serve as President. On behalf of our new team and management committee we would like to thank Srinivasan K Swamy for his stellar leadership over the past few years and we look forward to serving the ever changing needs of the marketing and advertising fraternity as India is at the cusp of a digital transformation that will impact all aspects of life.”

     

    The first Managing Committee meeting conducted immediately after the AGM, coopted additional members as per IAA Constitution. They were: I Venkat, CEO – Eenadu, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India & CEO – South East Asia, Director – Posterscope, Aegis Media Group.

     

    In addition, the following senior professionals were invited to be part of the Committee: Srinivasan K Swamy, Immediate Past President, IAA and Chairman RK Swamy BBDO, Kaushik Roy, President – Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication, Reliance Industries Ltd, Pradeep Guha, Managing Director – 9XMedia Pvt Ltd, Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director – Madison Communications Pvt Ltd, Ramesh Narayan, Founder, Canco Advertising Pvt Ltd and Raj Nayak, Chief Executive Officer – Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd. More members are likely to be inducted in a few weeks.

     

    And here’s what some of the officebearers had to say:

    Monica Tata: “I am humbled and honoured to have been given this opportunity and I am looking forward to be part of the next phase of IAA under the new leadership.”

     

    Pradeep Dwivedi:  “There has never been a better time for our industry to evolve and transform itself. I am keenly looking forward to working with industry leaders to sustain the rich legacy of past IAA initiatives and contribute to new ones.”

     

    Kaushik Roy: “In the last four years under the able leadership of Mr Srinivasan Swamy, IAA India Chapter has witnessed tremendous energy and dynamism.  With Mr Neeraj Roy, a luminary in the digital world, as the new President, India is on a good wicket to grow stronger in the coming years. One can also expect great momentum and healthy growth in the advertising industry across the Asia Pacific region. With strengthened senior level representation from India and the Asia Pacific, IAA globally is well poised to support and nurture the interests of the advertising, marketing and media fraternity. I wish the newly elected India Chapter Management Committee a very successful term. It will be my endeavour to forge strong ties in the region and across the world.”

     

  • A quick chat with Advertising Standards Council of India chairman Srinivasan K Swamy, done minutes after he was unanimously elected (+Video)

    ‘ASCI decisions are not taken by the Board’

     

     

    On Friday (September 9), Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman and Managing Director, R K Swamy BBDO, was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on September 9. Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Vice Chairperson, CIABC was elected Vice-Chairman and Shashi Sinha, CEO, Media Brands was reappointed the Honorary Treasurer. Other members of the Board of Governors are Al Rajwani (Managing Director & Chief Executive, Procter & Gamble), Benoy Roychowdhury (Executive Director, HT Media), Mr. Dev Bajpai (Executive Director Legal & Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary, Hindustan Unilever Ltd), D Shivakumar (Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India), Gurmit Singh (Vice President & MD, Yahoo India), N S Rajan (Global Partner & MD, Ketchum Sampark), Narendra Ambwani (Director, Agro Tech Foods), Prashant Singh (MD, Neilsen India Region), Raj Jain (CEO, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd.), Rohit Gupta (President – Network Sales & International Business, Sony Pictures Networks India), S K Palekar (Adjunct Professor & Advisor – Executive Education, Institute of Management Technology), Subhash Kamath (Managing Partner, BBH Comms India) and Sunil Lulla (Chairman & Managing Director, Grey Worldwide India). Anuka Roy caught up with the new ASCI Chairman for a quick chat:

     

    On his new role:

    ASCI is fairly well-known. There is no advertiser or agency of consequence that has not been told that their ad is somehow misleading or offensive. They all know because they have been hit by ASCI at some point. My real task I do not think is to talk about what is ASCI, that is known. The important thing to tell people is that ASCI’s decision is not made by the Board of Governors of ASCI but is made by something called Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) and what is more relevant there has members from the civil society. The majority of the members are from the civil society that means consumers activists, educationists, lawyers, doctors  – they constitute the majority in CCC. Only some people are from the advertising industry. These people look at advertisements and figure whether they are misleading, offending and then they take the decision. So, they are the ones who take the decision. That is something I would like to take an important part of the agenda to tell people who adjudicates on passing a campaign and hopefully that would set the record straight because the general perception is that ASCI is being influence by the people in the Board of Governors and their mission is against one competitor because the Board influences the decision. That is something I would like to bring in front, so that people know what is happening here

     

    His agenda as the new ASCI Chairman:

    To talk about CCC. There are many things we need to talk about with respect to what it does. For example, when a mission is given, that is an appeal process, you can then get appeal.  When the matter is very complex, you have experts coming in briefing the CCC members about the complexities, whether it is technical or a complex thing they cannot understand, expert is called in. Based on that, CCC members actually take a call. So, there are many things which we can talk about. And, of course we have regular issues like someone will take us to court; we will have to figure out what our strategy will be to defend ourselves. There are all these government bodies that are a part and parcel of us. If ASCI is finding a place in Consumer Protection Act then there is a lot work to be done.

     

    Any other new initiative to engage the consumer, like the WhatsApp initiative:

    The point today is not to get more complaints. We ourselves are monitoring the complaints. We have a group of people looking at all that is appearing in all important advertising categories to see whether an ad is offending or not. Even if you do not complaint, we will track those ads. The marketing of WhatsApp and all is more to engage the consumer but we have been tracking a lot more ads on our own.

     

    On the Patanjali controversy:

    Patanjali is taking ASCI to court, the court will decide whether Patanjali is right or ASCI is right. The fact of the matter is ASCI’s decision is not the Board’s decision, it is the decision made by people like consumer activists, journalists, doctors, educationists etc. So, the court will look at all the facts and decide. Advertising is a critical part of every business and is somebody is going to challenge them in running the business they will take them to court, it is a part of life and we will address it.

     

  • This opportunity is available to young (below 35 years of age) professionals with at least five years work experience in marketing, advertising and media

    ACI to Fast Track six professionals to Kuala Lumpur

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Council of India (ACI) whose members are The Indian Society of Advertisers, The Advertising Agencies Association of India, The Indian Broadcasters Foundation, The International Advertising Association and The Advertising Club will be sponsoring six professionals for a special Fast Track program curated by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA). The program called “Fast Track” will be run in Kuala Lumpur between 20th and 22nd September 2016.

     

    This opportunity is available to young (below 35 years of age) professionals with at least five years work experience in marketing, advertising and media.

     

    Candidates desirous of taking advantage of this industry-oriented initiative need send in their applications with a brief profile of themselves, their valid passport number and a 100 words piece on “How I would improve certain aspects of our industry that I believe need improving” to acifasttrack@gmail.com by 16th August 2016.

     

    Shortlisted candidates would be called for an interview in Mumbai and six of them would fly to Malaysia for an all-expenses trip that would otherwise cost around $2500.

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Srinivasan K. Swamy, Vice Chairman AFAA, speaking on behalf of the ACI said “We see this effort as our way of helping develop talent and ultimately enriching our industry.” He further added, “This is the fourth time the ACI would be undertaking this initiative. The response from the first three initiatives was overwhelming, so we are investing in the future of our industry once again.”

     

  • The debate is scheduled for Friday, August 5, 2016 at ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai, 6pm onwards

    IAA Debates to debate on quality of print advertising

    By A Correspondent

     

    The next IAA Debates, presented by the Dainik Bhaskar group will be on “The quality of creativity in print advertising today is adversely impacting the efficacy of Print Medium.”

     

    The debate is scheduled for Friday, August 5, 2016 at ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai, 6pm onwards.

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Srinivasan K Swamy, President IAA India Chapter and Senior Vice President IAA Global said, “IAA Debates is an important property of IAA. Many industry leaders have taken the stand and debated on subjects that the industry always felt uncomfortable with. It has therefore become a must-attend event from all section of the advertising, media and marketing fraternity. I look forward to an intelligent fight between seasoned professionals”.

     

    Speaking for the motion are, Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President & Publisher- Chitralekha Group, President – AIM and Sandip Tarkas, CEO, (Sports, Media & Special Projects) Future Group; and speaking against the motion are Rana Barua, CEO – Contract India and  Joy Chakraborthy, President, TV18 -Revenue & CEO Forbes. Nandini Dias, CEO – Lodestar UM – will moderate the debate.