MAM
Essence launches Essence Data Health Check consulting service
Mumbai: GroupM’s Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency, on Tuesday announced the introduction of its Essence Data Health Check (EDHC) consulting service, developed to help brands achieve effective business outcomes from their digital marketing activities by advancing audience data strategy.
EDHC is a service product developed through Essence Global Ventures, the agency’s Singapore-based innovation, research and development hub. The product was built to be a strategic and tactical aid for marketers to accelerate their digital marketing transformation and business growth. In addition to helping brands navigate the seismic shifts in data, identity and privacy due to the confluence of changes in user sentiment, regulations and technology, the offering enables marketers to maximise value from their audience data and optimise consumer brand experience, the company stated. The features of the product are informed by years of providing data services for brands across APAC, including those from the technology, retail, travel, luxury and financial services sectors, the agency said in a statement.
Part of Essence’s consulting solutions, EDHC provides a meticulous review of marketers’ technology stack, data collection setup, audience management approach and data deployment practice, along with actionable recommendations to increase the effectiveness of data-driven paid and owned marketing activities. This review is done with respect towards current and future shifts in legislation and technology pertaining to consumers’ online identity and privacy. Designed for both in-house marketing teams and external agency service models, the offering also recommends measurable implementation roadmaps to track progress and capture value.
Essence VP- data strategy, APAC, Vincent Niou, said, “Data has never been more integral to more aspects of marketers’ businesses, but the space has never been more confusing and uncertain. With Essence Data Health Check, we are excited to help marketers navigate these shifts, while applying our best practices to drive campaign impact and business growth from their audience data, as well as provide the best possible brand experience for their customers across both paid and owned channels.”
Essence VP, advertising operations, APAC, Shane Dewar said, “With consumer sentiment, public policy and the advertising industry as a whole moving towards an ecosystem that puts privacy at the forefront of how it operates, brands and advertisers will be challenged to ensure that the people, processes and tools they have are capable of navigating the new privacy-first world. Essence Data Health Check is designed to help marketers evaluate what they are doing well in, provide a roadmap to improve their data strategy, and ultimately, enable brands to achieve their goals.”
Essence executive VP Kunal Guha, who oversees the strategic direction and delivery of Essence Global Ventures’ research and development efforts, said, “We are now at the dawn of a new era of marketing – one that is defined by consumers’ expectations around their data and privacy, and an industry looking to bring more personalised experiences to their consumers. Essence Data Health Check will underpin the foundations for this privacy-first world, where the ethical compass on consumers’ data is paramount. Through Essence Global Ventures, it is our ambition to continually innovate solutions that will ensure marketers globally can lead with new strategic advantages, today and in the future.”
Through Essence Global Ventures, the agency will further develop and incubate marketing technology products that use predictive data signals and automation to improve business performance, customer experience and brand governance for companies. Similar to Essence Media Health Check and Essence Data Health Check, these solutions will be commercialised and deployed across APAC and globally via Essence’s network of offices, the agency said.
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.
