MAM
Amazon.in launches Storyboxes to take seller stories closer to customers
MUMBAI: If you shopped during Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, chances are you discovered something unusual on your delivery box. Amazon customers have started receiving their orders in boxes that tell stories- stories of transformation and success of small and medium businesses thriving on Amazon. Amazon India has over half a million sellers on its marketplace and every seller’s journey with Amazon is a unique transformation story. With an intent to highlight some of these inspiring stories to customers, Amazon India today announced the roll out of its India first packaging innovation– “Amazon Storyboxes”.
The Amazon box is one of the most widely distributed and recognizable brand asset for sellers and customers alike. Amazon has used this element to bring sellers to the forefront of their marketplace in India and hence, create a deeper connect with customers. The Storybox features the stories of Amazon sellers who have seen a transformative impact in their lives by selling on the marketplace and are positively impacting the society in a meaningful way, through their businesses. The campaign idea #IAmAmazon stems from the insight that we look for what’s inside the delivered box but are mostly unaware of who is behind these boxes. The Amazon box holds more than just a product; it holds lakhs of inspirational stories of the hopes and aspirations of sellers. With Amazon Storyboxes, the company intends customers to meet sellers with every delivery. Lakhs of customers have received the first set of Amazon Storyboxes when they shopped during the recent Great Indian Festival.
Speaking about the campaign, Mr. Gopal Pillai, Vice President, Seller Services, Amazon India, said, “Sellers are a key part of the Amazon flywheel. We have over 5 lakh small businesses, artisans, women entrepreneurs, and emerging brands selling on our marketplace and every Amazon seller has a unique story behind their success. With Storyboxes, we wanted to bring these stories to life. We have showcased 6 seller stories on our boxes till now, and we will soon be scaling this initiative up to bring many more such stories to you. We hope that this initiative will help customers get a glimpse of how they are an integral part of the transformation journeys of lakhs of sellers on Amazon.in.”
Presently, the triumphant stories of six key sellers have been captured on the boxes as part of Storyboxes:-
· Rani Ravindran (Ravindran Silk Cotton) represents our sellers from distant parts of the country who have seen success through selling online. A homemaker and mother, Rani sells wooden toys and cotton pillows on Amazon, and she is fondly known as Periyakulam’s first Amazon seller
· Biswajit Swain (Haastika) represents sellers who work towards creating a sustainable living for artisans of the country. He works to promote the legacy of his hometown in Odisha by working closely with artisans from the state to understand, promote and sell their indigenously produced crafts across the country
· Vijaya Rajan (SIRIMIRI) is an example of the numerous women entrepreneurs who have built a successful business with the Amazon Saheli program on A.in. Starting with making healthy snacks for her family, Vijaya is now the founder of a successful food brand and sells her products exclusively online on Amazon
· Ibanshara Shullai (Zizira) works with farmers of Meghalaya to sell their products across India. She has managed to bring authentic Meghalayan ingredients like Lakadong Turmeric and Wildflower Honey to the notice of the rest of the country
· Abdul Gafoor Khatri (TRADITIONAL ROGANART) put everything into keeping his family’s 300-year-old art heritage alive through his Rogan art painting. A recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri, Abdul has also created an art piece for former US president Barack Obama
· Ashwin Sokke (WOW Skin Science) has embraced the mantra of ‘listen to your customers’. He is able to connect with customers by learning from Amazon customer reviews and has built a million-dollar consumer beauty brand, WOW!
“The moment I received the Storybox, with my own story on it, my happiness knew no bound. I received many phone calls congratulating me in and around Periyakulam, and also asking me to help them to become an Amazon Seller. This initiative has been truly given me a sense of great self-worth, over and above taking my story to lakhs of households in India. Thank you Amazon,” said Rani Ravindran, Ravindran Silk Cotton
Manish Chowdhary, co-founder, WOW Skin Science, associated with Amazon since 2014, also mentioned, “We cannot appreciate this enough and take a great pride in stating that “We are a brand born on Amazon”. Amazon has been the platform that has helped us succeed in the beauty and wellness markets in India and the US. Storyboxes is that unique initiative that helps customer-focused beauty brands like us to connect with our buyers in real terms. While we have the option of interacting with our customers through the reviews, there was no way they could know about what goes behind the scenes of a brand like us. While bringing our brand closer to the customer, I also hope that Amazon Storyboxes and my story will inspire many more entrepreneurs to follow their passion and connect with their customers. They will be motivated to eventually come online and transform their businesses with Amazon, the way WOW Skin Science did.”
The StoryBoxes also have a first-of-its-kind interactive feature that enables customers to directly scan the seller face on the box and land on a dedicated microsite (www.amazon.in/storyboxes) that hosts many more stories. The entire face illustration is a scannable asset (created from QR code elements) that has been created specifically for this campaign. Customers can read the seller stories on the box or scan the image/ use the storyboxes url to explore multiple other stories. The microsite also hosts an exciting contest for customers who have received Storyboxes this festive 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.
