MAM
Havas announces acquisition of PR Pundit
Mumbai: Today, Havas has acquired a majority stake in PR Pundit, one of India’s foremost PR consultancy firms. This strategic move marks the debut of Havas Red, a Havas global PR network, into the vibrant Indian market. On closing, the firm will be rebranded PR Pundit Havas Red.
Winners of the Provoke Media’s Consumer Consultancy of the Year, at the recent Asia Pacific Awards in 2023, PR Pundit is an integrated communications consultancy that has built its reputation and equity as front runners in consumer lifestyle, serving more than 100 retainer clients across a variety of sectors including hospitality, F&B, corporate, CPG, start-ups, lifestyle, luxury, and beauty & skincare. The 25-year-old company boasts expertise in brand positioning and corporate communications and has a team of 160 PR practitioners across its three offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR.
PR Pundit has been a valued affiliate of Havas in India for some time. This acquisition cements the association and enhances Havas’ capabilities to extend public relations services in India as part of its bouquet of creative, media and healthcare offerings. In parallel, Havas Red’s continued international expansion adds important new expertise and geographic reach to the network’s global clients. The entry into the Indian market is the network’s second addition in 2023, following the opening of Havas Red South Africa earlier in the year.
PR Pundit founder and MD Archana Jain will continue to lead PR Pundit Havas Red, reporting to Havas India Group CEO Rana Barua and Havas Red global CEO James Wright.
“We are thrilled to welcome PR Pundit to the Havas family. The synergies between PR Pundit’s expertise, Havas India’s clients, and the global PR clients of Havas Red are exceptionally strong, setting the stage for many meaningful collaborations. With the backing of Vivendi and their extensive entertainment assets in India, the expansion into PR, communications and social media is a strategic move that aligns perfectly with the evolving landscape of the market and industry,” commented Havas chairman and global CEO Yannick Bolloré.
“Joining Havas will enable us to enrich our services and geographic reach for the benefit of our clients,” said Archana Jain, who founded PR Pundit in 1998. “We are excited to lend our expertise and entrepreneurial drive as well as share our local PR understanding with Havas Red in our common goal of undertaking benchmarking work and fostering long term partnerships, with our people and clients. Our relationship is based on shared values to elevate service capabilities, open doors to new opportunities and embrace best practices from around the world.”
Havas India group CEO Rana Barua said, “This acquisition once again reinforces our commitment of delivering comprehensive and impactful solutions to our clients. In our endeavour to offer integrated end-to-end communication solutions, we identified that the PR function was a missing piece. This acquisition brings together, two extremely powerful entities, Havas Red which has presence across 15 global markets with unmatched influence and reach, and PR Pundit, one of the most respected PR agencies in India with unparalleled brand reputation and a robust clientele. I welcome team PR Pundit to the Havas India family. Together with Havas Red, I look forward to the beginning of an exciting journey.”
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.
