MAM
Zoo Media promotes Rishabh Khatter as business head of The Rabbit Hole
MUMBAI: Zoo Media’s video content solutions agency, The Rabbit Hole has promoted Rishabh Khatter, to the business head of the agency. Zoo Media is the media network which owns 7 agency brands including the flagship digital agency FoxyMoron. Khatter in his role will be responsible for leading the vertical’s business operations in India and contributing to the overall growth.
He has over 7 years of experience in creating content and technology and has been associated with Zoo Media for close to 5 years. Moving up the ranks from the Sr. Creative Innovations Associate to Business Head Content and Technology at FoxyMoron to spearheading, The Rabbit Hole as its Business Head. In his tenure with Zoo Media, Rishabh has led some prominent projects for clients like Netflix India, Hershey's, Kraft Heinz India, Maybelline New York, Burger King, Volvo, Dyson, HBO India, Amazon & Colgate. He brings with him a widespread industry experience spanning across verticals and extensive knowledge on all things content and creative tech.
Speaking on the appointment, FoxyMoron and Zoo Media co-founder Pratik Gupta said, “Rishabh is one of the founding members of The Rabbit Hole. The business has seen unprecedented growth over the last few years and is today one of India’s leading video content solutions agencies. With Rishabh at the helm, we feel proud of the work that they have been able to do, and the path that we’re on. As a network, we’re confident of The Rabbit Hole’s progress under Rishabhs leadership and we’re excited to go down The Rabbit Hole, together!”
Prior to joining Zoo Media, Khatter was creative conceptualizer and copywriter at Wizcraft International Entertainment for close to three years. Where his primary responsibilities included Creative Conceptualisation and Strategy. He holds a Masters in Media Communications with a specialization in Advertising from Auckland University of Technology. He has also done his bachelors from AUT, in Creative Technologies.
Commenting on his new role, Rishabh Khatter said, I am excited to take up this role. Our journey so far has been about experimenting and delivering work that makes waves in the brand & branded content ecosystems. Our vision is to create a future-focussed content burrow which works across various formats, bringing together the best talent in the industry that uses human and marketing insights to create compelling stories. I am also chuffed about the team that we’ve managed to put together during the last few years and the mad hatter solutions we’ve managed to create. Looking forward to continuing on this journey with The Rabbit Hole & Zoo Media
Since its setup in 2015, The Rabbit Hole has become one of the most sought-after video content solutions agencies in the country. This ‘Content Burrow’, has evolved from being a digital video first agency to a full-service new age content creation ecosystem. Under the leadership of Rishabh Khatter, TRH will continue to scale its business, working with noteworthy brands across industries, turning ideas into reality, and delivering outputs that cut through the clutter. The Rabbit Hole is headquartered in Mumbai, with regional offices in Gurgaon and Bengaluru. Its client roster includes brands like Netflix Netflix, Burger King, L’Oreal India, TataQ, Orient Bell Tiles, Hershey’s India, Motorola, Maybelline, Heinz, Volvo to name a few.
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.
