MAM
Be prepared to tackle new trends: Marketers tell TV industry
MUMBAI: It is the age of Digital Video Recorders (DVR) like Tivo, which helps to skip ads and how the industry is going to tackle such challenges powered by technology? What happens when creative professionals turn self-indulgent and forget the basic purpose of call-for-sale when they do ads? Would niche channels and Direct-to-Home (DTH) phenomenon contribute significantly to TV’s brand building power? Does weak television content deter the growth? Where would India’s TV advertising stand from two years down the line?
These were some of the issues came up during a panel discussion on “The Power of Television: Television Advertising Helps Build Robust Brands” conducted on the first day of the India Brand Summit. The enlightening and at times whacky discussion, hosted by Star TV at the end of the day, was lead by elite panel comprising Mindshare managing director Vikram Sakhuja, Air Deccan managing director Capt. G R Gopinath, Starcom Worldwide managing director Ravi Kiran, Madison Media Group CEO Punitha Arumugham, Ambience Publicis national creative director Pushpinder Singh, Mattel Toys Pvt Ltd V-P marketing Nanette Dsa, DAKS London country head Reetika Dalal, Reliance Infocomm marketing and branding head Sanjay Behl, Indiantelevision Dot Com founder and CEO Anil Wanvari making many vital and valid points on the future of television advertising in India. The discussion was moderated by former Kelvinator CEO Rajeev Karwal.
Opening the session, Ambience Publicis’ Singh spoke about the important role played by television in the success of ad campaigns like Close Up and Amaron. “TV as a medium played a crucial role in the success of those campaigns. Audacity is the way out to make look any ad different and television serves that purpose,” said Singh. Taking part on the debate about the purpose of a creative, Singh said the purpose of an ad is to generate favorable top-of-mind recall. He also expressed his concern on the lack of interaction between creative agency and media agency while conceptualising an ad. “To a lot of ads, it is the power of the medium that is working, not the message,” he concluded.
Behl pointed out that the scope for convergence on television media with the advent of mobile phones was huge. “We will move from static TV to interactive TV,” he said. He asked the advertisers to re-evaluate the medium as it is beckoning innovations like pause function (where you can pause a live content like cricket telecast) and then vital technologies like DVR. Forecasting a significant change in the media-eco system, Behl asked television channels to bring drastic improvement in the quality of the content. “We feel run out of quality content. In the era of interactive TV media, good content is what matters and not the owner,” he said.
Behl also made futuristic observations on various innovations that would enter the scenario within two years. He listed out novel ideas such as Narrowcast Advertising to specific target group (TG), Dynamic Advertising (Placing an air conditioner ad at the instant it is shown that temperature is rising in a particular city, withdrawing an ad — which was originally placed for a cricket match telecast — when a favourite player is dismissed) and Interactive Advertising (where a certain character in a sitcom is ordering for a pizza and a pizza ad with a helpline number comes as a pop-up).
Wanvari stressed on the significance of in-TV ads and in-programme placements as they would play a key role in checking the onslaught of technology innovations such as DVR. “Media planners and ad sales guys can get together and work towards more such innovations. TV ad is entertaining in the current stage and hence it holds an audience. But the future of TV is changing, especially with the invention of mobile TV. It is important to come up with innovative ways of playing your product or ads.” Wanvari named gameshows Indian Idol and Kaun Banega Crorepati as case studies of successful brand integration. He pointed out that the entry of niche channels and DTH would soon open up an interesting scenario for advertisers and planners.
Arumugham spoke about the crucial role played by TV in the birth of successful Indian brands such as Ujala, Ghadi, Air Deccan and All Out. However, she suggested that TV was losing significance as an ad vehicle due to market fragmentation. “TV is not hungry enough for advertiser’s business. TV is not a creator, sorry to say,” Arumugham said. Speaking about the importance of TG-driven advertising, she said we needed to target consumers instead of audiences.
Taking part in the discussion, Mindshare’s Sakhuja called for immediate actions to reverse the trend of fewer ads spend on TV. “Ads are increasingly losing the call-to-action quality. Creatives must sell. Activation must marry advertising. To change the possibility of TV ending up on the losing side, unique content programming should happen,” he said.
Air Deccan’s G R Gopinath spoke about the wonders TV as a medium has done to the Air Deccan promotions. He explained the successful strategy that Air Deccan adopted to release their first ever ad on TV. “We were not embarrassed about our brand going to TV. We marketed the Air Deccan commercial as a feature film. We spend around Rs 60 million to promote the ad film in the first five days after releasing it. Our successful experimented has proved that TV can be a very powerful medium for an advertiser who is targeting the lower middle class section of the society. The ad helped to break the socio-cast barriers for flying through TV,” he said.
Diverting the discussion to a less-trodden path, Starcom’s Kiran spoke on the insignificance of television as an ad medium to groom certain consumer brands in the market. He relied on the market success of certain B2B brands including technology products such as iPod to support his theory. Opining that the industry is over-glamourisng the role of advertising in brand building, Kiran asked the advertisers to use unconventional strategies including word-of-mouth as promotional tools. “We should understand the consumer first, brand then and only then the media,” he said excusing his media agnostic stance on the topic.
Speaking on the occasion, Reetika Dalal and Nanette Dsa explained the good things TV, as an ad medium, has done to their products. Dsa spoke about the power of TV in tackling the TG called kids. “Kids don’t read and TV is the most effective medium to reach out to them. The fact that, they can’t differentiate between commercial and product also serves the purpose,” she pointed out.
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.
