MAM
Goafest 2016: Mindshare and Maxus dominate Media; Dainik Jagran leads publisher category
MUMBAI: Goafest 2016’s first ABBY night kick started with healthy dose of laughter well packed in snarky and quick witted jokes delivered by the ever charming Vir Das. Still holding their stomachs, the entire advertising fraternity of India prepared themselves to see who bagged the metals in the Media and Publisher categories.
Continuing their winning streak two years in a row, Mindshare India were the clear leader in the media category with 17 metals to their name, out of which two were gold, six silver and nine silver. The agency bagged gold in Best Use of Newspaper and Magazine category for their Lakme Lip pouts in Grazia — Play time for your pout campaign for Lakme; and in Best use of Integrated campaign category for Before Iftar time; It’s Lifebouy Time for Lifebouy.
The second agency leading Media ABBY was Maxus, with 7 metals to their name. Maxus got their gold for their ‘Get A Job’ campaign for LinkedIn in the Youth Marketing category.Apart from this they bagged two silver and four bronze trophies.
Extending his congratulations to the winners, The Advertiisng Club president Raj Nayak said, “It is such a pleasure to see such tremendous work from brilliant minds winning much deserved Abbys for their efforts. What we’ve seen and are likely to observe in the next two days are some of the most creative works produced by advertising, media and marketing professionals in the country. It makes me immensely proud to be witnessing the triumph of talent across the board. With Goafest 2016, our aim is to celebrate creativity, originality and innovation and I believe we have begun on the right note today. I’m very happy that the entire industry has come together to celebrate the industry’s biggest event.”
Apart from them, Pratap Bose’s The Social Street emerged as a powerful contender in the media category winning two golds and two silver trophies on their first year of entering the ABBY.
A total of 11 golds were given away in the Media ABBY, followed by 36 silver and 30 bronze trophies. In the Publisher category, Dainik Jagran rose as the clear lead bagging all the three golds given out in the category.
2016 has proven to be a good year for the ABBY. With total entries clocking at 4500, there has been a clear 25 per cent increase in entries from the previous year. This trend isn’t limited to entries. This year 150 jury members participated in the judging, with 86 for media ABBY alone. In total, 76 media agencies participated this year as compared to 53 last year.
“Along with giving young enthusiastic talent a platform for their work, it is also our outlook, as the organizing committee of Goafest to curate best in class seminars and conclaves which will provide opportunities for professionals from the industry to learn and grow together. It is our constant endeavor to recognize and felicitate the best of the best creative minds for the unparalleled work that they have been doing. My heartiest congratulations to all our winners tonight,” Goafest Organizing Committee chairman Nakul Chopra added in parting.
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.
