MAM
Media professionals wish their best friends a Happy Friendship Day
MUMBAI: Friendship is the purest and most beautiful relationship that two individuals can share. It can evolve from any relation and can even metamorphose into new partnerships. The world is celebrating this relationship today by marking Friendship Day. Globally, people will be appreciating their friends and will be sending them emotional messages and thus, Indiantelevision.com asked the media industry who their best friends are and here are some sweet responses that we got:
i9 Communications head Munmun S Gentle
I have two best friends: Rachana Chhedha aka Rachuwhom I met in class 1, and Deepak Gaur whom I met while we were working for the same organisation 12 years back. Rachna is from the hospitality industry while Deepak is currently working with a publication. These two have been my pillars of strength throughout my journey. It is very important for one to connect with like-minded people who understand you.
Rachana was the one who motivated me the most during my career shift from sales to public relations. She has also taught me how to remain calm and make right decisions even under extreme pressure. And Deepak has been constantly guiding me with work. Whenever I face any crazy challenge professionally, he is my go-to person because he always tells me, and makes me believe that everything will be alright. He will list down enough samples for me to solve my problems. He is the one person with whom I can talk my heart out as I know he will not judge me.
Both these beautiful people make my life simple and they are the people I can confide my thoughts in. I wish them and all a very Happy Friendship Day!"
Mirum India creative director Kishor Shembekar
It is a rare happening that your boss becomes your best friend but I have been fortunate enough to live this in my life. Vivek Shinde was once my boss and is like family now. Our interactions while working made us know each other better as an individual and developed our friendship. We are still in touch and would continue throughout our lives. We have been friends for almost two decades now and he continues to be a guide and a mentor for me since my initial days in the advertising world. Happy Friendship Day, Vivek!
Communicate India founder & CEO Akshaara Lalwani
My best friend is definitely my husband Rishaan. He is probably the best mentor I’ve ever had and the best support system I could have going through my professional journey. When I’m going through a challenging period, he has been extremely supportive, motivating, and gives me the courage to keep going. Your friends and associates might not always call you out when you’re slipping up, or about to drop the ball, but your best friend always will, and Rishaan does that. He also encourages me to focus on my strengths and not let my weaknesses get the better of me. There are days where he completes my sentences and can read my thoughts. He is not afraid to make me reevaluate some of my decisions and pushes me to be a better person, a better professional, and a better leader.
White Rivers Media co-founder Shrenik Gandhi
Mitesh & I go back a long way. Almost a decade back, we did our MBAs together. Coincidentally, we also share our birthdays and that also happens to be the day we launched White Rivers Media 7 years back, on 7 August.
He plays the role of my right-brain. All creative and strategic calls of the company are taken by Mitesh while I look after expansion, operations, and people.
From the first hire to the first client to the first award, to the first fire, to a first big loss, to the first big office, to first new out of city office, to the first 100 employees, the stories are infinite, regrets are none. Onwards and upwards from here. Happy Friendship Day Mitesh!
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.
