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<ul><li>The Trust in Advertising study was conducted with people across age groups in 20 centres in India.</li><li>As per the research, about 70% of the respondents said they trust advertisements which are endorsed by celebrities.</li></ul>A study commissioned by <keyword id="388787" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">the Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), and conducted by Nielsen, shows a high level of trust in advertising. Maintaining and growing trust in advertising by ensuring honesty and truthfulness has been the core focus of ASCI, which was founded with the support of ISA. The Trust in Advertising study was conducted with people across age groups in 20 centres in India, including metros, smaller towns and rural areas. The study found that eight out of 10 people trusted advertising messages across media. TV (94%) was the most common medium for consumption of advertising, followed by digital (82%), print (77%) and radio (29%). Viewership of TV ads is driven by non-metro markets. Interestingly, viewership of ads on digital is the same in rural (82%) as it is in metros (83%). According to Prasun Basu, Global Head, Strategic Alliances and New Verticals Nielsen, this demonstrates the growing importance and centrality of this medium in the hinterland. ASCI spotted early that the growing consumption of digital content and advertising pointed to a permanent change in consumer behavior and marketing. Accordingly, it set up robust monitoring mechanisms for digital platforms alongside its monitoring of print and TV advertising. It now scans more than 3,000 digital platforms for misleading messages. Advertising seen on traditional media continues to enjoy high trust amongst consumers. Advertising in newspapers (86%) emerged as the most trusted, closely followed by that on TV (83%) and Radio (83%). Text/SMS ads were the least trusted at 52%. In terms of shifts, consumers put greater trust in advertisements consumed on TV, print, radio, social media, outdoor and search engines as compared to what they did in a similar survey conducted by Nielsen in 2015, but there is a fall in the percentage of consumers trusting text messages over this period (58% vs. 52%) Among sectors, audiences displayed a very high level of trust for advertisements of educational institutions at 82%. This is possibly because culturally, Indians have a strong belief in education as a means to secure their future. Ironically, ASCI finds that a significant portion of misleading ads come from the education sector. ASCI therefore has a high focus on education sector advertising. “ASCI’s job of monitoring the education sector is even more crucial, given these findings. In India, the poorest of people prioritize education spends over other necessities. Most educational institutions promise job guarantees or make false claims of being the No 1 or guaranteeing 100% placement without any objective data or evidence. We are doing our best to make sure that such false advertising is removed from the market,” said <keyword id="771216" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manisha-Kapoor">Manisha Kapoor</keyword>, Secretary General, ASCI. Home care products such as detergents, mosquito repellents etc. as a sector also enjoys relatively higher trust levels. However, real estate advertisements were amongst the least trusted by consumers. About 70% of the respondents said they trust advertisements which are endorsed by celebrities. In terms of taking action when they see a misleading or offensive advertisement, about a third of consumers are likely to discuss this with their family/friends, another third take some action by posting it on social media, or reporting the same. However, almost 30% of consumers do not take any action. This, too, is a major focus area of ASCI. It has used every tool available to make it easy for consumers to point out misleading claims in advertisements. Consumers can lodge complaints on its website (www.ascionline.org), or via email (contact@ascionline.org) Consumers can also send their complaints via WhatsApp (7710012345). As the self-regulatory body of the advertising industry, ASCI has over the past 35 years, established codes and guidelines to promote ethical and responsible advertising and, consequently, ensure high levels of consumer trust. These codes and guidelines have evolved with time, keeping pace with the changing marketing and consumer landscape. Kapoor said: “I thank ISA for being a joint convener of the Trust in Advertising study. ASCI feels responsible for not only maintaining consumer trust in advertising but also guiding brands to advertise honestly and impactfully. Consumer trust and brand reputation are some of the most valuable assets an organization owns, and honest advertising is a key to building brand value over the long term. This is the basis of self-regulation. This study has revealed some very interesting findings that will help brands understand where they need to do more work in the area of building trust levels with consumers. For ASCI, an independent self-regulator, there are several insights that will help us engage better with consumers.” According to Sunil Kataria, Chairman of the ISA, “Brands are built on the back of long term communication with consumers and audiences. It is in the advertisers’ own self-interest to make sure that all communication is honest and truthful, so consumers can trust advertising messages, and thereby, brands. This study helps advertisers, agencies, media owners and planners understand what works well and introspect on what needs improvement”

People trust ads on newspapers, TV and Radio the most: ASCI

<ul><li><keyword id="169284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI">ASCI</keyword> released <keyword id="8325366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-draft-guidelines">new draft guidelines</keyword> to help consumers identify promotional content from user-generated content. </li><li>We reached out to brand experts and <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> agencies to understand what it would mean for the industry.</li></ul>To help consumers understand social media a little better, and in an attempt to make sure they understand what content posted by an influencer is an ad, the <keyword id="120108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) has released draft guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media. Influencer marketing has been witnessing a steady growth in India in the past few years. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. It was time to take a step forward towards building a transparent advertising ecosystem. <keyword id="6456080" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="nielsen">Nielsen</keyword> studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. ASCI, in its statement said that the guidelines for influencers advertising on digital media will be available for all stakeholders, including industry, digital influencers as well as consumers for feedback till March 8, 2021. Based on the feedback and inputs, the final guidelines will be issued by ASCI by 31st March, 2021. This guideline will be applicable to all promotional posts published on or after 15th April 2021. We reached out to experts from the influencer ecosystem to understand the implications of the guidelines and how it will impact stakeholders, and here is what they had to say: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad" text="Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad">Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad</cmsannotation> A much-welcomed move by the ASCI, which has the potential to create a profound long-term impact affecting consumers’ trust in the overall concept of advertising. We realise the influencer marketing sector has seen exponential growth over the past decade and has also become a core of our brand-building efforts at upGrad. We look forward to the newly drafted guidelines which I’m sure will further make influencer marketing more transparent and also bring-forth better opportunities for brands to create responsible advertising for their audience, at large. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director" text="Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director">Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director</cmsannotation><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Wakefit.co" text="Wakefit.co">Wakefit.co</cmsannotation> We believe the new draft guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media suggested by ASCI is an extremely encouraging move. As more and more Indians get connected to the internet, they discover and interact with a multitude of brands on a daily basis. While these new guidelines will promote transparency, it will also elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. Given that brands and influencers are required to do a thorough due diligence about aspects like using filters and technical or performance claims made by a brand, it is likely to instil a sense of accountability and provide clarity to customers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design" text="Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design">Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design</cmsannotation> An influencer garners a large follower base because of consistent &amp; aligned content for the kind of audience he/ she is aiming for. If the influencers want to continue getting followed by their audience, it is necessary for them to stay interesting and honest. Influencer marketing has reached a critical mass in India and it is the right time to have these clear guidelines from ASCI that protect consumers from being misled. The draft guidelines by ASCI which are open for public discussion for the next few days, have transparency at its core and should be welcomed by the advertising industry. The most important guideline on prominent labelling has been rightfully specified for each social media channel – will help the consumer from getting misguided by influencer advertisements. The guidelines have ensured three prominent things: • Any content where the brand has paid the influencer and has had reasonable control over the content needs to be called out as 'advertisement'. • Influencer must make it obvious that the content is an 'advertisement'. This should be a clear indication to the follower that the content has bias. • If the influencer is making some specific claims, they should be diligently substantiated by the advertiser or brand owner. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect" text="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect">Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect</cmsannotation> ASCI’s newly issued guidelines for influencer marketing will unlock a wealth of new opportunities for the fast-evolving segment that will result in positive outcomes for the sector in the long run. When a major industry body such as the ASCI deems that there is a need to introduce guidelines for influencers and the influencer marketing community, it shows how the market has evolved and has assumed a mainstream stature in the larger advertising space. These guidelines will not only streamline the space and offer a direction but also ensure that there is an added sense of social responsibility amongst the influencer community. Needless to say, we welcome this move by the ASCI for the segment as it will act as a guiding light for new and established content creators, who will now be more mindful of the kind of content that they are bringing to their target audiences. An extremely positive move from the ASCI, these guidelines will act as a catalyst for more organized and structured platforms such as ClanConnect to set new benchmarks for the industry as a whole. Platforms such as ours will play a major role in assisting content creators in navigating through the various regulations and conform to them without any inadvertent missteps. With ASCI introducing these guidelines, the influencer marketing segment also joins the league of recognized and celebrated domains of the advertising ecosystem and indicates further growth and evolution for this space. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression" text="Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression">Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression</cmsannotation> We're elated to have been partners with the entire ecosystem and the regulatory body that is fostering a holistic approach towards digital advertising. Observing the paradigm shift from traditional to digital, it only coherent to have a transparent &amp; clear ecosystem laid out via the proposed ASCI guidelines, that is beneficial to both digital influencers &amp; consumers. We trust this will regulate &amp; filter out the misleading content, which is suggestive of a much healthier digital world out there! <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, Tonic Worldwide" text="Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, Tonic Worldwide">Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, <keyword id="3671421" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tonic-Worldwide">Tonic Worldwide</keyword></cmsannotation> As the word opinion leader suggests, influencers are leading opinion and influencing purchase decisions, across categories. A lot of time the content is promoted as a part of the larger story and seeded in subtly, making the whole placement look rather organic. However, consumers have full right to know what is paid and what is organic. It’s quite basic. I’ve observed several influencers labelling sponsored content and I think industry bodies making it a mandate only benefits the consumers at large. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment" text="Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment">Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment</cmsannotation> I believe that the latest issued ASCI guidelines is a good step to secure the future of now one of the most popular ways of brand promotions - influencer marketing. As the guidelines states, consumers, here disguised as a follower, should have all the rights to know what's being uploaded organically and what's a paid advertisement. This declaration also will motivate the influencer to study about the brand/product and investigate their claims before they go all out publicizing them. Post formulation we'll surely see less cases of misleading advertisements, safeguarding both the consumer spends and influencers getting caught off guard for their claims - <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng" text="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng">Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng</cmsannotation> USA’s FTC and UK’S ASA both issued regulations years back outlining explicit do’s and don'ts for influencers. It was high time influencer marketing in India followed the same path. The lack of guidelines gave more oxygen to damaging content, and it chipped away the hard-earned trust in creators. When consumers know an ad is an ad or content just that – mere organic content, which is one of the rules in the draft: upfront labelling on ads; the confidence in a creator is not broken. When creators are authentic, including being straightforward about sponsored content, they make more impact and deliver deeper engagement. That’s why I have been vocal about the necessity for the entire niche to abide by advertising rules from day one. With this framework from ASCI, that hopefully comes into play in April, we finally move the needle on streamlining the sector that has been unorganised for far too long. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl" text="Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl">Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl</cmsannotation> In line with the latest regulation imposed by the ASCI, the need for total transparency in the realm of influencer marketing has been rightfully reaffirmed. In today’s time and age, when influencer marketing is growing at an unprecedented pace and almost everybody wants to become an influencer, it is the need of the hour to safeguard a consumer’s right to information and transparency. With major fiascos like the Fyre Festival, it has become urgently crucial to come up with influencer marketing strategies and content that are 100% credible and verified. Here at Whoppl, content is the hero for us and we have always ensured transparency by fully disclosing the influencer’s professional contract with us—by getting the sponsorship tag in place, for instance, wherever required. In fact, we always strive for a strategy wherein we ask the influencers to first try out the product/service, make their opinions and create authentic content as per their tonality, while also ensuring full disclosure of their partnership with the brand. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)" text="Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)">Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)</cmsannotation> At the heart of it, ASCI is recognizing the digital influencer space as part of the mainstream industry now, which is very good news for the influencers. It is going to build more trust between the artists and their audience with increased transparency. It also means the marketers have to channelize verifiable information and not unverifiable marketing claims. Influencers connect with curated communities, who listen to them for the credibility they bring, so they have an inherent moral responsibility to not breach the trust of their audience, ASCI is bolstering it with new laws, and that is going to bring in due discipline in the environment, so it's a welcome move. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango" text="Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango">Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango</cmsannotation> In this digital-age amid a plethora of marketing platforms, influencer marketing has carved its own niche. However, there was a need for guidelines that further enhances the trust of consumers in influencers. As the influencers also need to understand that when they partner with a brand, they share their own trust in the brand with their communities and audience. So, it becomes highly critical for them to only undertake the partnerships that they believe will positively impact their audience. Therefore, in my opinion, it is an extremely vital move. The guidelines issued will allow them to deeply evaluate the offering and the trust that they’re sharing. Furthermore, it would reduce the overall funnel of their brand partnerships and thus, push them to think about opting for sustainable monetary options which we are building at TagMango. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx" text="Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx">Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx</cmsannotation> The ASCI guidelines are simple and easy to adhere to. The guidelines are more or less similar to the west. In the past couple of years, this has been thoroughly implemented by international influencers and I am happy to see India leading in the same direction. This will definitely make the digital ecosystem more responsible and streamlined. I am in complete agreement with all the points of the guidelines, especially with the fact that images and videos should not be altered or beautified by influencers while advertising on social media. Since digital media caters to a much more aware audience set, keeping it real is the only way to connect with them. Looking forward to a more transparent digital world. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers" text="Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers">Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers</cmsannotation> Influencer marketing is a $100 million industry in India now, and brands of all kinds - big or small - are benefiting from using influencers &amp; content creators to drive their business objectives. The fact that it’s been unregulated so far, we have seen some brands sneakily get away with things that would not be considered ethical if it were to be shown in a TVC or an OOH. The guidelines will serve as a good guardrail in these cases. However, on the flip side, the popularity of influencer marketing in a brand’s marketing budget is due to the flexibility of communication that allows them to showcase the benefits of their products &amp; services in different ways without it looking very promotional. Digital consumers today are smart enough to understand what is an Advert vs what is organic, and hence brands are willing to pay more to get their promotional material to look as organic as possible. With these guidelines kicking in, we might see the overall engagement and reach with influencers drop and might see it get the same status quo as a paid media ad on digital. I think while these guidelines are necessary, they should not be extremely stringent so as to avoid creating a dent in the overall influencer marketing industry that is growing at a faster pace than ever. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy" text="Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy">Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy</cmsannotation> The influencer industry is growing fast. According to digital marketing agency AdLift, India’s influencer market is estimated at $75-$150 million a year as compared to the global market of $1.75 billion. This is an industry that has become mainstream within the advertising space and is only expected to grow as more and more Indians are going online. It’s no wonder that brands across sectors are associating with influencers to get across their marketing messages. So, much of what influencers post is promotional and a lot of it is not identified as such. Such non-disclosure is a disservice to consumers and is misleading. With the guidelines, ASCI will assist consumers, brands and content creators to ensure all stakeholders’ interests are preserved through a self-regulatory approach. The digital space is huge and promotional content is often indistinguishable from regular posts. Consumers have the right to easily recognise promotional content. These guidelines will help the consumers to identify promotional content and also guide digital influencers. These guidelines will benefit the consumers and the digital influencers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence" text="Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence">Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence</cmsannotation> I'm very happy with the new set of guidelines set by asci. It's good for business and shows Influencer Marketing in India is just going to grow more aggressively. This also helps consumers identify which content is commissioned and which is not , and accordingly their buying decisions is more rationale.

Here's what experts think about ASCI’s new draft guidelines for influencer advertising

There has been a huge public outcry about how Maggi was allowed to advertise as a ‘healthy’ food alternative. Many are vexed about how authorities could let the brand duck for so long. 
 
 
 
The regulator in cases of broadcast is the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting law. That might work for censoring potentially objectionable content, but where are the ‘claims’ probed? 
 
Industry experts claim Maggi should have been advertised as a convenience food, and not a health food. The opposite led to the ensuing paradox. 
 
This is how it works. The FSSAI, FDA or Ministry of Health check the authenticity of the products advertised. In matters of broadcast, there are self-regulatory voluntary organizations like the Advertising Standards Council of India that keep an eye on the advertising industry. 
 
“We review complaints against objections raised against current advertisements, process them, and advertiser is given an opportunity to present their case. In case of technical claims, the advertiser furnishes the data which is reviewed by technical experts. The Consumer Complaints Council then arrives at a conclusion,” says Shweta Purandare, Secretary General, Advertising Standards Council of India. 
 
However, ASCI’s remit is limited to advertising content. 
 
Most believe that a slight lack of coordination between these seemingly diverse departments can spell disaster for the Indian masses. A group of experts and citizens believe the Maggi case should be made an example to deter future offenders. 
 
Devindar Sharma, Food and Trade Policy Analyst agrees, “This is definitely an indication of the poor food safety regulation in India. It’s also high time to introduce provisions in the Consumer Protection Act to penalize Celebrities and Advertising agencies for false advertising. Just because they can play around with words doesn’t mean they have the freedom to sell illusions.” 
 
Outrageous claims like six packs abs in 7 days, or 15 kg weight loss in 15 days can be sieved easily, but can finer claims by bigger brands go unnoticed in India? Only time would tell. 
 
(Image credit: Indiatimes)

India:
Can many a Maggi slip through?

<ul><li>Amul Macho’ blames Lux Cozi for copying its 'toing' ad. </li><li>The <keyword id="117555" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lux-cozi-ad" source="Orion">Lux Cozi Ad</keyword> featuring Varun Dhawan is currently being aired on various news channels and on Sony TV, appears to take more than just inspiration from the popular <keyword id="12036072" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amul-macho-toing-ad" source="Orion">Amul Macho TOING Ad</keyword> that was released in 2007.</li></ul>J G Hosiery Pvt Ltd., makers of <keyword id="12036071" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="macho-innerwear" source="Orion">Macho Innerwear</keyword>, alleges that Lux Cozi has copied its Amul Macho TOING Ad. The Lux Cozi Ad that is currently being aired on various news channels and on Sony TV, appears to have taken more than just inspiration from the popular Amul Macho TOING Ad that was released in 2007. <div type="Youtube" id="tYOCArcCAhs" title="VARUN DHAWAN//YUKTI THAREJA//LUX COZI AD//NEW AD//2021||" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tYOCArcCAhs/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <keyword id="3013821" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jg-hosiery" source="Orion">JG Hosiery</keyword> has complained about the plagiarism and ASCI has accepted JG Hosiery’s complaint for further processing. As is well known, The <keyword id="120108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising-standards-council-of-india" source="Orion">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) is a self-regulatory body and ensures that all advertisements are honest, truthful, safe, within societal norms and not unfair to competition, on a self-regulatory basis. <div type="Youtube" id="lCVodxIGDFg" title="Yeh To Bada Toing hai - Amul Macho sensual Ad" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lCVodxIGDFg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The Lux Cozi Ad contravenes Chapter IV of the ASCI Code, Clause 4.3, which states that: “Advertisements shall not be similar to any other advertiser’s earlier run advertisements in general layout, copy, slogans, visual presentations, music or sound effects, so as to suggest plagiarism."Navin Seksaria, CEO, JG Hosiery Pvt Ltd said, “We find it shocking that a worthy and esteemed competitor appears to want to ride on the creative success of a brand that’s a market leader in its category, by blatantly copying its popular Ad concept and executional elements. We hope good reason will prevail and the copied Ad will be withdrawn forthwith.” The company finds the premise of the Ad by Lux Cozi to be identical to the Amul Macho TOING Ad and the storyline of the Lux Cozi Ad to be strikingly similar to their own creative asset. It’s a matter of deep concern to J G Hosiery that the woman in the Lux Cozi ad holds up the Lux Cozi underwear to show that her man wears Lux Cozi, implying that Varun Dhawan should stay away, in a similar manner to how it was held up by Sana Khan in the Amul Macho TOING ad. Amul Innerwear team takes the matter of their creative asset being copied very seriously, believing that the visual similarity of the two Ads cannot be a mere co-incidence. Both women in the two respective ads hold up the underwear to make a statement about the fact that, “My man wears this”. The similarity between the two ads does not end there but has so many common executional elements that JG Hosiery has felt compelled to call out the copy-cat work and point out, what appears to be an opportunistic brand building attempt by Lux Cozi. Various executional elements of the Amul Macho Ad film can be seen in the Lux Cozi Ad film, some of which include:<ul><li>The way the woman holds up the underwear </li><li>The colour of the underwear</li><li>The shape of the underwear</li><li>Specific expressions of the support cast when they see the underwear </li><li>The music theme </li><li>The setting being that of a small town and including washing/drying clothes</li></ul>

Amul Macho files a complaint against Lux Cozi for allegedly plagiarising its 'toing' advertisement from 2007

<ul><li><keyword id="501707" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PV-Sindhu">PV Sindhu</keyword> and her agency Baseline Ventures is taking over 20 brands to court for using her image and name for moment-marketing, without her consent or proper permissions.</li><li>The agency is seeking damages of Rs 5 crore from each of the brands.</li><li>In wake of the incident, we speak to experts to understand how brands can be careful and avoid such legal complications when using <keyword id="6813822" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Moment-Marketing">moment marketing</keyword> as a strategy.</li></ul>Last week, ace shuttler made the country proud by becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. The country came together to congratulate her on her historic achievement and brands joined in, as much to congratulate her as to ride on the trend that Sindhu had created with her win. However, Sindhu is now said to be exploring legal options to take a lot of these brands to court, for using her name and image for their marketing purposes without proper authorization. In the past few years, we have seen many brands build their social presence with the help of moment marketing. We have seen brands jump in on topical conversations with their own take on something that is trending. In doing so, they have many-a-times, used individuals and their names to make the most of the trending moment. The benefits are obvious, while coming up with content that many relate with, they are also able to become a part of the conversation, making it easier for them to grab eyeballs and become a part of the conversation. However, with Sindhu taking an objection to the way her name has been used by brand, there is a chance that brands will become more careful about how they use a public personality's image or name in their content. Sindhu, who is managed by sports marketing agency Baseline Ventures, is reportedly seeking damages worth Rs 5 crore from brands that have used her name and images without her consent. Speaking on what is wrong with the way these brands have handled things, Yashwanth Biyyala, Director - Talent and Partnerships, Baseline Ventures said, “The fact that these brands used PV Sindhu’s images and name on their posts is a clear infringement on the player’s privacy. Moreover, they are also clearly flouting the norms of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that has put together clear guidelines around advertising during the tournament. In fact there was a blackout period between July 13 (when the Olympic Village opens) and August 10 (two days after the Closing Ceremony) when even brands that sponsor the player are not allowed to post about them. Only IOC and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) partners are allowed to post about the players.” In total, Baseline Ventures is taking close to 20 brands to court for flouting the rules, out of which legal notices have already been sent to 15. The brands that have already been sent notices include Happydent (Perfetti Van Melle), Pan Bahar, Eureka Forbes, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Vodafone Idea, MG Motor, UCO Bank, Punjab National Bank, <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Fino Payments Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank and <keyword id="5998660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro-Lighting">Wipro Lighting</keyword>. Over the years, we have seen many brands build a huge social media following on the back of moment marketing. In fact, Amul is one brand that has garnered immense love for their take on almost everything topical. Amongst new-age brands, we have seen the likes of Dunzo and Zomato churn out relatable, topical content time and again. So following this incident, will agencies need to be doubly careful about how they go about communicating on topical issues, when using the names and images of individuals? Sharing his view on the development, <keyword id="244384" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lloyd-Mathias">Lloyd Mathias</keyword>, Business Strategist and former Marketing Head of HP Asia, Motorola and PepsiCo India said, “Moment marketing is fantastic in itself and brands that have their own take on topical issues do get consumers attention. However, when a brand uses a specific individual and his/her achievements to gain commercial mileage without prior permission or getting into a contract with that individual, then it is unfair. Brands should display more maturity and seek permission from athletes or their agents before using them overtly or covertly.Most Indian sportspersons outside cricket could benefit from a brand association that may provide them support – that could be monetary, or in terms of exposure or facilities.” To ensure brands do not infringe upon the privacy of celebrities, the <keyword id="120108" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) already has a code in place. The code says "Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under reference, contain any reference to such person, which confers and unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or institute into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by ASCI, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in the advertisement," and ads that do not comply with this requirement may be in violation of the ASCI Code. On how brands need to tread in situations like the current one, Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, ASCI said, “Brands need to be careful and calibrated about everything that goes into an ad, right from the visuals, the words, and the implication of their messaging. Advertisements are made with high involvement of strategic and creative resources, and it goes without saying that they must pay keen attention to aspects that can be challenged.” Moment marketing is all about coming up with relatable posts when something is making news and reaping the benefits of joining the trend. Agencies usually have very less time in which to churn out content that is relatable and shareable, which is possibly why a few miss out on checking on the legal aspects of putting up such posts. However, in the wake of this incident, agencies will need to be doubly careful, said <keyword id="11806503" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajni-Daswani">Rajni Daswani</keyword>, Director – Brand Experience, So Cheers. On how agencies can avoid getting into trouble, Daswani said, “Agencies should definitely educated themselves on what they are and aren’t allowed to do because if they are providing that service to their clients, it is their responsibility to cross checking at their end. Secondly, brands can simply be creative without using individual names, image .You want to be a part of the moment, but you also don't want to get stuck into the legal implications. There are a lot of creative, indirect ways to do it and the internet is full of people who understand such indirect references.” Sharing a similar thought, Manesh Swamy, Sr VP - Creative, Social, PR, Marcom, <keyword id="3900173" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Logicserve-Digital">Logicserve Digital</keyword> said, “The IPLs and the World Cups have stricter copyright laws and hence you don't see pictures of cricketers but victory silhouette poses in branded posts. The Golds and Silvers are still rare for us, so people and brands go a little overboard genuinely to celebrate the Olympic feat. If the brand is just celebrating these small moments of joy without selling anything, I guess it shouldn't be harmful. To ace moment marketing considering the current situation, the best move would be to do surrogate advertising and play with the essence of the moment.” On what could be a simpler way of getting around issues like this while also being a part of the moment, Sushant Vithaldas - Head of Business, Schbang Bengaluru said, "For the larger audience of viewers and consumers, it’s very difficult to distinguish between a direct association and a congratulatory post or show of support by a brand. Significant progress is being made in the way influencers endorse a product with callouts for “#PaidPartnerships” or #Ad. A simple fix like this that carries the words “#MomentMarketing” on such posts is a far more easier way to address the issue and let brands and marketeers celebrate the moment in its true spirit." So can this incident lead to the way moment marketing is done in the future? Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India said, “For the time being, since ASCI has come down heavily on brands that used these stars without permission, other brands will be sensitive to this idea, and won't use any names if they don't have the rights. Just like brands have got tuned to not abuse the IPL property and the cricketers' rights and privileges. Considering that these non-cricket sports and the sportspeople do not get much visibility ordinarily, these controls will unfortunately, make them even less visible, and brands will not err to the side of caution. They may not even mention a wrestling hero or a woman golfer, for not knowing if they have any other brand engagements and could create conflicts! Moment marketing around events of this kind, will get constrained and may be limited to acknowledging the sport and not the star. These are challenging new areas to tread on, in the digital age, and reforms to these rules, so that guidelines have a reasonable balance, will emerge, ultimately.”

As PV Sindhu takes 20 brands to court for using her name and image without permission, here's how agencies and brands can be careful with moment-marketing in the future

<ul><li>2021, a year full of controversies saw brands turning to <keyword id="255227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-relations" source="Orion">Public Relations</keyword> and Communications experts to save their reputation and regain consumer trust.</li><li>We look back at how PR evolved in 2021 and catch up with a few experts to discuss the trends that lie ahead.</li></ul>This year, we witnessed many brands become a victim of the boycott culture on social media and each of them adopted a different Public Relations and Communications strategy; while some decided to give in to the pressure, pulled off campaigns and maintained a low profile to cushion the blow, a few others stood their ground and fought back. Gone are the days where a brand could hope for social media controversies to die a natural death and wait for consumers to move on. Now, a small tweet can snowball into a boycott trend and a little bad PR move can cause a company’s stocks to plummet drastically or lead to a huge amount of audience permanently boycotting a brand. At the same time, some experts also advise that brands should not feed the trolls. So, in a year that saw numerous controversies, Public Relations and Communications experts proved their prominence yet again. They acted as the brand's anchor when needed and also helped them reach the shore successfully through tumultuous seas. During the initial stage of the lockdown, <keyword id="562730" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-agencies" source="Orion">PR agencies</keyword> had to think on their feet, engage with editorial media to help brands share their side of the story with interesting nuggets, offer positive stories, work on personalised pitches, ensure internal and external stakeholders were updated frequently with utmost honesty and transparency. PR experts also pushed brands to connect with their communities on a personal level through truthful, authentic human acts. The crisis also caused paradigm shifts in the industry and digital PR took the center stage. Experts were required to monitor trends in real-time, find various consumer touchpoints through social listening and offer predictive analysis. As we move forward, PR agencies are working towards expanding their offerings with allied competencies like creative, experiential and social media capabilities. They have also been helping brands to find the right balance between profit, people and the environment. So, the future of PR is in strong storytelling in the digital world. The future is also unpredictable and PR professionals can’t rely on annual calendars anymore. With the news cycle changing every day, PR experts are required to be more flexible and agile. We reached out to experts to look back at 2021, discuss a few trends that lie ahead in 2022 and understand what kind of role will PR play next year. Here’s what they had to say: Archana Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="12776689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-pundit" source="Orion">PR Pundit</keyword> The sway of top celebrities has diminished as was the case back in the days. With the advent of digital and social media, people have begun to trust recommendations from peers far more. Audiences find authentic content or recommendations by actual consumers to be more honest and believable than other forms of promotions and advertising by brands. This is reason enough for brands to actively nurture a community of advocates. PR will be required to work with brands to shape and foster a community of brand advocates. A set of loyal and vocal customers who can help humanise the brand in addition to boosting brand appeal &amp; trust, promoting its products &amp; services to new cohorts, providing invaluable user-generated content (UGC), word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media chatter. Community-led storytelling is more acceptable and authentic rather than a direct brand-led communication. Community advocacy will need to be consciously harnessed and not left to chance. 2022 will see many more brands structure a meaningful brand advocacy strategy. Ameer Ismail, President, <keyword id="10059988" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lintas-live" source="Orion">Lintas Live</keyword> My biggest takeaway from 2021 is that agency brands and professionals have learned to be resilient and this is based on the multitude of challenges everyone has faced. Smart PR agencies have managed to reinvent themselves with offerings that are built for new realities and collectively have made sure that the relevance of PR is as strong as ever. While a move to everything digital will continue and a lot has been spoken and written about that, I feel that ‘collaboration and consolidation’ will be one the most important trends in that will emerge in 2022. This will be fueled by a few factors, first, resources will be deployed judiciously and talent will continue to be in short supply, the churn agencies have been experiencing at mid and junior levels will continue in 2022. This will lead to a need for agencies to find collaborative ways to deliver on client briefs and they will tap the vast pool of independent talent and specialized agencies and we will see newer collaborative models emerge. Second, clients will be in a hurry to get solutions from agency partners that can get their brands back in the mindspace of consumers and other target audiences. They will want to deal with fewer, better established partners which will lead to a need for consolidation. Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, <keyword id="8878758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="genesis-bcw" source="Orion">Genesis BCW</keyword> If there is one word that will be at the centre of everything in 2022, it is ‘people’. With the world—India included—teetering between recovery and anxiety around ever-evolving COVID variants, people will need to be communicated with, engaged, assuaged, motivated, retained, developed, and more. These people include every stakeholder a company has—customers/consumers, employees, partners, the government, the community at large. And public relations is the only marketing discipline that touches all of them. Digital will continue to be the medium of choice, and within that, metaverse will be flavour of the year. While the Indian industry still has some distance to cover in that, there is curiosity about this next big thing. No matter what the medium though, the message will have to be aligned to the company’s purpose. And delivered creatively, with authenticity. Akshaara Lalwani, Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="3573568" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="communicate-india" source="Orion">Communicate India</keyword> Over the past decade, PR has been moving away from traditional business models towards a more holistic and integrated approach. Whether it is the shift from pure media relations to content or the migration from print to digital, there is a marked change in the way the PR landscape functions. In 2022, this trend will further solidify its presence. There will also be a blurring of demarcation lines between PR, marketing and advertising, digital and offline, eventually leading to PR &amp; Communication professionals to further value the importance of integrated communications. Agility and the ability to pivot will thus be key attributes that will enable the industry to thrive. Also, since the protracted fight against the pandemic still continues, companies and organisations need to prioritise responsible communication over all else. We live in a world where the spread of disinformation and misinformation is not uncommon, hence, agencies need to be able to work in tandem with their clients to help them steer a middle course between capitalistic desires and ethical communication. Mayank Sen, Co-founder, Moe's Art For the longest time, ‘content’ has been the flavour of the season. At first, it began as an accessory, gradually ruling as a king on a kingdom. In 2020, content and its marketing became an undeniable powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. The evergreen axiom of marketing – ‘delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time’ – took a redefined meaning. And for the times to come, the fundamental aspect of the content ecosystem will be founded on a framework of a performance driven-model, driven by contextual marketing. Within the emerging framework, data and technology will take a strong precedence. The industry will focus on delivering optimal consumer experience while capitalising on the opportunities in hand. Attention will be paid to provide more personalised and relevant content. Measuring the performance will make sure that the experience is scalable. It will present a continuous assessment of how the content is performing, and from that perspective, make decisions on what to do with the content in the future. Measuring success, building a cohesive brand story, and fostering a transparent, interactive consumer loyalty will be the ‘WIN-WIN’ strategy for the year to come! Asif Upadhye, Director and The Dark Knight at <a href="http://www.sprd.co.in/">SPRD</a> If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything, it’s that moving forward at a snail’s pace is undoubtedly the quickest way to get left behind. While pre-pandemic, the public relations and communications industry was already making significant strides in technology by analyzing data to craft a better customer experience, the pace of digital adoption and the advent of a digital-first PR approach have been accelerated. From my own experience, a key ingredient across PR strategies, content marketing, corporate communications, and media coverage that will rule the PR roost in 2022 is the crucial need to customize bespoke services and products, every step of the way. From unified communications (UC) that are employee-centric to personalizing media pitches, customization sits at the heart of nearly every PR and communications trend. Customers are growing tired of the ‘media universe’ and now look for frameworks based on behavioral and business insights that truly put their needs front and center. Eventually, this is what will separate the mediocre brands from the greats. Case in point, the State of PR 2021 report points to the fact that flexibility, agility and attention to detail when it comes to personalizing something as simple as a pitch email is 96% more likely to grab a journalist’s eyeballs, rather than sending out a generic email blast. While consumer habits and employee working patterns that have been developed over the past year and a half are likely to continue well into 2022, hyper-personalization will bear fruit and result in more contextualized communication and inevitably greater conversions.” <keyword id="10618036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan" source="Orion">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Managing Partner, <keyword id="12776690" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nucleus-pr" source="Orion">Nucleus PR</keyword> There are three very distinct trends that we will see in the coming year: <ul><li>While the models of working and mediums will undergo a change, what will remain strong is the need for strong storytelling. What will change however is the degree of authenticity in storytelling. It will take a hard turn towards stark reality …almost raw. Consumers want to know why the brand matters, why they should care about it and what is the brand impact? How are you adding value to the life of the consumer? Authentic storytelling will win over aesthetics.</li><li>The role of the founding or leadership team will become even more crucial. One cannot hide behind a faceless brand persona or logo anymore. You will have to put yourself out there to create a strong, credible and believable story about your brand that brings out its authenticity. This also brings in a lot more accountability that brands will have to guard their reputation on. Consumers want to pick up brands that walk the talk. You cannot be a CEO that promotes mental health and fire your agency on twitter. You cannot be talking about environmental sustainability and create a toxic work culture for humans. It just won’t fly anymore.</li><li>Community Building will take Center Stage. We saw a strong glimpse of this across 2020 and 2021. This will gain more ground in the coming year where communities around a brand vision will be created and drive conversation around a challenge.</li></ul>Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications 2021 saw high demand in PR, especially in the area of influencer marketing. Brands, big and small, capitalised on this rising trend in the first half of the year. But, once the ASCI guidelines came into place from June 2021, there was a downward slip observed in the engagement. Instagram algorithms underwent a great uphaul as influencers had to win against AI algorithms. This phase again got brands and companies to focus on creating news and building brand recall. While demand has been high for PR, there have been some apprehensions also noticed when it comes to being out in the open/media. The second half of this year, saw print media come back, as newspaper circulation started, and people started reading it like before. This behavioural change instigated a need to be present in Print media, via editorial articles, and this will be the biggest trend in 2022. The need to present in Print media. Print media has always been a factor in bringing in trust and authenticity and clients do require to build that kind of strong trust within their stakeholders to continue businesses in a post-pandemic phase.

Trends that will dominate the PR industry in 2022

Hello!Before I get into the week's advertising and media news, a plug: We're publishing a list of PR experts focused on crisis communications, and we're looking for your recommendations. Get all the details and fill out the nomination form by Feb. 14 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-is-seeking-nominations-for-top-crisis-pr-experts-2020-2">here.</a>On to the news. Lauren Johnson reported in Palm Springs, California, at the IAB's Annual Leadership Conference, where <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/advertisers-are-panicking-over-googles-plan-to-ditch-cookies-2020-2">marketers are panicking</a> about Google's plans to get rid of the cookies that are the bedrock of digital advertising. Marketers have long relied on cookies to power digital ads and worry that the fixes being offered are short-term solutions.New to this email? Get your own <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/advertising-media-weekly&amp;hash=f4e91136c13f3c40c496d77bc7347502">here</a>. Send me tips or feedback at <a href="mailto:lmoses@businessinsider.com">lmoses@businessinsider.com</a>.Meanwhile, every day seems to bring a company that claims to be reinventing the traditional ad agency model. The newest is from two Viacom alums who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/two-viacom-alums-formed-new-marketing-services-company-called-known-2020-2">formed a new firm called Known</a>.Their pitch is that they can beat the incumbents at everything from helping clients with targeting to optimizing campaigns, and from picking influencers to developing new product lines. Meanwhile, a new power player in the advertising world, ex-Clinton loyalist Mark Penn, is trying to shore up holding company MDC <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-penn-mdc-partners-moving-nyc-world-trade-freedom-tower-2020-2">with a massive office consolidation</a>. The move is estimated to save at least $10 million, but it faces an upward battle: The company Penn took over in 2019 had been struggling for years even before its founder Miles Nadal was fined by the SEC after he admitted failing to disclose millions in compensation.Here are other great stories from advertising and media. (Not a subscriber to BI Prime? Click <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/prime-vip?nr_email_referer=1&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=Advertising_insider&amp;utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28advertising%29:%20Hollywood%20talent%20firms%20encroach%20on%20ad%20agencies%2C%20Amazon%27s%20plans%20to%20disrupt%20gaming%2C%20and%20how%20much%20a%20YouTube%20influencer%20makes%20from%201%20million%20views&amp;utm_term=ADVERTISING:%20THE%20BRIEF%20-%20ENGAGED%2C%20ACTIVE%2C%20PASSIVE%2C%20DISENGAGED">here</a> to become one.)<h2>Advertising</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/more-top-execs-have-left-vices-agency-virtue-worldwide-2020-2">The LA head at Virtue Worldwide is leaving as churn at Vice's ad agency continues</a> The turnover comes as the youth-focused Vice Media is leaning on its agency to get to profitability.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-is-pitching-advertisers-more-on-alexa-audio-ads-2020-2">Amazon is ramping up its pitch for audio ads after long promising Alexa would be ad-free</a> "I literally gasped," an agency executive who heard the pitch said. "I was truly shocked because Amazon has made such a big deal about not using [Alexa] as an ad platform for so long." However, the Amazon Music ads' measurement is limited, and advertisers cannot target them, two of the agency sources said.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-media-tech-companies-join-advertising-business-will-they-succeed-2020-2">Tech companies like Samsung are moving into the advertising business, using data to target people - but it will take a lot more than that to succeed </a> Mike Shields, the former advertising editor for Business Insider who is now CEO of Shields Strategic Consulting, argues that Samsung and Vizio's moves into ad sales could work. Samsung has data on when and how customers watch ads, which it could use to produce better ads. It'll have to contend with a slew of other well-armed competitors, though.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-and-alphabet-2019-earnings-show-advertising-change-analysis-2020-2">Facebook and Google's historically massive advertising is slowing, and it shows how privacy and Amazon are taking their toll </a> Their core businesses are slowing, privacy laws like California's Consumer Privacy Act could impact Facebook, and Amazon is a growing threat to Google.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/curaleaf-cmo-jason-white-talks-about-cannabis-industry-turnaround-2020-2">Curaleaf, the biggest cannabis retailer, just snapped up Cura. The new CMO revealed how he plans to move the company forward after a string of controversies.</a> Cura had just agreed to pay a record fine for mislabeling the ingredients in its Select cannabis oil pens. Now Curaleaf has to re-establish people's trust in the Select brand.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kind-launches-frozen-bars-and-refrigerated-nut-butter-bars-2020-2">$4 billion snack maker Kind says it will spend 'tens of millions of dollars more' to market its new frozen and refrigerated products, and hit $1.6 billion in sales in 2020</a> It's expanding to frozen bars, refrigerated nut-butter bars, and chocolate clusters, to compete with General Mills and Clif Bar.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-work-for-agency-wieden-and-kennedy-2020-2">What it's like to work at Wieden and Kennedy, one of advertising's most famous and quirky agencies</a> The shop known for its Nike ads isn't big on titles, favors industry outsiders, and takes an unconventional organizational approach.<h2>Media</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/movie-theater-power-player-execs-innovating-in-exhibition-list-2020-2">Meet the 12 power player execs in the movie-theater industry who are shaping the future of film on the big screen</a> Our list includes execs at Alamo Drafthouse, AMC, Disney, and the traditionally anti-theater streamer Netflix.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-asci-rejoins-teneo-after-managing-wework-ipo-crisis-2020-2">The public relations pro who helped WeWork and Uber CEOs through major PR disasters just got a big job at his old company</a> Jimmy Asci is back at Teneo after a brief stint at WeWork.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-noticed-by-netflix-job-recruiters-hiring-staff-2020-2">How to get noticed by Netflix job recruiters who can help you get hired, according to company insiders</a> One of the first big steps to getting hired at Netflix is getting on the radar of one of its in-house recruiters.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-beauty-youtubers-make-money-adelaine-morin-influencer-business-tarte-2020-2">A 22-year-old beauty YouTuber explains the main ways she makes money, from a merchandise line to a makeup palette with Tarte Cosmetics</a> Morin built a following on YouTube by posting beauty and fashion videos, like makeup and hair tutorials for prom. She later started a vlog channel.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-influencer-shares-media-kit-brand-pitch-hundred-thousand-followers-2020-2">An Instagram influencer with 100,000 followers shares the 9-page media kit she uses to pitch brands, which includes how much money she charges</a> Travel influencer Macy Mariano learned that she needed to pitch herself to brands to be taken seriously.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/etsy-artists-making-money-with-sales-from-tiktok-marketing-2020-2">How artists are using TikTok to drive thousands of dollars in sales and find new customers</a> TikTok has become a powerful new marketing tool for artists on Etsy, and creators are using TikTok to highlight their work and get commissions.Get the latest Google stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/GOOG-Quote"> here.</a>

Advertisers panic over privacy, a new ad agency emerges, and Mark Penn looks for savings at MDC

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Americans' satisfaction with their cable TV and internet service providers has plummeted to a seven-year low.That's according to the latest <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/press-releases/press-2015/press-release-telecommunications-and-information-2015">data released on Tuesday by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI,)</a> which said of the 43 categories it surveys more than 70,000 consumers on - including airlines, energy utilities, and health care - TV and internet companies came rock bottom in terms of satisfaction.This is seriously worrying for the sector: In an age where consumers can choose to bypass cable TV and fixed line internet altogether - opting for over-the-top internet services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Instant Video, and viewing them using their mobile data plans - it is increasingly important for these legacy companies to keep their customers happy. But they are failing in nearly every aspect, pushing people toward <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/these-3-companies-are-major-beneficiaries-of-the-cord-cutting-movement--chart-2014-12">cord-cutting.</a>The ASCI says this decline in satisfaction is the result of poor customer service, combined with higher prices. But, as you can see in the chart below, customers are also increasingly unhappy with the user experience traditional subscription services are providing them.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Time Warner Cable has performed so terribly in the last year that its pay TV service does not just come last in the ACSI's rankings of cable companies, but of all the companies listed in its entire index, falling 9% year on year to is miserable 51 out of 100 (see the full table of scores below.)Meanwhile, Comcast fell 10% to a score of 54 and DirectTV dropped 1% to 68.Charter Communications was a bright spot in the sector (up 5% to 63) but ASCI warns that the news that it is swooping to buy Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charter-communications-buys-time-warner-cable-for-over-55-billion-2015-5">a $55 billion deal that will make it the second-biggest cable TV company in the country</a> - could make it difficult to maintain its customer satisfaction levels (which, at just 63/100 aren't exactly tip top at the moment anyway.)ASCI director David VanAmburg says: "Cable companies are trying to strengthen their positions through consolidation, but the benefits to consumers of one coaxial cable company absorbing another are questionable. The AT&amp;T-DirecTV merger may be different, however, because it would allow AT&amp;T to deliver TV service via multiple technologies."<h2>Americans are fed up with a lack of choice when it comes to broadband</h2>Consumer satisfaction with their internet service providers remained at a score of 63. ASCI says in its report that customers are frustrated with unreliable service, slow broadband speeds, rising prices, and being locked into their contracts. Crucially, 61% of US households have just one or no high-speed broadband provider servicing their region, leaving them dissatisfied with their lack of choice.Surprisingly, considering how terribly it performed on the cable TV front, Time Warner Cable moved up 7% to a score of 58. AT&amp;T also improved, up 6% to 69.However, there were some drops elsewhere in the sector:Comcast -2% to 56Verizon -4% to 68Charter Communications -7% to 57CenturyLink -8% to 60Cox Communications -9% to 58<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cancel-cable-watch-favorite-shows-2014-11">Don't Be Afraid To Cancel Cable - Here's How To Get All The Programs You Love</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="g0MHlubDoYKN1o5bPrd8H_oPleOviYRb" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Americans truly hate their cable and broadband providers

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfyurasko/4003382676/in/photolist-7DHX57-aZ5EB-6Eui29-8zfBxW-9bXr3e-9dPb8j-9aiuTn-7DEaoK-9dL94k-76Locf-akSA16-9dPccA-91NgNM-khRmaX-ec9j5v-VR2b-e7jUXs-akSAev-5wUah8-95PoD8-e7jUzC-9juDME-7bXuZw-akSA7H-aJsSdF-e7jVR3-e7ehRP-e7jVo5-dV4yWG-4feDDs-a1ftg2-7PHF6R-dUXXYT-dV4xB9-344qzE-4xnePN-8pg3D-9pZ8Le-JVDjD-eaTuj9-4ypaXC-3eKKw1-5RuWdK-9AThcr-8gNxFo-nowCzy-nEP8k3-8EAzGU-79rwoz-7t8UT8">William F. Yurasko/Flickr</a></div></div>McDonald's slogan "I'm lovin' it" does not necessarily ring true around the U.S.
The fast food chain earned the lowest score in customer satisfaction among limited-service restaurants, according to a <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2014/acsi-restaurant-report-2014/acsi-restaurant-report-2014-download">recent report</a> by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
McDonald's satisfaction rating is currently at 71, a 3% drop from last year. The average satisfaction rating for the survey is 80. 
The report is based on interviews with 4,572 customers chosen at random between January and March of this year.
They were asked about a range of benchmarks, including accuracy of order, courtesy of staff, quality of food, and menu variety.
Smaller chains like Panera and Chipotle fall under ACSI's "all others" category, which topped the ranking.
According to the ACSI, Americans are turning to smaller chains for a better dining experience. 
"In a weaker economy, consumers respond to price, but as the economy improves, quality becomes more important to restaurant customers," Claes Fornell, ASCI chairman and founder, said in a statement. "This is good news for smaller chains and individual restaurants, which customers associate with higher food quality and better service."
McDonald's is not the only fast food restaurant to drop in the rankings. KFC's customer satisfaction dropped by a dramatic 9% from last year, and Subway and Dunkin' Donuts both dropped by 6%.
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