MAM
Godrej L’Affaire concludes its fourth season with a grand celebration of lifestyle
MUMBAI: Godrej L’Affaire, a curated experiential lifestyle platform by the Godrej Group, concluded its fourth season in Mumbai. More than 1300 people including several prominent personalities attended Godrej L’Affaire.
It kicked-off with a masterclass marking actress Bhumi Pednekar’s debut as a chef along with Chef Varun Inamdar. They engaged in a live cook-off followed by a conversation on how to bake a blockbuster. Celebrity couple Karanvir Bohra and Teejay Sidhu spoke about inculcating spirituality in children through travel. They also unveiled the trailer of their upcoming web-series ‘Baby Yatra’.
Music director Shantanu Moitra did a standalone talk on his 100-day fascinating adventure across the Himalayas that changed his music forever. Designers Alan Abraham (Abraham John Architects), Madhav Raman (Anagram Architects), Swarup Dutta (Scenographer) and Asha Sairam (Studio Lotus) engaged in an insightful conversation, powered by Design Dekko, on ways to design homes that give back to nature and the importance of sustainable designs.
The highlight of the evening soirée was ace couturiers Monisha Jaising and Shweta Bachchan Nanda’s luxury pret fashion label MxS’s first ever fashion show. The couture was street-inspired and had sportive elements and fabric mash-ups, giving the collection a jolt of energy. Supermodels like Carol Gracias, Deepti Gujral, Aanchal Kumar and Sucheta Sharma walked the ramp while the show was choreographed by Shie Lobo.
Supporting Shweta’s first-ever MxS fashion show, Jaya Bachchan, among other celebrities, was also present. All models were accessorized with Isharya jewellery and watches by Guess Watches and Esprit, complementing the collection. India’s drag scene star, Sushant Divgikar, adorned his famed Rani Ko-He-Nur avatar for a musical performance with his band TopStorey leaving the audience mesmerized.
The Godrej Food Trends Report – 2020 was unveiled at Godrej L’Affaire. The report curated by Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal is a compendium of insights, views and predictions collated from conversations with 150 experts – chefs, thought leaders and food influencers across major cities.
Godrej Group executive director and chief brand officer Tanya Dubash said: "Godrej L’Affaire has redefined lifestyle trends with every new season. Be it personalities, experiences, footfalls and brand partnerships, our fourth season has raised the bar and turned out to be the most successful edition till date. Godrej L'Affaire has delivered on its promise of showcasing future lifestyle trends that people can adopt for a modern-day living.”
Godrej L’Affaire soirée witnessed first time unveiling of Ginevra, a new perfume range from Tonino Lamborghini Fragrances. Radio host and producer Hrishikesh Kannan moderated an engaging panel comprising digital influencers such as Karishma Sakhrani, Khushnaz Turner, Rij Eappen, and Chef Amninder Sandhu. The panel titled ‘Make Space for Life’ by Godrej Interio, deliberated on the importance of maintaining work-life balance dynamics and explored what it takes to be an influencer.
Tata Motors showcased its latest car in the electric vehicles segment –Tata Nexon EV. Godrej Locks unveiled an installation endorsing home safety, conceptualised and designed by Anand Menon and Shobhan Kothari of ADND, a prominent architecture, and interior design firm.
Godrej L’Affaire’s fourth season presenting partner was MX Player, while the on-ground event was styled by Krsnaa Mehta of India Circus. The soirée offered experiences of top lifestyle brands such as Harley-Davidson, Guess Watches, BBLUNT, Esprit, Godrej Security Solutions, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cinthol, Godrej Bambusa, Myntra, Script, Godrej Properties, and Goodknight Naturals.
Other prominent brand partners include Godrej Veg Oils, Elior India, Slice of Pink, Godrej Professional, Godrej Protekt, Godrej Construction, Godrej Real Good Chicken, Houzz India and Godrej aer.
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said: "Godrej L’Affaire has been redefining lifestyle trends with every new edition, which makes it a great platform to interact with a range of premium audiences and brands. The theme for this year was 'Aarambh' – bringing together imagination, creativity, and innovation via bespoke experiences for its attendees. We are very happy to have been a part of this experience, and it was great to see the mix of ideas and concepts across various lifestyle categories."
"The association with Godrej L’Affaire gives us the ideal platform to acknowledge and reward fashion-forward customers, while also setting new benchmarks in the industry on value creation and consumer engagement. For the second year of our association with Godrej L’Affaire, we invited over 50 Myntra Insiders to experience the best of fashion, travel, food, lifestyle and much more during this event,” added Myntra head of marketing Harish Narayanan on the partnership.
Raymond Consumer Care director international brands Barun Mukherjee said: “Partnering with Godrej L’Affaire was a rewarding experience for us as the event reckons with everything lifestyle and luxury. We took the opportunity to launch Ginevra range of products and showcased the complete range of Tonino Lamborghini fragrances.”
The media partners for the fourth season of Godrej L’Affaire were Sunday Mid-Day (Print Partner), Living Foodz (Lifestyle TV Partner), IWMbuzz.com (Digital Media Partner) and Radio One 94.3 (Radio Partner). Wizcraft International managed the on-ground execution of this season.
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.
