ASCI releases advertising guidelines for fairness products

The new guidelines will ensure that advertisements of products in this category do not depict people with dark skin as somehow inferior to those who are fairer. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory body for the Indian advertising industry has released a set of final guidelines for the advertising of skin lightening and fairness products after seeking industry and public feedback to a draft it had issued earlier. ASCI's new guidelines will go a long way in ensuring that advertisements of products in this category do not depict people with dark skin as somehow inferior to those who are fairer.

The following guidelines will be used when creating and assessing advertisements in this category:

• The advertising should not communicate any discrimination as a result of skin colour. These ads should not reinforce negative social stereotyping on the basis of skin colour. Specifically, advertising should not directly or implicitly show people with darker skin, in a way, which is widely seen as unattractive, unhappy, depressed or concerned. These ads should not portray people with darker skin, in a way which is widely seen as, at a disadvantage of any kind, or inferior, or unsuccessful in any aspect of life particularly in relation to being attractive to the opposite sex, matrimony, job placement, promotions and other prospects.


• In the pre-usage depiction of product, special care should be taken to ensure that the expression of the model/s in the real and graphical representation should not be negative in a way, which is widely seen as unattractive, unhappy, depressed or concerned.


• The advertising should not associate darker or lighter colour skin with any particular socio-economic strata, caste, community, religion, profession or ethnicity.


• It should not perpetuate gender-based discrimination because of skin colour.

Commenting on the new guidelines, Partha Rakshit, chairman, ASCI states, "Setting up these new guidelines for skin lightening and fairness products will help advertisers comply with ASCI code's Chapter III 1 b which states that advertisements should not deride any race, caste, colour, creed or nationality . Given how widespread the advertising for fairness and skin lightening products is and the concerns of different stakeholders in society, ASCI saw the need to set up specific guidelines for this product category.”

IRS 2013: No Doubts Here

The Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has removed the voluntary abeyance on the Indian Readership Survey 2013. The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2013 was released on January 28, 2014. The release attracted differing views on the accuracy of the data forcing the Readership Survey Council of India (RSCI) to request subscribers to hold the study in abeyance and undertake a revalidation exercise. Subsequently, a sub-committee for revalidation was established with two co-chairs representing publishers and ad agencies. The sub-committee unanimously concluded that the methodology used to conduct IRS 2013 was in order and decided to commission a Process Audit. The committee, after viewing several proposals agreed to award the audit to Praveen Tripathi, an expert on large-scale studies of media consumption behaviour. It was decided that the findings would be discussed by the heads of the four industry bodies - the chairman, RSCI, chairman, MRUC, president, INS and chairman, ABC - before making any decision. The audit was conducted in two stages. Stage one involved direct back-checking of respondent homes after which a much broader and deeper Forensic Statistical Analysis exercise was carried out to identify and isolate both fieldwork compliance deficiencies and incidences of occurrence of Unusual Publication Incidence (UPI) in respondent interview records. After intense deliberations and a careful examination of the audit report, it was unanimously decided to lift the voluntary abeyance placed on the Readership Survey.

In-store activities; the new experiential benchmark

In today’s scenario experiential activities are not just limited to OOH campaigns and installations. Several brands are exploring and investing in innovative and experiential in-store activities, providing in-house brand experience. People memorize and speak about their experiences and if we are able to bring them good ones, they’ll eventually become a believer; a beaker of blessing, helping generate brand loyalty. Puma and Studio.J, Bangalore launched their Motorsport collections, visual merchandise with official licensed products from BMW, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz, aiming to create something out of the box that grabs customer attention at a go. The campaign was executed in a larger than life capacity. 3D interactive installation at the window of the store with a 9 feet speedometer that had LED lights was set up. Acrylic cut 3D letters with an inbuilt motor as well as the Puma Ferrari retail shoes were used in the fringe of the speedometer, as in the logo. The mannequins were dressed with motor sport merchandise. Race track graphics on the floors, Ferrari car in red acrylic and motor sport cat in 3D were arranged with the idea of bringing in the essence of F1 sport live on ground within the store. All these elements together showcased an experiential window, with a giveaway in the form of a memory to the onlookers. Min Chang, President –Asia Pacific at Diversified Agency Services, a division of Omnicom Group said: “It is such a large umbrella. Consumers may not respond to traditional conversation anymore, so you can start with in-store event and activation instead of a TVC; it is more cost effective with social media integration.” A creative and personalized color experience and solution called “Color Cloud” created by Fitch was offered by Asian Paints Color Store: Color Cloud Façade Delhi, India in alliance with Mudra Group, New Delhi. The remarkable lighting installation invited patrons to step on a color bar, which then fills the cloud and the entire store with the particular color. Both the cloud and facade were connected to an inner controller and motion sensor that changed its color when pressed or stepped on it. The customer interaction along with a live experience of what color could do to their homes was offered without even having them to buy a pinch of paint. Guests used RFID “color cards” to collect their ideas with a takeaway of home color magazine. A full range of Asian Paints collection was also displayed; customers could choose the desired combination and visualize their ideas in front of them in just a step. Mumbai based Design Deck associated with SVG, a home furnishing fabric manufacturer where a 49 sq m stand was built to promote and showcase their collection of products along with branding of their retail brand ‘Karma’. Three of their collection lines – Royal, Natural Eco-Friendly and Abstract were displayed with a creative experiential touch. Special catalogue books were accessible to the visitors along with the provision of trying hands on within the stand for product screening. The stand was fabricated and designed to attract consumers and build a connection with its clientele. Another name in this experiential list is Ishana Experience Centre, an ‘experiential’ retail destination at the T3 departure terminal, IGI International Airport, New Delhi Providing services like ayurvedic sessions, astrology, palm reading, music performances and live dances, mehendi application, live craft demonstration along with express spa treatment. Healthy snacks were served keeping in mind the theme. Indian music were also played by live musicians as well folk dances were performed. Free consultation with doctors regarding health was also available. Indian sweet and spices were also given to customers that they could take home. Creative and innovative structures; adding to them an experiential touch is what a brand needs. In recent years, marketers from every sector, from clothes to cars and movies to housing have been aiming to make their brand presence substantial in consumers’ lives. “Clients are hungry for innovative ideas and engagement, if you can show value in your approach or an idea; they are willing to take that on,” says Min Chang, President –Asia Pacific at DAS.

Spikes Asia announces programme of themed forums

The Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity has announced a programme of 14 forums which will take place during this year’s Festival, running from 23-26 September in Singapore. Themed by day, the Forums will focus on specific industry trends and the issues associated with these, offering a chance for in-depth, multi-perspective insights in a learning focused environment. The topics covered include: Creative Talent, Consumer Insights, Creativity in Social and Creativity in Mobile. Creative Talent will look at where true talent can be found, how to keep it and what the structures are that allow creativity to flourish. In these sessions, Al Moseley, President and Chief Creative Officer, 180Amsterdam, will talk about why creative people should lead companies; Katie Chatfield, Creative Strategist at Jack Morton Worldwide will discuss how both a culture and environment conducive to creative thinking can be actively encouraged; Niall McKinney, Founder & CEO of The Knowledge Engineers examines what makes an agency of the future and how agencies need to evolve their talent; and Wunderman’s Martin Conneen and William Manfredi will share initiatives to attract and retain digital talent, drive your data transformation as well as create a real life culture of a world-class connected organisation. With the spotlight on Consumer Insight, Nir Wegrzyn and Bex Deere of BrandOpus will look at gender and marketing and whether thinking about gender is the right approach. Howard Smith, Managing Director at Clarity, will uncover the motivations that shape the unique purchase behaviours of the Chinese Outbound Luxury Shopper, whilst Andrew Ho of Face will share eight key principles for uncovering new ground and delivering fresher and deeper insight. Yonathan Dominitz, Founder of Mindscapes, will also hold a session presenting some of the most creative and awarded campaigns along with the insights behind them. With Creativity in Social as the theme, founder of socialdeviant, Marc Landsberg, will deconstruct social media creativity, sharing best practice examples from around the world to help guide future social media efforts. Also focusing on social, WFA will look at User Generated Content whilst irisWorldwide will turn their attention to the social triggers for sharing. Focusing on Creativity in Mobile, Victor Knaap and Wesley ter Haar of MediaMonks will look at the different ways in which ad agencies from all over the planet are pushing the potential of mobile technology into undiscovered territory. Continuing along this theme, Arthur Policarpio and Bela Gupta d’ Souza of Mobext talk about why they observe a ‘lean start-up’ approach in their agency and TBWA’s Digital Arts Network will invite delegates to be part of an interactive panel experience with a debate that centres on technology and design. “The aim of the Spikes Asia content programme is to provide essential insight, learning and inspiration to our audience, helping them to leave in a better position to drive their careers forward and equipped with the necessary skills and expertise. The forums are a key part of this and we’re delighted to be able to offer this focused and relevant stream of content to our attendees,” says Andrea Hayes, Festival Director of Spikes Asia.

Conde Nast Traveller goes Wild

The magazine launched its first supplement for this year around Wildlife destinations in India and abroad. Conde Nast Traveller, a travel magazine from the Conde Nast Group, has launched a special supplement themed around wildlife. Titled 'Into the Wildlife', the supplement is the first of the year from the magazine. The supplement focuses on travel destinations which offer great wildlife experience not just in India but throughout the world. Speaking about the idea behind it, Divia Thani Daswani, editor, Conde Nast Traveller, says, "We discovered from consumer insights that today people want to go for a wildlife holiday. Instead of going for a 10 destinations, they prefer a single destination and want to immerse themselves in it. We have tried to cater to that need. "The supplement includes Wildlife Bucket Lists, destinations, and inputs from wildlife photographers, big social media influencers, and others. The supplement is approximately 100 pages and includes curated content and advertorials. The advertiser-funded content is around 45-50 pages. The magazine is promoting the supplement on the OOH medium, radio and cross publications of the magazine along with the digital. The OOH sites are in Delhi and Mumbai while Radio One is the radio partner for it. Today, Conde Nast Traveller claims to print nearly 30,000 copies every month. The Conde Nast Group's publications include Vogue, GQ, Conde Nast Traveller and Architectural Digest.

Sony Six wins broadcast rights for the Champions Tennis League

The inaugural league will be held between November 17 and 26 in six cities in India. Sony Six, the sports and entertainment channel from Multi Screen Media bouquet, has won the telecast rights to the Champions Tennis League. The inaugural league will take place between November 17 and 26 and will be held in six cities in India. It will witness national and international tennis talent with each team having top ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women's Tennis Association) players, captained by a tennis legend. All the games will be featured live and exclusive on Sony SIX and Sony SIX HD. Commenting on the acquisition, NP Singh, CEO, MSM India says, "This will be a landmark event that will put India on the global map of tennis, with some of the world's greatest tennis stars playing right here. It will be a perfect blend of tennis and entertainment that has never been seen in India." According to Prasana Krishnan, EVP and business head, Sony Six, the acquisition signifies yet another endeavour of Sony SIX's that brings diverse sports offerings to the viewers. "We believe that the league will also help young Indian talent to perform on a grand stage." Vijay Amritraj, chairman and managing director of Second Serve adds, "I am delighted that the Champions Tennis League in its inaugural edition will be seen on Sony Six and Sony Six HD. I am also proud to say that our Indian Davis cup players will be alongside the international players, along with two Indian youngsters, a boy and a girl; who will be on the team to practice and gain experience travelling with these top players."

The format - The League will feature six city-based teams playing 12 matches over an eight-day period. The teams will be structured into two groups, each having three sides, which play each other in a 'home' and 'away' format. The top teams of each half play each other in the 13th match. Each team in the Champions Tennis league will feature one male and one female international player ranked amongst the top 25 in the ATP and WTA rankings. Each of the six teams will also have an international legend as their playing captain, apart from a noted top ranked Indian male tennis player. Two juniors, aged under 21 will also be a part of the team, selected by the All India Tennis Association, in order to give them exposure and the experience of playing with some of the best players in the world.