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Vikram Sakhuja honored with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award
MUMBAI: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) presented its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja, on 10 January at a glittering ceremony attended by leading figures from the advertising and marketing industry – Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Joshi, N. P. Singh, Arvind Sharma, Madhukar Kamath, Ramesh Narayan, Sam Balsara, Shashi Sinha, Anupriya Acharya, Prasanth Kumar, and another 200 of them.
With nearly four decades of expertise, Sakhuja has been associated with global giants like Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Co, Star TV, Mindshare, Maxus, and GroupM. An alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta, his career highlights include setting up India’s first media AOR, launching the country’s first afternoon soap opera, and leading brand introductions during P&G’s and Coca-Cola’s early days in India. He has also been instrumental in pioneering research initiatives such as BASES and retail audits and transforming GroupM into India’s largest and most awarded marketing investment powerhouse.
Accepting the award, Sakhuja reflected on his 38-year journey, including 23 years in the agency world. He noted how his 15 years in marketing gave him a solid foundation. And how his early years in DCM between IIT and IIM shaped his professional outlook, stating, “After five years of college, I got a taste of professionalism, and it tasted pretty good. I said to myself: If this is what corporate life prepares us for, I’m all game for it.”
He added: “I am truly humbled to have been given the Lifetime Achievement Award by AAAI. When I look at the list of 31 recipients before me, it’s genuinely humbling because they were all legends. I am a mere mortal. That said, it is brilliant to receive this validation from my peers. I thank the entire industry for this lovely honour that I’ve been bestowed with.”
In response to the honour, Madison World chairman Sam Balsara remarked: “This lifetime achievement award is a testament to Vikram’s tireless work ethic, his passion for excellence and his commitment to making a positive impact on the media industry as a whole.”
Sakhuja remains an active contributor to the industry through roles in organizations like the Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci), Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), and Ficci’s marketing committee.
The accolade recognises Sakhuja’s outstanding contributions to shaping India’s media and advertising landscape.
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.
