MAM
Viacom launches new ad sales division to lead GenX products
MUMBAI: In a move to tap new social and data products for ad sales, Viacom has launched a new division within Viacom Ad Sales called Velocity Products Group, which is designed to bring multi-platform social partnerships, products, and services to clients.
In addition to offering a specialized set of Velocity Product experts that are aligned with each Ad Sales team, the group harnesses the collective power of Ad Sales’ social and data products to super-serve clients. The Velocity Products Group will also drive partnerships with key external social media platforms, including Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr.
“Intense demand for our innovative products during this Upfront season made it a strategic necessity to create a group singularly dedicated to evolving and developing our industry-leading offerings. As the industry’s largest sales distribution network, Viacom’s Ad Sales organization and the new Velocity Product Group bring our ad partners unrivalled creativity, cutting edge possibilities, and expertise to connect them with our highly-engaged millennial audience,” said Viacom head of sales Jeff Lucas.
Year-over-year, Ad Sales has doubled the number of advertisers utilizing the suite of product offerings from the Velocity Product Group, totaling more than 100 blue chip clients after this year’s Upfront.
Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, who reports to Lucas, oversees the team in her expanded role as executive vice president of Ad Sales Strategy and Products. Reporting to Herbst-Brady are SVP Strategy Kalina Nikolova as well as Sarah Iooss, who steps into the newly created role of SVP, Velocity Product Group. Deborah Brett has been named VP of Velocity Products Group reporting to Iooss.
This new team of nearly two dozen Velocity Product experts is charged with growing strategic partnerships, spearheading product development, and augmenting sales efforts across the entire Viacom network portfolio.
The group will also be the bridge between advertising partners and 645 million socially engaged fans across Viacom’s brands.
Velocity Product Group’s offerings consist of a comprehensive slate of solutions, including:
• Viacom Vantage – Using a combination of Viacom’s proprietary data and third party data from multiple sources, Vantage offers advertisers precise consumer targeting and unmatched predictive capabilities
• Echo – A strategic approach to harnessing Viacom’s unparalleled social reach with customized programs for ad partners. The groundbreaking analytics tool, Echo Social Graph, measures engagement deeply and holistically by tapping multiple social platforms, including those outside of Viacom’s own portfolio.
• The Social Talent Platform – Velocity makes talent engagement turnkey by giving advertisers direct access to a growing roster of social superstars for custom campaigns.
• Integration+ – This offering gives advertisers added flexibility and choice when customizing their branded entertainment opportunities.
• Pulse Real-Time Marketing – An exclusive multi-platform functionality that puts partners into the cultural conversation with sharable content in their authentic voice.
• Social Media Advertising Partnerships – Key social media partnerships with Twitter, Snapchat, and Tumblr bolster the reach and impact of social-by-design campaigns.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
