<ul><li><keyword id="169284" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI">ASCI</keyword>, along with <keyword id="884938" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Futurebrands">Futurebrands</keyword>, will soon launch a report to provide actionable insights that can shape the <keyword id="10997222" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-narratives">gender narratives</keyword> in advertising positively.</li><li>The study is the first of several initiatives ASCI will undertake in 2021 as part of a year-long focus on gender.</li><li>The report, to release in September 2021, is expected to be important in understanding the depictions of women in advertising. </li></ul>The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), in association with Futurebrands, is launching a deep, immersive dive into <keyword id="10997221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-depiction">gender depiction</keyword> in Indian advertising. GenderNext aims to provide actionable insights that can shape the gender narratives in advertising positively. The study is the first of several initiatives ASCI will undertake in 2021 as part of a year-long focus on gender. Subhash Kamath, Chairman, ASCI, said: “As a self-regulatory body, ASCI wants advertisers to embrace more responsible advertising. The idea is to not just limit ourselves to being a complaints management body but also to help advertisers navigate through complex issues and contribute to the creation of positive advertising. ASCI will support brands and advertisers to “get it right” in various ways, and this is one such initiative”. The report, to release in September 2021, is expected to be a seminal piece of work in understanding the depictions of women in advertising. It uses several starting points of inquiry. To begin with, there will be a semiotics and cultural decode of Indian advertising over time, across categories and regions. In addition, advertisers, creative voices, policymakers, gender experts will be met for their inputs. Ad clinics will be conducted across 10 centres with consumers for their views and feedback on gender depiction in advertising. The study will draw an understanding of the larger cultural shifts in India through Bharat Darshan, a proprietary study done by Futurebrands over a decade, and across more than 200 towns. GenderNext is a first-of-its-kind study and expected to be of significant value to advertisers and creative agencies, as well as academia, policymakers and advocacy bodies. The study will cover multiple categories: personal, fashion and beauty care; hearth, home and health; gadgets and wheels; and money and education Its major objectives are: ●To unravel gender narratives in advertising through a collaborative journey ●To evolve and enrich gender understanding in the context of cultural change ●To provide insights to navigate and embrace positive narratives for women in advertising content <keyword id="771216" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manisha-Kapoor">Manisha Kapoor</keyword>, Secretary General of ASCI, said: “The portrayal of women in advertising has been the subject of much debate. The gender narrative has been evolving and changing but it is not a simple, linear change. GenderNext will help advertisers navigate these narratives, which can sometimes even be seemingly in conflict with each other. The idea is to provoke conversations, and generate actionable insights that advertisers can tap into for progressive, culturally relevant and aspirational gender portrayals. Besides GenderNext, we will also be partnering with like-minded organisations with similar objectives to make a difference to the gender narrative.” The study has attracted much interest amongst advertisers, who are backing it with their own insights as well as funding. The landmark study has received support from the likes of Nobel Hygiene, ITC-Vivel, Kellogg, Colgate, Diageo, Eureka Forbes and Mondelez, and ASCI hopes more of its members will become a part of it. <keyword id="115728" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Santosh-Desai">Santosh Desai</keyword>, MD &amp; CEO, Futurebrands, said: “We are excited to be part of a study that will track the changing gender narrative in advertising and help advertisers with insights to craft their strategies better. The study – a synthesis of primary consumer feedback, opinions of a wide range of stakeholders and commentators, and a wider reading of cultural changes – will build on the extensive cultural tracking work Futurebrands has been engaged in over the past decade.” According to Kartik Johari, VP - Marketing and Commerce, Nobel Hygiene, the principal sponsor of the study, “As a company where our brands resolutely speak the consumer truth, through this unique partnership with ASCI, we are keen to understand how popular culture has, and will continue to shape, our perception of gender. We hope this research forms not only a map of their minds, but a casting net on the minds that will shape tomorrow.” The study will go beyond individual category movements to bring brands in tune with the larger shifts they must be cognisant of. This exercise hopes to spark new conversations amongst advertisers, creators, policy makers, academia and is expected to be a seminal reference study on the depiction of gender in advertising.

ASCI to launch a report to provide actionable insights to shape positive depiction of women in advertising

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/54994718.cms" /> Soon after the <keyword id="816635" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung-Galaxy-Note">Samsung Galaxy Note</keyword> 7 debacle wnet viral, it’s <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> who is leveraging the opportunity like nobody else – at least in India. With it’s strategies in full throttle, Google will be retailing it’s new phone, <keyword id="3623609" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google-Pixel">Google Pixel</keyword> through brick and mortar stores. As per reports, Google will now directly sell its new smartphone through at least seven prominent large-format retail stores in India, besides multi-brand stores. 
 Google is expected to start with at least 1 lakh devices and make its presence felt at India’s premium smartphone market. Google had introduced Nexus earlier but that were retailed through a third party manufacturer like <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword>. With the festive seasons in mind, when people love splurging on consumer durables, Google wants to go over the top with marketing new Pixel. At Rs 30,000 plus segment of Indian smart phones, <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> is trying hard to forget the Galaxy Note 7 debacle and <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> has already shipped above a lakh of <keyword id="6354606" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iPhone">iPhone</keyword> 7. The booking of Google Pixel began on October 13 through <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and offline retailers. 
 "It's a shift of strategy (for Google), as it follows the make-your-ownphone plans, but it's also required," <keyword id="115728" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Santosh-Desai">Santosh Desai</keyword>, managing director of <keyword id="144473" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Future-Brands">Future Brands</keyword> told the <keyword id="6474066" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-times">Economic Times</keyword>. "Google is going up against formidable brands, so it can't go half-way on end-consumer communication...the Samsung (incident) opens up the opportunity for Google vs Apple, so all the more reason for them to go full throttle." 
 
The base model of Pixel is priced at Rs 57,000.

Google Pixel will be available
through offline retail, just like Samsung and Apple

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47527037.cms" /> After the much discussed <keyword id="2880611" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maggi-controversy">Maggi controversy</keyword>, celebs who endorsed the merchandise in the past are quizzed. A district court in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur has directed the cops to file a complaint against <keyword id="2878870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maggi-brand-ambassadors">Maggi brand ambassadors</keyword> counting <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword>, Madhuri Dixit and <keyword id="8145" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Preity-zinta">Preity Zinta</keyword>. 
 
Celebrities refused to make any comment on the matter after ET tried to reach out to them just after the news came out. In fact, what we heard those saying is that they have become a soft target in a fiasco. 
 Bollywood actor and singer <keyword id="6354535" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ayushmann-Khurrana">Ayushmann Khurrana</keyword> said that "Fame is a double-edged sword". <keyword id="289" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="madhuri-dixit-nene">Madhuri Dixit Nene</keyword>’s lawyer <keyword id="166222" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand-Desai">Anand Desai</keyword> on the other hand, turns down the reports saying that the actor did not received any <keyword id="54048" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Food-and-Drug-Administration">Food and Drug Administration</keyword> (FDA) notice. 
 
Not just this, but Big B also declined the reports saying "I have not received any notice yet. So I cannot make any comment. If it (notice) is received, my lawyers shall attend to it. It would be inappropriate to comment on a matter that is subjudice." 
 "It's sad and true that known faces get targeted for the wrong reasons and agendas just to seek attention. It's unfortunate because it becomes like a cry wolf syndrome; the day there will actually be someone with a justified reason and cause, it will not be given the importance it possibly deserves," said actor <keyword id="114453" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arjun-Kapoor">Arjun Kapoor</keyword>, who recently faced public ire over his participation in the AIB Roast. 
 According to social commentator <keyword id="115728" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Santosh-Desai">Santosh Desai</keyword>, the primary responsibility lies with the FDA and they have yet to figure out that what actually is wrong. Then how do you expect the stars to do it? 
 
"If a product has been passed by the FDA, why would a celebrity not believe that all is in place? Yes, it merits an investigation but in the case of anything being amiss, the primary responsibility lies with the FDA not the stars. It is a completely irrelevant fact, it is just that everyone feels important by association with the stars," he added.

Amitabh Bacchan, Madhuri Dixit say they haven’t received any legal notice for endorsing Maggi yet

<ul><li><keyword id="12344584" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gendernext" source="Orion">GenderNext</keyword> report maps gender depictions through an inclusive process involving advertisers, agencies, commentators, gender experts, policymakers and consumers.</li><li>The study finds that advertising needs to catch up with women, proposes the SEA Framework to give clear direction to marketers to help them navigate the complexities of gender depiction.</li></ul>To help brands and advertising agencies shape gender narratives in a positive way, The Advertising Standards Council of India (<keyword id="169284" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI" source="Orion">ASCI</keyword>) and <keyword id="884938" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Futurebrands" source="Orion">Futurebrands</keyword>, have unveiled the GenderNext study – a comprehensive actionable insight study on the representation of women in advertising. s. GenderNext covers patterns of portrayals across multiple categories, such as personal care, fashion, beauty, home and hearth, gadgets and wheels, money and education. The study also touches upon how advertising portrays women versus how they see themselves and want to be seen. According to <keyword id="12344585" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lipika-kumaran" source="Orion">Lipika Kumaran</keyword>, the lead author of GenderNext, the study reveals that while there are some positive moves, mainstream advertising still heavily borrows from an inventory of overused, and sometimes harmful stereotypical tropes. A detailed study of over six hundred advertisements revealed several problematic tropes- such as sensualising the act of eating by women, showing women as spenders in financial advertising, women running around the house while others lounge around, male gaze acceptance in beauty ads, showing women as lower down in tech-hierarchy in gadget ads, male celebrities challenging and instructing women, among others. A detailed list of such depictions across categories are captured in Annexure A. Women interviewed across different life stages and town classes pointed out that it is not them but others in their sphere who lag behind them, and they are the ones in need of empowerment. They feel that advertising can be their ally in this journey. The study found that for young unmarried women, common stereotypes used in advertising such as women joyfully undertaking the drudgery of work was not aspirational at all. Typical women’s day ads that show women emerge victorious after significant struggle were not considered particularly empowering. Women are tired of ads showing young women being bestowed with freedoms only after putting up a fight. The study proposes a category agnostic framework “The SEA (Self-esteemed - Empowered – Allied) Framework” that aims to guide stakeholders in imagining as well as evaluating portrayals of women in their advertising by building empathy and aiding evaluation. The study also proposes a 3S screener for scripts/storyboards, casting, styling to identify stereotype red flags. The screener looks at aspects of a) Subordination b) Service and c) Standardisation (. More details of the SEA framework and 3S screener can be found in Annexure B. <keyword id="212022" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Subhash-Kamath" source="Orion">Subhash Kamath</keyword>, Chairman, ASCI said: “GenderNext acts as a guide for stakeholders – brand owners, marketers, advertising professionals – to aid the creation of more progressive depictions of women in advertising. The deep insights on women, and what they feel about advertising is a fantastic input into advertising creation, and we hope that brands and advertisers will be motivated by the findings to depict women in more progressive ways. We also intend to set up a task force to evaluate advertising guidelines on harmful stereotypes.” Santosh Desai, MD, Futurebrands Consulting said “As an influential form of popular culture, advertising has historically been a significant source for the propagation of gender stereotypes. While things are changing, what this study, initiated by ASCI and carried out by Futurebrands uncovers, is that gender continues to be represented in a skewed and discriminatory manner. Some obvious ways of stereotypes are less visible, but there are many other ways, both subtle and not-so- subtle, in which gender portrayals continue to be skewed. The GenderNext study has identified some common patterns of discrimination and has also created a framework that enables marketers to identify and eliminate such undesirable representations.” <keyword id="771216" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manisha-kapoor" source="Orion">Manisha Kapoor</keyword>, Secretary-General, ASCI said, “The report is only the first of the many initiatives ASCI will put together in this space. This is a continuing conversation.” The study was sponsored by Rio Pads, who were the principal sponsor; Co-sponsors included Vivel, Eureka Forbes Ltd., Kellogg’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Diageo India, Mondelez India Foods Pvt. Ltd. and Procter &amp; Gamble Home Products Pvt. Ltd.; while Kotak Silk and Mahindra &amp; Mahindra Ltd were on board as Associate sponsors. Kartik Johari, VP of Marketing &amp; Commerce, Nobel Hygiene Pvt Ltd (makers of Rio pads) said, “We are privileged to participate in this seminal study on our culture’s perspective on femininity and womanhood. Advertising has the responsibility to take the lead on cultural conversations and to affect change. With this study, we hope to really create a guideline for lasting change which advertisers can use to authentically represent women across communication, and hopefully with it, start a national conversation around equality and humanity.” For this study, the primary research involved ad clinics with 160 respondents and 20 focus group discussions across 10 centres, in addition to tapping into Futurebrand’s proprietary study Bharat Darshan. More than 300 people were spoken to via social media. All stakeholders such as national and regional advertisers, agency and creative heads. Agender domain experts, policy makers and advocacy groups were consulted as part of the study enquiry.

ASCI and Futurebrands launch a new report to help brands and advertising agencies shape gender narratives in a positive way

Shiv Sena winner candidate list for Maharashtra state elections

Shiv Sena candidate list for Maharashtra State elections 2019

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55941191.cms" />A few months after the release of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-Top-20-LinkedIn-Profiles-of-2016/articleshow/53669188.cms">LinkedIn’s 20 most powerful people in India</a>, it’s now time to bring you the names of the Top Voices on LinkedIn this year. 
 
Of nearly three million unique writers on the platform, LinkedIn Top Voices list puts the spotlight on professionals that have emerged as top voices by publishing compelling content. These storytellers of the year are from industries such as advertising and marketing, media, financial services and others. 
 
The Top Voices 2016 have also unveiled some interesting insights such as the top content topic for 2016. India was the most talked about, followed by management, branding, and advertising and marketing. 
 Interestingly, Indians are also reading as much as they are writing. On an average, Indian top writers garnered almost twice as many follows (96,000) compared to the global average. Indian honorees <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>, Shradha Sharma, <keyword id="6413985" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kiran-Mazumdar-Shaw">Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw</keyword>, Vani Kola, Santosh Desai, Ravi Venkatesan and <keyword id="42749" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shashi-Tharoor">Shashi Tharoor</keyword>, who have also been featured on this list, overtook their global counterparts by publishing on an average of 44 times this year while the global average stands at 36. 
 
As LinkedIn’s team geared up to reveal the full list of names, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/LinkedIns-Co-Founder-Jeff-Weiner-and-Akshay-Kothari-see-quality-talent-in-India/articleshow/54310575.cms">Akshay Kothari, CEO of LinkedIn India</a>, spoke to Business Insider earlier today about the influential writers and storytellers discovered on their portal. He said - “While the Top Power Profiles focused on people who are popular, but those the general public may not know, Top Voices List on the other hand, is all about highlighting the regular, everyday life people who have emerged as terrific writers on LinkedIn.” 
 
Akshay added - “We have seen great content coming from them. These people are not just passionate about certain topics, but they have decided to go ahead and write about what they think. Moreover, their opinions have takers because people with similar interests are increasingly engaging with them.” 
 
As the young India CEO encourages more Indian users to leverage the potential of LinkedIn, here are the 15 popular writers identified by LinkedIn’s Top Voices 2016 list:

15 Top Indian Voices on LinkedIn this year

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/50957637.cms" />With Facebook’s Free Basics exit from India, brand consultants say the social networking site could not handled the campaign in the country. 
 
TRAI rejected Facebook’s Free Basics over discriminatory pricing for data services. 
 
"It's fair to say it was a mishandled campaign for a company that's trying to launch a new initiative. It was a naked show of muscle power," Futurebrands India CEO Santosh Desai told ET. 
 Experts also add that the word about Free Basics did not go well with public as it was alleged of misusing <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword>. 
 
As per ET, Facebook had sanctioned upwards of Rs 150 crore for the Free Basics campaign. 
 
"While the campaign or its aggressive nature cannot be the only reason behind Trai's decision, I think Indians didn't relate to it so well. They should have reached out to influential bloggers and used social media more effectively to explain what it actually meant, "MG Parameswaran, former executive director of FCB Ulka, told ET. 
 
The mishandled campaign also reminded the public of Uber and Maggi. 
 
Uber had to deal with severe criticism after a passenger was raped in an Uber cab, but the taxi aggregator bounced back. Maggi also regained foothold after it was banned. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Did Facebook fail to handle its 'Free Basics' campaign? Brand consultants say it missed the trick

Maharashtra State Elections winner and leading candidate list 2019

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53283858.cms" /> 
At a time when India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=food+startup&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">food startup</a> sector looks gloomy, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Coca-Cola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Coca-Cola</a> India’s former marketing head <keyword id="1457486" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Shripad-Nadkarni">Shripad Nadkarni</keyword> has done the unthinkable. He has joined hands with three other former executives of major consumer goods firms to set up <keyword id="4008149" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="food-startup">food startup</keyword> Fingerlix which will sell fresh, ready-to-cook food items like curries, batter and mixes. 
 Fingerlix is the brainchild of Shripad Nadkarni (Director), Shree Bharambe (CEO), Varun Khanna (VP-Sales &amp; Operations) and Abhijit Berde (Product Development &amp; Executive Chef). With experience in companies like <keyword id="6391475" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola</keyword>, J&amp;J and Colgate besides consulting experience, the team is looking to leverage their extensive experience in the food sector. 
 
"The ready-to-cook sector is a white space we're hoping to address; we are addressing convenience and freshness with the brand," Nadkarni, director at Maverix Platforms, promoter of Fingerlix said. 
 Fingerlix's cuisine, at present a mix of Indian and Italian food with a shelf life of five days, would be sold across modern and general trade and hyper local deliveries. The brand is being retailed in <keyword id="6357823" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Big-Bazaar">Big Bazaar</keyword>, Reliance Retail and Hypercity stores in Mumbai. The startup also has a website, mobile app (Android &amp; iOS) and call centre services with home delivery. As for its products, all Fingerlix products are preservative-free. 
 
Post <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Coca-Cola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Coca-Cola</a>, Nadkarni had started marketing consulting firm MarketGate in 2005. He later sold the company to Publicis Groupe around four years ago. Maverix has already brought on board brand consultant Santosh Desai as an investor along with a few others. 
 
According to reports, the packaged foods market in India is pegged to be about $48 billion, while the major contributors like meat, bread, dairy, staples and fruit and vegetables, is estimated to be at $200 billion. 
 
<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/45775196.cms">Image Source</a>

This former
Coca-Cola Marketing Head has launched his own food startup with a twist

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47766389.cms" /> 
Ecommerce giants were doing wonders in their respective field. And after innumerable sale offers and enormous discounts, it’s catching people’s eyes and this time, it’s for a whole new reason. Ecommerce companies are going out in the open (read out of home media) and trolling each other, in ways that were only seen in the digital platform until sometime back. 
 
Flipkart’s campaign 'Nahin Khareeda? #AchhaKiya' was running on out of home platform for a week, when suddenly Snapdeal chose to react to it, wittily. So in reply to it, Snapdeal has launched a campaign with the catchline 'Achha kiya bata diya, #YahanSeKharido’. 
 
However, Snapdeal doesn't see the campaign as ambush advertising, claims a news report by The Economic Times. "Snapdeal is a young brand and our marketing communications across channels reflect different facets of the brand's personality. The core objective of all our communication is to connect and engage with our consumers and this is just a message to consumers inviting them to shop on Snapdeal," its spokesperson told the ET. Flipkart didn't respond to queries about the campaign. 
 
Brand expert Santosh Desai has told the financial daily, consumers are entertained only when such campaigns have an element of humour. "Consumers have other things to deal with in life. This seems to be like two brands (or brand managers) talking to each other." 
 
Advertising industry insiders say Snapdeal had looked for more such billboards at prime locations and had to restrict the number due to lack of availability. Most of the Snapdeal billboards have been taken for two or three days. 
 
The current rivalry spilled over to social media, too, with similar hashtags on microblogging site Twitter. Snapdeal is trolling Flipkart's #AchhaKiya with its #YahanSeKharido hashtag. 
 
(Image: Twitter)

Here’s how Snapdeal trolled Flipkart

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52935361.cms" /> 
 
Deodorants, cars and even cement, Indian advertisement industry has been showing off good looking women showing off their sex appeal in several advertisements, when the products being advertised have nothing to do with them. However, this kind of objectification of women will be stopped now, at least from one brand, which is known to display women willing to do anything to get the attention of its users. 
 
Unilever, which is world's second biggest advertiser and owner of the Axe brand of deodorants, has announced that it will be dropping all kind of sexist stereotypes from its ads around the globe, while adopting a new outlook for its commercials. 
 
"While older advertisements have cast women in pursuit of Axe men, a new Axe campaign - 'find your magic' - represents a world in which genuine connection beats conquest and will be launched in India too," Unilever EVP global marketing, Aline Santos told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/no-more-sexy-swooning-women-in-ads/articleshow/52930805.cms">ET</a>. 
 
As per Santos, the new ads will be showing the "modern, relevant, genuine world of attraction - the true magic that happens between two equals". 
 
Does this mean that customers around the globe, and in India, are finally trying to find some sense by not wanting to see women being objectified in advertising? 
 
It was in March this year that Nando’s, a global restaurant chain, ran into trouble when it used 'shock' advertising in one of the ads that read: 'We don't mind if you touch our buns or breasts or even our thighs. Whatever you're into, enjoying any Nando's meal with your hands is always recommended.' Even the headline, which said, “Try something you can grab with both hands” was not far behind when it came to double-meaning objectification. 
 
They had to issue a public apology almost immediately after the ad shook the world and people demanded an explanation behind this. 
 
As per marketers, the need to throw this trend away can be cited to both one’s consciousness and the requirement of this change. "One, there is a degree of voluntary consciousness now about showing often insensitive gender stereotypes across categories. Second, there's the fear of almost immediate backlash on social media. That wasn't the case earlier," said Santosh Desai, MD of Futurebrands. 
 
The trend of not using women in ads just for the sake of glamour has reached to a level that ad agencies are enforcing these new values even if their clients want to put these eye-grabbing tactics to use. McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman Prasoon Joshi said: "We are instilling into our teams in the early stages of training itself about what's acceptable and what's not. Any kind of insensitive stereotyping - gender-related or otherwise - isn't just acceptable." 
 
Anuradha Aggarwal, CMO at Marico, which acquired Set Wet from Reckitt Benckiser four years ago told ET that "Set Wet in the past did have communication that was chauvinist in nature. Since our acquisition of the brand, there has been a conscious attempt to alter that positioning." 
 
As per concerned officials, Engage, another unisex deodorant brand from the house of ITC, has consistently stood for 'equality' in a man-woman relationship. "The brand has depicted a couple's romantic relationship in a manner that's playful and equal. We have ensured that our communication does not depict women in a manner that is demeaning, objectifying or sexist," said an ITC spokesperson. 
 
As per data, only 2% ads show women as intelligent, something which over 40% women don’t identify with, hence the change is required; because advertisement is an industry that can’t function without appealing to users around the globe. 
 
"It is a journey that will take time to implement across all our brands and markets, and to which we are committed," Santos added. 
 
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq6spjhirJ0">Image source</a>

Say goodbye to skimpily dressed, sexy women in TV ads who were there just to grab attention

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48437785.cms" /> 
After failing to make a mark in their first attempt, several international luxury brands are planning to make a comeback with better strategies and new partners in India. 
 
Carmaker <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Maserati+">Maserati</a> and lingerie label <keyword id="240317" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="La-Perla">La Perla</keyword> will soon re-launch their new products in India as per market demands. While <keyword id="301878" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Maserati">Maserati</keyword> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=La+Perla+">La Perla</a> have tied up with new partners this time, Italian superbike maker <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ducati+">Ducati</a> has set up a subsidiary, reported the Economic Times. 
 
It is also being reported that British luxury menswear and accessories brand Alfred Dunhill is making a comeback strategy. In 2012, the company had brought the shutters down on its stores in India. 
 
Further, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Versace">Versace</a>, Italian fashion house has paired up with a new partner instead of Infinite Luxury just two years after tying up with designer <keyword id="5321" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Manav-Gangwani">Manav Gangwani</keyword>'s firm. 
 
These brands will tweak their product, pricing and distribution strategies to suit the local market and set realistic goals in a nascent market that lacks good infrastructure for luxury marketing. And they all know the importance of a good local partner. 
 
"The local partner failed to offer after sales services. We had to fly our technicians from Italy to handle individual customer issues," said Umberto Cini, managing director for Middle East, India and Africa markets at Maserati, which had troubled first stint in the country in 2008 when it barely sold 20 cars in two years. 
 
The Italian carmaker has now made a comeback with three distributors. 
 
La Perla would re-enter the Indian market with a new partner — Vikas Jain, co-founder of phone maker <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Micromax">Micromax</a>, who believes that to succeed in India an international brand must craft a business model that takes into account uniqueness of the local market. 
 
"Most brands currently work on a master franchise model in India. Rules of the game have to change if one has to make serious money here," he said. "My plan is not to open a couple of stores, invest a few crores and make a few lakhs of profit. There is to be strategic level of investments and more serious commitment from both parties for a long term," Jain said. 
 The luxury lingerie brand first entered India in 2006 through an exclusive franchise partnership with the <keyword id="184085" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Murjani-Group">Murjani Group</keyword>, one of the early entrants in the luxury trade in the country. But the partnership fell through. 
 
According to experts, many luxury brands got carried away in their first stint considering the growing number of affluent consumers and set unrealistic targets. "India's luxury market is very shallow at the moment and brands cannot expect to play the volume game right now," said Santosh Desai, a brand consultant and social commentator. 
 <keyword id="65191" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ducati">Ducati</keyword>, which had a tough ride with local importer Precision Motors, has set up a wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Ducati India, to have a better control in the market and appoint dealerships directly. It's not looking to scale up too fast. "We have not come to India to make volumes, but to build the brand. We are expanding dealership network to new cities like Bangalore and Pune this year," said Pierfrancesco Scalzo, general manager for sales and marketing at Ducati Asia. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

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