Ad Campaigns
ASCI updates education sector advertising guidelines
Mumbai: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recommended an amendment to its “Guidelines for Advertising of Educational Institutions, Programmes and Platforms”. For this purpose, it has invited public consultation so that all stakeholders can participate and frame a set of just and equitable guidelines for a critical industry of the country.
All educational institutions, from universities, colleges and schools to coaching classes, EdTech platforms and others that offer education and training programmes play an important role in the intellectual development of the country and will be subject to these guidelines. Since parents not only place great value on their children’s education, but also make significant sacrifices to get it, it is critical that marketing communication in this sector is honest and does not harm consumers through its portrayals or content.
In this year, the education sector has contributed to 27 per cent of objectionable ads that ASCI processed (traditional education 22 per cent and EdTech five per cent). The recent EdNext study conducted by ASCI also revealed that 49 per cent of parents chose EdTech platforms based on advertising, demonstrating the importance of advertising regulation in maintaining the robustness of the educational framework. The report also brought out some concerns that stakeholders and experts had when it came to the manner in which learning seemed to be solely linked to exams and high scores. It is to address some of these concerns that ASCI has proposed a comprehensive update of the existing advertising guidelines for the sector.
The guidelines ensure that advertisements by the sector do not undermine the well being of students. The guidelines continue to require educational entities to substantiate any claims they make with relevant evidence.
The revised guidelines aim to ensure that students are not stereotyped based on their gender or appearance, nor are those who perform poorly portrayed as failures or unsuccessful. Advertisements must also not depict average or low-scoring students as unmotivated, depressed, or unhappy, or as receiving less praise from parents, teachers, or peers. In addition to students’ mental health, the updated guidelines will consider their physical health; advertisements must not depict students sacrificing sleep or meals in order to study, as this normalises unhealthy habits. Creating a false sense of urgency or fear of missing out, which may exacerbate parental or student concerns about education, is also a violation of the ASCI code.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “The education sector impacts millions of students and parents who make immense sacrifices to ensure the best education for their wards. Unlike most other products, education cannot be tangibly measured. The value of a programme is determined by means such as degrees, diplomas and other qualification nomenclatures, recognition, affiliations, testimonials, accreditations, admissions/jobs/compensation promises. Hence, it is critical that, in addition to being truthful and compliant with chapter one of the ASCI code, advertisers must consider any harm that can be caused through depictions or messages to young, impressionable minds. These updated guidelines will go a long way in ensuring that emerging fields such as EdTech can be harnessed as forces of good. We request that the public come forth in large numbers and share their views for a cause that is vital for the well-being and the future of our country.”
Public consultation for the guidelines starts from 14 March and will continue until 15 April 2023.
Read the proposed update of the guidelines: https://ascionline.in/education-guidelines.pdf
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
