MAM
Times Prime offers complimentary access to Cure. Fit to keep you and your wallet fit
MUMBAI: India’s first comprehensive lifestyle membership, Times Prime has partnered with Cure.Fit, the country’s largest health & fitness destination to offer its subscribers exclusive benefit that empower well-being across physical & mental fitness as well as health foods. Times Prime subscribers can now enjoy complimentary access to 10 workout sessions designed and run by highly qualified fitness experts at Cult.Fit as well as annual discounts of Rs.1200 on healthy and wholesome Eat.Fit online food orders that cater to every palate and every wallet. This offer is live and redeemable at any of Cure.Fit’s locations across Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Jaipur.
At an introductory price of Rs. 999 only, Times Prime’s premium lifestyle membership now offers exclusive access to 7 premium memberships that include Swiggy Super, Gourmet Passport by Dineout worth Rs. 1499, Gaana+ by Gaana worth Rs. 399, exclusive access to TOI+ worth Rs. 1200 the ad-free online version of the world’s largest circulating newspaper, FreshClub subscription worth Rs. 399 and annual Urbanclap’s premium Beauty & Wellness and Homecare packages worth Rs. 3600.
Vivek Jain, Business Head – Times Prime said, “At Times Prime, we handpick premium benefits & experiences that empower our subscribers to live their lives to the fullest and strive to be better everyday. Cure.fit is among the only platforms that takes a holistic approach towards health and fitness that was a natural fit for our premium user-base. We are confident our users would appreciate these new incentives to build the habits required for a healthy lifestyle in the easiest and most effective way – be it food or fitness.”
“At Cure.Fit, we’ve been revolutionising the concept of fitness by integrating online and offline experiences across fitness, nutrition and mental wellbeing. With the aim to make a healthy lifestyle fun and easy, we have done some path-breaking work making group workouts fun, daily food healthy & tasty, mental fitness easy with yoga & meditation, and medical & lifestyle care hassle-free. We are confident Times Prime subscribers would love our facilities and services in their journey to a more fulfilling life.” Naresh Krishnaswamy, Head – Growth & Marketing, Cure.Fit said.
Times Prime’s exclusive payment partnerships with HDFC Payzapp, HDFC Times Card & Times Points can be used to purchase the Times Prime membership at up to 50% discount. Customers can easily recover their membership fee within the first week and save up to Rs. 60,000 every year, making Times Prime the most comprehensive and cost-effective premium subscription service available in India.
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.
