ASCI is working on a set of guidelines for edtech sector: Subhash Kamath

In a Q&A, Subhash Kamath, the chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) highlights the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the council

Ad agency veteran Subhash Kamath took over as chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) at a time when the industry was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This was September 2020. In the two years since, Kamath has put in place an ASCI 2.0 strategy. This has helped the advertising self-regulator sharpen its focus on digital and social media advertising; address concerns arising out of new-age categories such as edtech, gaming and crypto currencies as well as build greater awareness among ad agency professionals for self-regulation. In an interview to Viveat Susan Pinto, Kamath highlights the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the body. Edited excerpts:

Are you satisfied with the way the ASCI 2.0 has shaped up during the last two years of your chairmanship?

There were a few pillars with which I started this journey of making ASCI more relevant to the times. One was that we had to move beyond being just being a complaints redressal forum to one that adds value to the industry. The point was how do we motivate advertising industry professionals to be responsible with communication. How can we introduce thought leadership? That was an important part of this journey and a key pillar for me. I've always believed that with great creative power, comes great responsibility. Catching the poachers is not enough, you need to educate people so that they do not aid the process of irresponsible advertising.

The second aspect was bringing a sharper lens on emerging areas in advertising. The ad industry is an evolving sector. What was relevant a decade or two ago, may not be so today. How do we monitor these new areas of advertising? How can we make the complaints management system more robust and nimbler? These were some of the principles that shaped the ASCI 2.0 strategy. In two years, we have covered significant ground.

Last week, an ASCI report said education companies were the biggest violators of the advertising code. How do you propose to tackle this issue?

Education is an important focus area for us. It is a complaints-heavy sector and the audience is vulnerable, including parents and students. We are working on a set of guidelines for the edtech sector. While the ASCI advertising code does cover education in general, e-education is an evolving area and will require greater attention. We are working in this direction. At the same time, a large number of complaints against online educational firms and institutes have been upheld and we continue to engage with them to modify their ads.

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Surrogate advertising continues to be omnipresent, despite regulation. Does that concern as a self-regulator?

The issue here is about a legitimate brand extension and a surrogate. If the advertiser can prove that his product is a legitimate brand extension, then there is no stopping him from advertising. We have strict guidelines concerning this and violations are flagged off to sector regulators. This includes products such as soda, bottled water and flavoured condiments such as elaichi in the case of pan masala. As far as music labels and cards are concerned, they have come under scrutiny, since they border on surrogacy. However, if a player has a soda plant and he is producing and selling a certain amount of soda volumes, there is no stopping him from advertising, if he meets our criteria in terms of legitimate brand extensions.

Celebrity endorsers feel singled out with the guidelines on misleading ads announced recently by the government, which asks them to disclose their interest or stakes in companies they are endorsing and to do due diligence. Your thoughts.

Celebrities in any field have a huge responsibility when it comes to advertising. Many of them have a large fan base and their endorsement carries weight. What the guidelines by the government are aiming to do is to bring in more accountability to celebrity endorsements. If earlier they could shirk responsibility, by asking them now to do due diligence or make necessary disclosures, the endeavour is to make them accountable, since their endorsement adds credibility to the product or service advertised.

As an ad agency veteran, how do you feel about India’s historic performance at Cannes recently?

It was absolutely brilliant. To be recognised on the global stage with five Grand Prixs and the ‘Agency of the Year’ trophy at Cannes couldn’t have been better for the Indian ad industry. I think what Indian agencies managed to show this year was that their ideas were universal in nature. In the past, we would miss out on the big awards because international juries could not understand the Indian advertising idiom. We managed to break that glass ceiling this year.