Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>ACSI has received around 4,500 <keyword id="52748" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="complaints" source="Orion">complaints</keyword> between April and September about <keyword id="52768" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="violations" source="Orion">violations</keyword> by Indian ads. </li><li>The healthcare sector emerged as a significant contributor to non-compliant ads. </li><li>Gaming industry outranked education as the most violative sector, says <keyword id="169284" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci" source="Orion">ASCI</keyword>. </li></ul>Complaints about various violations of Indian advertisements surged by 34% in April to September of 2023 as compared to the year before, says <keyword id="35666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising" source="Orion">Advertising</keyword> Standards Council of India (ASCI). The non-profit organisation received 4,491 complaints in the six-month period. Correspondingly, ASCI reviewed 27% more advertisements, tallying 3501 ads. Among the processed ads, 564 (16%) were identified as potential legal violations, signifying a 22% increase from previous years. Encouragingly, 35% of ads faced no contestation and were swiftly withdrawn or amended. However 47% of ads were deemed violative of the ASCI Code, necessitating immediate withdrawal or modification. Dismissal of complaints remained minimal, accounting for a mere 2%. <h4 style="line-height:1.7999999999999998;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:2pt;"> </h4><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Platform predicament: Digital dominance" comment="Subhead" text="Platform predicament: Digital dominance">Platform predicament: <keyword id="50691" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital" source="Orion">Digital</keyword> dominance </cmsannotation> Digital media took precedence, contributing to a significant 79% of reported violations. Print media and television constituted 17% and 3% of the infringements, respectively, while other mediums comprised 2%. <keyword id="46199" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer" source="Orion">Consumer</keyword> complaints made up a substantial 21.3% of the total processed complaints, indicating active public engagement in upholding advertising standards. Impressively, ASCI proactively initiated 75.4% of the complaints, highlighting the organisation's proactive approach in identifying potential violations. Digital ads and influencers The prevalence of problematic advertisements was evident in the digital realm, with 79% of such ads originating from various online platforms. This stark statistic underscores the inherent complexities and challenges associated with effectively monitoring and regulating advertising practices in the digital landscape. Within the digital sphere, influencers were linked to 22% of the flagged ads, signifying their significant impact on advertising trends. Surprisingly, 99.4% of these influencer-associated ads were found to breach established guidelines. Says Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary-General, ASCI, “Our constant vigilance of the online space helps call out the advertisements and brands that violate the ASCI code requiring ads to be truthful, decent and safe. We hope that the various sectors recognise the breaches and commit to more responsible advertising.” The report noted an 803% increase in ads with celebrities and 1 in 4 ads had influencer violations. Celebrities like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Bhuvan Bam, Sara Ali Khan, and influencers such as Mukul Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, and Tapsee Pannu were listed for non-compliance. ASCI has intensified its regulatory measures, ensuring that 98% of processed ads required some level of modification to align with established advertising standards. Despite this concerning statistics, there was an encouraging rise in compliance with ASCI's recommendations, reaching an impressive 92%. This shift indicates an increased inclination among influencers towards aligning with advertising standards laid down by ASCI. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Not in good health" comment="Subhead" text="Not in good health">Not in good health</cmsannotation> The healthcare sector emerged as a significant contributor to non-compliant ads, constituting 21% of the processed advertisements. The sector's predominance in non-compliance stemmed primarily from the proliferation of drug and medicine advertisements observed predominantly on digital platforms. ASCI also observed a substantial increase in advertisements violating the Drug and Magic Remedies Act of 1954. Consequently, ASCI issued notifications urging the withdrawal or modification of these non-compliant ads. Over a six-month period, ASCI referred 565 ads to the Ministry of AYUSH, marking a considerable surge compared to previous figures. This escalation underscores the necessity for stricter adherence to advertising regulations, especially concerning sensitive sectors like healthcare and products falling under specific legislative acts. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Dangerous game" comment="Subhead" text="Dangerous game">Dangerous game</cmsannotation> Real money gaming topped the non-compliance list in ASCI’s 2022-23 report released in May 2023. Over 50% of ads needing changes didn't align with consumer complaints council suggestions. Despite ASCI's guidelines in December 2021 for these games, 92% of ads lacked crucial risk disclaimers. Gaming outranked education as the most violative sector, followed by healthcare, personal care, and cryptocurrency.

Online ads most problematic, influencers too caught breaching guidelines

<ul><li>ASCI introduces new guidelines to make real-money gaming advertising safer.</li><li>The advertisements will not be allowed to present ‘Online gaming for real money winnings’ as an income opportunity or an alternative employment option now.</li></ul>The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has introduced guidelines to make real-money gaming advertising safer and more responsible. The guidelines have been developed to ensure that such advertising makes users aware about financial and other risks that are associated with playing online games with real money winnings. As per a recent KPMG study, online gaming grew 45% in FY20 with the user base surpassing 365 million by March 2020 on real-money games (RMGs). The card-based and fantasy segments both achieved strong traction. As India is a mobile-first country, more than 90% of online gamers play games on their phones. The online gaming market, worth more than $500 million now, could be worth $1.1 billion by 2021. In 2019, around 5.6 billion mobile gaming apps were downloaded in India – the highest in the world and representing nearly 13% of gaming apps globally. Internet penetration in India is 31% and KMPG expects it to reach 53% by 2021 – which would give over 700 million people access to the internet and its wealth of gaming options. The rapid growth, and the real danger of the negative impacts of RMG advertisements, prompted ASCI to develop <keyword id="10323569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising-guidelines">advertising guidelines</keyword> to ensure users are aware of the financial and addiction risks. The government, via the Ministry of Information &amp; Broadcasting, The Department of Consumer Affairs as well as Ministry of Electronics &amp; Information Technology, have given these <keyword id="10323570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci-guidelines">ASCI guidelines</keyword> their full support and backing to comprehensively address growing concerns about the potential misleading and harmful advertisements in the sector. The guidelines will be effective from the 15th of December 2020, and apply to advertisements that are legally permitted. The guidelines: <ol><li>No gaming advertisement may depict any person under the age of 18 years, or who appears to be under the age of 18, engaged in playing a game of ONLINE GAMING FOR REAL MONEY WINNINGS, or suggest that such persons can play these games</li><li>Every such gaming advertisement must carry the following disclaimer: a. Print/static: This game involves an element of financial risk and may be addictive. Please play responsibly and at your own risk Such a disclaimer should occupy no less than 20% of the space in the advertisement It should also SPECIFICALLY meet disclaimer guidelines 4 (i) (ii) (iv) and (viii) laid out in the ASCI code b. Audio/video: “This game involves an element of financial risk and may be addictive. Please play responsibly and at your own risk.” Such a disclaimer must be placed in normal speaking pace at the end of the advertisement It must be in the same language as the advertisement For audio-visual mediums, the disclaimer needs to be in both audio and visual formats</li></ol>3. The advertisements should not present ‘Online gaming for real money winnings’ as an income opportunity or an alternative employment option. 4. The advertisement should not suggest that a person engaged in gaming activity is in any way more successful as compared to others. Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General of ASCI, said: “We have observed gaming advertisements target youth and families by suggesting that these can become sources of income and livelihood for them. We have noted concerns about such advertisements, both from consumers as well as the government. The key fact that is completely suppressed in most of these advertisements is the real possibility of losing money. Millions of users of these apps come from lower income families, who can ill afford to lose their hard earned money. The frequent use of celebrities in many of these advertisements make them more attractive to consumers, and consumers tend to trust their heroes and role models blindly. Combined with the fact that these games are highly addictive, these advertisements end up being not just misleading, but also harmful to individuals and society. And therefore, they are violative of the ASCI code. The idea of framing specific guidelines for advertisement of such games is to inform advertisers as well as members of the public what criteria we will use to scrutinize advertisements against which we receive complaints. While the government will take a decision on the legal issues surrounding the sector, we believe these advertising guidelines will make the online gaming for real money winnings more transparent and safer. We are particularly happy with the wholehearted support and backing of the government to ASCI in implementing these guidelines, and this is yet another demonstration of the belief in the strength of self-regulation. We hope that these guidelines will usher in an era of more responsible and truthful advertising in this sector.”

No gaming advertisement may depict any person under the age of 18 years, or who appears to be under the age of 18: ASCI

<ul><li>ASCI has launched the final guidelines for <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword>.</li><li>It has also launched ASCI.Social, a digital platform that will be home to all information about guidelines and a community of influencers, marketers, agencies and consumers.</li></ul>The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) today unveiled the final guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media. The draft guidelines initially were issued in February and feedback from all stakeholders – advertisers, agencies, influencers and consumers – was sought. To ensure a collaborative process and expert inputs, ASCI tied up with Big Bang Social, a leading marketplace for social storytelling, to get India’s leading digital influencers’ views on board. The guidelines will be applicable to commercial messages or advertisements published on or after June 14, 2021. The guidelines make it mandatory for influencers to label the promotional content they post. As digital media consumption becomes the norm, the distinction between content and promotional advertisements becomes critical. The marketing landscape is transforming, and influencer marketing has become mainstream. Therefore, consumers have a right to know what content has been paid for by brands and the guidelines intend to bring this transparency to influencer marketing. Since ‘Influence equals action’ is a reality now – consumers today not only buy products and services endorsed by influencers, but they also buy into the brand stories they create. Thus, these guidelines safeguard the interests of consumers, influencers, marketeers, and the advertising industry. When the draft guidelines were shared, they sparked vigorous conversations within the influencer community and among other stakeholders. We received feedback from more than 25 different stakeholders over two months, some of them included industry associations like IAMAI, IBHA, advertisers like PepsiCo, P&amp;G, Nestle, HUL, Tata, Star, we also received comments from voluntary consumer organizations. Dolly Singh, Vishnu Kaushal, Ayesha Billimoria, Aanam C, Scherezade Shroff Talwar aka Sherry Shroff, Raghav Meattle, Varun Duggirala and more. ASCI took note of all feedback, concerns and suggestions to arrive at the final guidelines Subhash Kamath, Chairman, ASCI, said: “We received an overwhelming positive engagement and feedback from influencers and others for the draft guidelines, as well as suggestions to finetune and clarify some points. After extensive discussions, we are now launching the final guidelines that balance the interests of consumer, influencers, agencies, advertisers and all other stakeholders. I urge everyone to follow the ASCI Code and the guidelines and be part of this change promising transparency and responsibility.” One of the key questions raised was how ASCI would monitor potential violations of these guidelines. For this, ASCI has identified a French technology provider, Reech. Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, ASCI said “The Reech Influence Cloud platform uses Artificial Intelligence to identify lack of disclosure on posts of a commercial nature on social media. Machine learning algorithms and pattern searching Regex (Regular Expression) maximize accuracy. As part of ASCI’s increasing focus on digital content, we will continue to deploy advanced technology solutions to keep track of advertisements that violate the ASCI code. Along with the guidelines, ASCI is aiming to develop an inclusive educational approach to shape the narrative of influencer advertising. To achieve this, ASCI is launching the <a href="http://www.asci.social">ASCI.Social</a> platform, a one-stop destination for all information related to the guidelines themselves. The digital platform will be interactive with dos and don'ts, FAQs, information related to the guidelines etc. Over time, ASCI.Social hopes to create a community of social media influencers, consumers, advertisers, and talent management agencies. Dhruv Chitgopekar, Founding Partner, Collective Artists Network and CEO of BigBang.Social said: “The guidelines were the need of the hour considering the rapid growth in branded communications to consumers via social media. We have guidelines for traditional media advertising but, with the boom in influencer marketing, these are essential. We got on board on ASCI’s behest, lending our learnings from extensively working with social media influencers and understanding of brands to the effort. I’m pleased with how comprehensive and practical the final guidelines are. Dolly Singh, who is among India’s leading digital influencers, said: “The digital marketing space is growing rapidly and so are its participants. This is the right time to have a codified system of disclosure. I fully support this move by ASCI because it will result in viewers having even greater trust in influencers like me.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media" text="Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media">Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media</cmsannotation> DEFINITIONS Influencer An Influencer is someone who has access to an audience and the power to affect their audiences’ purchasing decisions or opinions about a product, service, brand or experience, because of the influencer’s authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience Virtual Influencer Virtual influencers, are fictional computer generated ‘people’ or avatars who have the realistic characteristics, features and personalities of humans, and behave in a similar manner as influencers. Material connection A material connection is any connection between an advertiser and influencer that may affect the weight or credibility of the representation made by the influencer. Material connection could include but is not limited to benefits and incentives, such as monetary or other compensation, free products with or without any conditions attached including those received unsolicited, discounts, gifts, contest and sweepstakes entries, trips or hotel stays, media barters, coverage, awards or any family or employment relationship, etc. Digital media “Digital Media is defined as a means of communication that can be transmitted over the internet or digital networks and includes communication received, stored, transmitted, edited or processed by a digital media platform. Digital Media includes but not limited to <ol><li>internet (advergames, sponsored posts, branded content, promotional blogs, paid-for links, gamification, in-game advertising, teasers, viral advertising, augmented reality, native advertising, connected devices, influencers, etc.)</li><li>2) On-demand across platforms including near video on demand, subscription video on demand, near movie on demand, free video. On-demand, transactional video on demand, advertising video on demand, Video on demand, pay per view etc.</li><li>Mobile broadcast, mobile, communications content, websites, blogs, apps, etc. / Digital TV (including digital video broadcasting handheld and terrestrial) etc.</li><li>NSTV (non-standard television)</li><li>DDHE (digital delivery home entertainment)</li><li>DTT (digital terrestrial television)</li></ol><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media" text="Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media">Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media</cmsannotation> PREAMBLE: As digital media becomes increasingly pervasive and more consumers start to consume advertising on various digital platforms, it has become important to understand the peculiarities of these advertisements and the way consumers view them. With lines between content and advertisements becoming blurry, it is critical that consumers must be able to distinguish when something is being promoted with an intention to influence their opinion or behavior for an immediate or eventual commercial gain. Consumers may view such messages without realizing the commercial intent of these, and that becomes inherently misleading, and in violation of clause 1.4 (misleading by omission) and 1.5 (abuse trust of consumers or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge) GUIDELINES: <ol><li>Disclosure</li></ol>All advertisements published by social media influencers or their representatives, on such influencers’ accounts must carry a disclosure label that clearly identifies it as an advertisement. The following criteria must be used to determine if disclosure is required: <ol><li>Disclosure is required if there is any material connection between the advertiser and the influencer.</li><li>Material connection isn’t limited to monetary compensation. Disclosure is required if there is anything of value given to mention or talk about the Advertiser’s product or service. For example: If the Advertiser or its Agents gives free or discounted products or service or other perks and then the influencer mentions one of its products or services, a disclosure is needed even if they weren’t specifically asked to talk about that product or service.</li><li>Disclosures are required even if the evaluations are unbiased or fully originated by Influencer, so long as there is a material connection between Advertiser and Influencer.</li><li>If there is no material connection and the influencer is telling people about a product or service they bought and happen to like, that is not considered to be an advertisement and no disclosure is required on such posts.</li></ol>The disclosure must be upfront and prominent so that it is not missed by an average consumer <ol><li>It should be placed in a manner that is hard to miss. </li><li>Disclosures are likely to be missed if they appear only on an ABOUT ME or profile page, or bios, at the end of posts or videos, or anywhere that requires a person to click MORE. </li><li>Disclosure should not be buried in a group of hashtags or links.</li><li>Using a platform’s disclosure tool should be considered in addition to an influencer’s own disclosure.</li><li>If the advertisement is only a picture or video post without accompanying text (such as Instagram stories or Snapchat), the discloser label needs to be superimposed over the picture/video and it should be ensured that the average consumer is able to see it clearly. </li></ol>Videos<ol><li>For videos that last 15 seconds or lesser, the disclosure label must stay for a minimum of 3 seconds. </li><li>For videos longer than 15 seconds, but less than 2 minutes, the disclosure label should stay for 1/3rd the length of the video. </li><li>For videos which are 2 minutes or longer, the disclosure label must stay for the entire duration of the section in which the promoted brand or its features, benefits etc are mentioned. </li></ol>Live streams<ol><li>In live streams, the disclosure label should be announced at the beginning and the end of the broadcast. If the post continues to be visible after the live stream is over, appropriate disclosure must be added to the text/ caption.</li><li>In the case of audio media, the disclosure must be clearly announced at the beginning and at the end of the audio, and before and after every break that is taken in between.</li><li>The disclosure must be made in a manner that is well understood by an average consumer.</li></ol>Following is the list of disclosure labels permitted. Any one or more can be used: <ul><li>Advertisement</li><li>Ad</li><li>Sponsored</li><li>Collaboration</li><li>Partnership</li><li>Employee</li><li>Free gift</li></ul><ol><li>The disclosure should be in English OR in the language of the advertisement itself in a way that is easy for an average consumer to understand.</li><li>A virtual influencer must additionally disclose to consumers that they are not interacting with a real human being. This disclosure must be upfront and prominent.</li><li>Responsibility of disclosure of material connection and also of the content of Advertisement is upon the Advertiser for whose product or service the advertisement is, and also upon the Influencer. For clarity, where Advertiser has a material connection with the Influencer, Advertiser’s responsibility will be to ensure that the posted Influencer advertisement is in line with the ASCI code and its Guidelines. While the Influencer shall be responsible for making disclosures required under the Guidelines. The Advertiser, shall, where needed, call upon the Influencer to delete or edit an advertisement or the disclosure label to adhere to the ASCI Code and Guidelines.</li><li>Due Diligence: The influencers are advised to review and satisfy themselves that the advertiser is in a position to substantiate the claims made in the advertisement.</li></ol>

ASCI guidelines make it mandatory for influencers to label all kinds of promotional content, whether monetary or not

<ul><li><keyword id="169284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI">ASCI</keyword> enters the next phase of evolution, unveils a new brand identity.</li><li>Advertising industry body invests in technology-led future to become more responsive, dynamic and inclusive.</li></ul>Freshfrom a series of new initiatives such as the <keyword id="11341642" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-guidelines">Influencer Guidelines</keyword>, asci.social, the Guidelines for Online Real Money Gaming, the <keyword id="120108" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) has unveiled a new brand identity to reflect the agenda of becoming future-facing and more inclusive. ASCI has always been the conscience keeper of the Indian advertising industry, and in this new phase, it aims to expand its offerings and services that will help advertisers balance creativity and responsibility. In addition to its time tested and robust complaint management system and process, the three new dimensions of ASCI’s future activities are: 1.Helping advertisers with services that help them “get it right”. These include advisory services and research-based insight studies. ASCI has already embarked on a massive study <keyword id="11830844" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gendernext">GenderNext</keyword>, that looks at gender depiction in advertising, and aims to provide new starting points for advertisers for more progressive gender depictions. ASCI is also in the process of overhauling its Advertising Advisory service, which will support advertisers at the pre-production stage. This approach will provide the necessary thought leadership, provocations and support to the advertising ecosystem to create more responsible advertising. 2.Gearing up for the digital age: ASCI recognizes that with the digital age, not only are consumers seeing more ads on the digital media, but also their expectations and interactions with advertisements and the media world is changing. The industry has reorganized itself to reflect this new reality. The coming together of marketing and information technology is determining how advertisements get created and consumed. Updating our guidelines and procedures to keep consumers safe in the digital age is of paramount focus for ASCI 3.Deployment of technology: Use of technology tools, machine learning and AI systems to track and measure advertising content is going to be a critical part of ASCI, going forward. Technology will help ASCI be more vigilant, more real time in overseeing the sheer explosion of advertising content. Deployment of technology in its complaint management system will also enable a smoother interaction between consumers, industry and other stakeholders with ASCI. <keyword id="212022" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Subhash-Kamath">Subhash Kamath</keyword>, Chairman, ASCI, said: “ASCI has stepped into the next phase of challenges that impact the interests of consumers in new ways. With new-age challenges posed by the digital age, it is imperative for ASCI to take a leap into becoming a contemporary thought leader and add greater value to consumers, industry and all our stakeholders. The new logo represents this very interesting phase of ASCI’s journey, and the vibrant and optimistic outlook of responsible advertising. Our ideology and aim remain unchanged; however, we are now on the path to becoming a more dynamic and future facing organization.” <keyword id="1112320" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="KV-Sridhar">KV Sridhar</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer (Global), <keyword id="11830843" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nihilent-ltd">Nihilent Ltd</keyword>, which designed the logo, said: “The colourful logo palette denotes the vibrancy of advertising and communication itself, as well as the diversity of ASCI’s stakeholders who have taken the oath to self-regulate and create ads with responsibility. The idea of creativity with responsibility is central to ASCI. The logo also reflects the dynamic nature of media platforms and the newer interesting ways in which communication is being created and consumed today. The elegant and inclusive font reflects an organization opening up to newer kinds of stakeholders, an organization that is collaborative and demonstrates leadership in bringing together the needs of different stakeholders. It signals that ASCI is gearing up towards this fast evolving and dynamic environment of consumers and advertising. Advertising veteran Roger C B Pereira, Founder Member, ASCI, said: The world today is remarkably different from when we started ASCI in 1985. However, what is noteworthy is that the twin principles of consumer protection and fostering creativity remain unchanged.

ASCI unveils a new brand identity to reflect the agenda of becoming future-facing and more inclusive

<ul><li>The Advertising Standard Council of India has released a new set of guidelines for <keyword id="10879114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="non-fungible-tokens" source="Orion">Non-Fungible Tokens</keyword> and <keyword id="6357017" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cryptocurrency" source="Orion">Cryptocurrency</keyword>, effective from April 2022.</li><li>After November 2021, all major <keyword id="2721952" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> exchanges had to put a pause on their marketing and advertising activities as PM Narendra Modi had announced in a Parliament meeting that attempts to mislead the youth through over-promising and non-transparent advertising need to be stopped.</li><li>After a long hiatus, now that there will be more clarity and standardization in crypto advertisements with <keyword id="169284" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci" source="Orion">ASCI</keyword>’s guidelines, their ad expenditure is likely to return on digital and traditional mediums.</li><li>We reached out to experts to discuss how players in the segment can navigate these challenges and woo consumers without violating regulations.</li></ul>The latest trend flooding the internet is Non-fungible Tokens. From Indian celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Nigam, Nucleya, Yuvraj Singh to brands such as Yum!, Rage Coffee, MG Motors India -- have announced their foray into the <keyword id="4668945" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nft" source="Orion">NFT</keyword> world. A recent report by Deloitte predicts that India will be quick to catch on to the global NFT revolution with favourable regulations. In fact, it says that NFTs for sports media will generate more than US$2 billion in transactions in 2022, about double the figure for 2021. Another report from market research firm Finder said that Asian countries are outpacing the rest of the globe in terms of crypto adoption. The Asian country with the highest percentage of crypto ownership was Vietnam at 40% followed by Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines, respectively. However, since November 2021, all major crypto exchanges in India had put a pause on their marketing and advertising activities after PM Narendra Modi had announced in a Parliament meeting that ‘attempts to mislead the youth through over-promising and non-transparent advertising should be stopped.’ Since then, the crypto exchanges have refrained from launching fresh advertisements on print, television and radio. Now, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/asci-frames-guidelines-for-advertising-and-promotion-of-crypto-and-nft-products/articleshow/89764550.cms">Advertising Standards Council of India</a> has released a new set of guidelines for NFT products and crypto exchanges. Under the new standards, all Virtual Digital Assets and services will be required to carry prominent disclaimers. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="89764550" title="ASCI frames guidelines for advertising and promotion of NFT products" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Experts welcome new ASCI guidelines; call it a step in the right direction Crypto platforms, after a long hiatus from marketing, are up for the challenge and are excited to be resuming their marketing activities before the Indian Premier League. Welcoming the new guidelines, Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch said, "The ASCI guidelines are a step in the right direction to standardize advertisements within the VDA space. The VDA industry is supportive of all efforts towards investor protection, however, there are nuances that need to be addressed as the space is ever-evolving. We will continue to work together with ASCI and other stakeholders to refine them further.” Manasa Rajan, Business Head at Jupiter Meta also said that the new guidelines will improve accountability. She said, “This move is welcome and will offer further legitimacy to this space and create more accountability from the marketers, which is a positive direction for a nascent category with a customer-centric approach. While cryptos are seen as purely investment or trading opportunities, where the ultimate goal is profit., NFTs have a value proposition that is far more versatile than just speculative worth. It is more about changing the way we consume content, engage with art &amp; artists and immerse ourselves in popular culture. So, NFTs’ value cannot be seen from a trader’s lens alone. The experience of involvement, decision making, ownership &amp; utility have emotions attached to it, just like art, gold or even high-end brand purchases. Hence, a regulatory framework should be more inclusive in approach for a nascent category, where the inherent value of these NFTs is still being discovered.” The regulations come almost a month after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to tax crypto investments by 30% during India’s Union Budget. While most <keyword id="12386484" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crypto-ads" source="Orion">crypto ads</keyword> did come with disclaimers, they were easy to miss as they appeared at the bottom of the screen or flew by in a few seconds at the end of it. As per the new guidelines, the voiceover will be required to be at a normal speaking pace so that the consumer can’t miss it. In the case of a long-format video of over two minutes, the disclaimer will be required to be repeated at the beginning and at the end of the video and stay on screen for a minimum of five seconds. No crypto advertisement can now contain statements that promise or guarantee future increase in profits either. Overall, the current guidelines indicate that ads cannot mislead, misguide, give false information, or exploit a consumer’s lack of expertise on a subject. Whether it was CoinSwitch’s maiden B2C advertisement with Ranveer Singh or Ayushmann Khurrana’s campaign with CoinDCX, advertisements last year showed how investing in crypto is the future and it is very easy and simple to invest in. All of these ads painted a rosy picture that highlighted the highs and downplayed the volatility and risk of the assets. Therefore, ASCI is now restricting VDA products from claiming that their assets are so easy that consumers do not have to think twice about investing. It is also barring the use of the words ‘currency, securities, custodian and depositories’ in crypto-related ads. The task now for these crypto players is to win the confidence of people, raise awareness and educate, while convincing them that it is safe to invest in crypto. On top of these regulations and lack of trust in the market, crypto exchanges will be competing with the government’s own digital currency. Rikki Agarwal, Co-Founder &amp; COO from Blink said, “Last year, we saw an uptick in the crypto ad spends during the festive season and during important cricket matches. The new guidelines by ASCI will certainly have an impact on the brand spends, especially during the upcoming IPL tournament. The associations with Influencers and celebrities will also witness a radical shift. The move will definitely help in education and creating awareness amongst the consumers but it is too early to comment on the impact on the brands. Currently, India is the second-largest market in cryptocurrency adoption and the culture seems to be growing rapidly. With the adoption increasing among young men and women, private players such as CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX and WazirX had plans to increase their ad spendings to compete with the possible launch of the government's digital currency. With the move from ASCI, the brands will definitely have to relook at their strategy and plan their ad spends. Brands will also have to consider spending on other platforms and mediums to interact with the consumers and will open up new avenues for growth.” Crypto platforms will also have to relook at the duration of their ads because it might get difficult for the audience to understand crypto in 10-15 seconds; it could send the wrong message across and mislead consumers. Navigating the challenges of advertising in the NFT, Crypto landscape While there are a lot of grays in crypto ads and ASCI guidelines will certainly bring transparency, will it restrict creative freedom? Vijay Pravin, Founder &amp; CEO of bitsCrunch, does not think it will. “With the new tax rules and now ASCI’s regulations, I don’t think it will be challenging for digital products to be creative. In fact, this will bring out more creativity among the Web-3 people. When people came out with the concept of Cryptocurrency, it was laughed at, since it was new and seemed confusing. Likewise, the laws and regulations for cryptos will take time to be able to cover all bases. With web-3, we are enabling an additional asset class for the future. For sure, in the years to come, we are going to witness a quirkier side of NFT and crypto projects than now. Regulations or laws keep changing. This is the current stand but in a few months or years, we could witness something else. But the technology or the infrastructure remains the same. We already witness that India is making progressive steps towards Blockchain technology. I am personally looking forward to seeing how this technology and the landscape evolves,” said he. Raj Shamani- Digital Content Creator, Entrepreneur, Investor and Podcaster said that while creativity will get hampered to some extent, the overall impact on the whole industry and people interested in this industry will be positive. “A lot of people have been misusing their power to pump &amp; dump and promote wrong things just to make quick bucks. This is going to be good for people who are here for the right reasons because they are anyway educating. And if they are providing good value education, people are going to learn about it. Also, it's always the best to tell people I am not personally recommending so that people can easily differentiate between honest opinion and promotional opinion,” said Shamani. He also shared some advice on how to connect with consumers. He said, “The best way to woo consumers is to provide them the right education and value. If you educate your audience right. If you tell them the right things. If you let them know the use cases. If you tell them about the community power. If you tell them how this is going to empower their life and not 'sell it'. The content will connect. People who have been already doing this thing in the space won't face a problem. In fact, this will make people more aware and push them to promote and make the right content. This will only help to eliminate the promotion of bad projects.” Anjali Malthankar, National Strategy Director, Tonic Worldwide said that with everything new comes excitement and concern and both need our attention. "I think the attention from regulators for any space which is seeing a crazy traction in such a short period, is expected. At the pace that NFT, Crypto are growing in popularity the interventions are understandable. As far as the challenge for creative promotions is concerned, I think the creative agencies have often come across the term during briefings – “It’s a creative challenge” So, in that spirit creative will always find its way to not let this come in the way of creativity. There have been very many categories, including traditional finance categories which have disclaimers and yet it does not stop good creative work. In fact, the fence sitters or doubters who were unsure of the VDA products, might consider the category, as promoters get more upfront and transparent about it. If VDA brands are strategically not dependent on or riding on the fad, confusion, consumers’ lack of knowledge and noise but have a genuine offering, then it is just about giving space to disclaimer which for today’s smart and conscious consumer is nothing but a sign of transparency. In fact, if we see closely Crypto and NFTs are born out of blockchain and the need for transparency and hence in intent they are both (the regulators and VDA category) on the same page." Rage Coffee recently made its debut in the blockchain matrix with its valentine's NFT campaign. Its Founder, Bharat Sethi said that the growing adoption of crypto tokens has led to the emergence of advertisements that downplay the risk associated with these assets. Therefore, according to Sethi, increased transparency is a welcome move and where it might impact creative freedom, when it comes as a hit on the consumer interest, it is best to be transparent and supply critical information/disclaimers in this volatile category. “Even after including the disclaimers and adhering to the guidelines, there is scope for being creative. It does restrict creative freedom in communication; however, this is in the best interest of an average consumer who might not have in-depth knowledge about cryptocurrency and VDAs. A promise that can not be kept should ideally not be made in a promotion. There is a need to educate the consumer on the basic ideas around NFT, cryptocurrencies and take the customer on a journey to understand how these assets are. The risks can not be downplayed as risk appetites are very personal. There is plenty of space to experiment, spread awareness and create a buzz,” said Sethi. NFT marketplace Fullyfaltoonft.com curated by Viacom18’s Youth Music &amp; English Entertainment cluster and powered byGuardianLink.io has already received an overwhelming response for its digital artwork preview. Keyur Patel, Co-Founder &amp; Chairman, GuardianLink and Co-Founder, BeyondLife.club said that consumer education comes first and it's a welcome move from ASCI to ensure customers are aware of the market volatility. "Crypto as an investment class is quite volatile compared to stocks or real estate. All investment Ads and campaigns have a responsibility to educate the users on the risks and affiliated volatility and liquidity restrictions and aspects of the asset. Even media, ad agencies, and other supporting ecosystems have the responsibility to educate the same market in a responsible method. NFT is not a financial asset. It is a digital asset associated with games, entertainment, and art. Its inherent value is either in art or utility. Also, the buyers of NFT don’t buy it because there is instant gains, they do it because they find affinity to Amitabh Bachchan or Stan Lee or they find Game like Racing very interesting and want to participate in it. Crypto is purely a trade asset, for investments and hence it needs very aggressive education to make sure, the expectations of returns for the buyers are not skewed by hype and unrealistic aspirations. So, this declaration will not just motivate consumers to study the brand/product before purchasing but also put the onus on celebrities who endorse digital assets to do due diligence thereby promoting a responsible environment. Many industries have been following such guidelines without seeing any impact on creativity. It will rather inspire marketers and content creators to make their storytelling more creative and credible than ever before." Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect agreed that clear-cut norms were needed in this space. “For advertisers, the greatest purpose of communication is to put across accurate messaging for users. The new promotion and advertising guidelines for crypto assets will bring this authenticity into the segment. It is a welcome move by ASCI as it will ensure that brand communication is not misleading. Going forward, brands will need to operate within the guardrails of these guidelines, making sure their messaging is not limited to quick money and gains. The intrinsic value of blockchain is much wider than the prospect of big money, and we’ll need to get creative to empower users with precise information,” said Pushp. After a long pause, now that there will be more clarity and standardization in crypto advertisements, their ad expenditure is likely to return on digital and traditional mediums. During the festive season and IPL last year, crypto platforms were at their peak. The month of Diwali, which was October in 2021, nearly had a 30% share of the category in digital advertising and it took a dip by 6% in November 2021, whereas on television, there wasn’t a single ad from Crypto platforms in 2020, revealed TAM. In 2021, television saw 33.4 hours of advertising from Crypto platforms. The festive season proved to be bountiful for television too as October had more than 75% share of Crypto platforms, up from 2% in June and 23% in September. A lot of people have been speaking about the risks of investing in digital currency without fully understanding how the crypto ecosystem works. ASCI’s guidelines, therefore, could help bring about more transparency and accountability into the ecosystem.

ASCI releases new guidelines for Non-Fungible Tokens, Crypto ads; here’s what experts have to say about it

<ul><li>Last year saw many brands make unsubstantiated claims around the COvid-19 virus, promising to protect from the virus. </li><li><keyword id="169284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI">ASCI</keyword> reviewed 332 covid-related ads, through consumer complaints as well as its own monitoring, out of which only 12 were actually able to substantiate the claims they made.</li><li>ASCI’s expert panel that comprises highly seasoned microbiologists were kept busy examining Covid-related evidence provided by advertisers. </li><li>Given the rampant exploitation of vulnerable consumers in the pandemic situation, ASCI issued a Covid advisory in October 2020, giving advertisers a clear directive to fully substantiate their Covid related claims through recognized testing facilities.</li></ul>The Covid-19 pandemic turned FY20-21 in a year of a great turmoil for consumers and brands alike. Last year, we came across numerous brands making unsubstantiated claims about their products protecting people from the COvid-19 virus. In recently released data by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), 332 covid related ads were picked up by ASCI through consumer complaints as well as its own monitoring, out of which only 12 were actually able to substantiate the claims they made. In the first quarter of the pandemic, a directive from the <keyword id="2751687" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-Of-Ayush">Ministry of AYUSH</keyword> asked ASCI to identify advertisements that violated its advisory dated 1st April 2020 and ASCI escalated 237 objectionable ads to the Ministry of AYUSH. While 164 ads complied and modified the untrue claims, 73 covid related ads needed further investigation and action by the Ministry due to non-compliance. In addition to this, ASCI picked up advertisements of several other categories such as paints, apparel, detergents, skin care, ACs, fans, water purifiers, plywood and laminates, supplements and food- all promising Covid related benefit. ASCI’s expert panel that comprises highly seasoned microbiologists were kept busy examining Covid-related evidence provided by advertisers. Given the rampant exploitation of vulnerable consumers in the pandemic situation, ASCI issued a Covid advisory in October 2020, giving advertisers a clear directive to fully substantiate their Covid related claims through recognized testing facilities. Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, ASCI said, “In a period where consumer vulnerabilities were at an all-time high, many brands took unfair advantage of this, and tried to peddle their wares without establishing any robust evidence of their actual utility against the SARS Cov-2 virus. ASCI has worked hard to weed out such advertisements by using very stringent standards of evidence. Brands that offer proven benefits to consumers have a genuine role in the pandemic, but unfortunately most of the Covid related advertising fell woefully short. Most advertisers were unable to prove that the products actually worked to help consumers in a real way as claimed in the ads.” Besides Covid complaints, the ASCI <keyword id="717040" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-Complaints-Council">Consumer Complaints Council</keyword> (CCC) also processed 1406 complaints in the education sector, 285 complaints against food and beverage advertisements and 147 complaints related to personal care. In addition, 364 advertisements were found to be, prima facie, in violation of The <keyword id="443553" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Drugs-and-Magic-Remedies-Act">Drugs and Magic Remedies Act</keyword>. ASCI’s independent Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) convened 37 times during the year and ASCI achieved a 97% compliance rate from advertisers on its recommendations, scoring a strong point for the efficacy of self-regulation. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Other key initiatives" text="Other key initiatives">Other key initiatives</cmsannotation> ASCI came up with various initiatives to help shape and monitor the advertising narrative. In September 2020, ASCI tied up with <keyword id="134892" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TAM">TAM</keyword> to monitor 3,000 digital platforms. Since then, it has observed a rise in complaints related to online ads, both received from end consumers, as well as taken up suo motu. 35% of the advertisements looked into by the CCC were from the digital medium. The pandemic year also saw a massive jump in online gaming activities and concerned with the unabated rise of online real money gaming advertisements which did not explain risks to consumers in a transparent way, ASCI developed guidelines for the sector. ASCI processed 67 complaints related to Online real money gaming from Jan-March 2021. ASCI also launched the Trust in Advertising report in partnership with <keyword id="6456080" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="nielsen">Nielsen</keyword> IQ and the <keyword id="32717" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Society-of-Advertisers">Indian Society of Advertisers</keyword>, and the ‘Chup Na Baitho’ awareness campaign for consumers, encouraging them to report objectionable claims in advertising. In addition, ASCI recently released detailed guidelines for influencer advertising. These guidelines make it mandatory for influencers and brands to specify what content is promotional in nature. Influencer marketing is mainstream now and the guidelines were the need of the hour. They were welcomed by all stakeholders and are being implemented.

You Searched For "asci guidelines for gaming" and got 6 results

Online ads most problematic, influencers too caught breaching guidelines

Anagh Pal

No gaming advertisement may depict any person under the age of 18 years, or who appears to be under the age of 18: ASCI

BI India Partner

ASCI guidelines make it mandatory for influencers to label all kinds of promotional content, whether monetary or not

BI India Partner

ASCI unveils a new brand identity to reflect the agenda of becoming future-facing and more inclusive

BI India Partner

ASCI releases new guidelines for Non-Fungible Tokens, Crypto ads; here’s what experts have to say about it

Karuna Sharma

In FY 20-21, only 12 out of 322 Covid-related ads monitored were able to substantiate the claims they made: ASCI

BI India Partner

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides