Madhukar Kamath is chairman, ASCI

Madhukar Kamath, MD and CEO, Mudra Communications has been elected as the chairman of the Board of The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). He has been a member of the Board of Governors for almost nine years. Dhananjay Keskar, Director, IBS was elected vice-chairman and Rajiv Dube, President (Passenger Car Business Unit), Tata Motors has been re-appointed as the Honorary Treasurer.
 
The other members elected to the new Board of Governors include Narendra Ambwani (Johnson & Johnson), Gopal Vittal (Hindustan Unilever), Shantanu Khosla (Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care), Bhaskar Das (Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.), Vikram Kaushik (Tata Sky Ltd.),  G. Krishnan (TV Today),   I. Venkat (Eenadu),  Charles Cadell (Lintas India), Arvind Sharma (Leo Burnett), Srinivasan Swamy (R.K. Swamy BBDO), Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations), Pranesh Misra (Brandscapes Consultancy P. Ltd.) and Partha Rakshit  (AC Nielsen Research Services).
 
According to a statement from ASCI, during the year 2007-08, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) deliberated on 122 complaints against Ads of which 69 were Upheld. In 52 cases, the Ads have been withdrawn or modified appropriately. 75% of Advertisers complied including 58% who  are not members of the ASCI.
 
ASCI's outgoing chairman Bhaskar Das said, "Last year when I took over the reins of ASCI, I was extremely fortunate to get a Council which is both knowledgeable and passionate about Self Regulation in Advertising. The year was momentous as ASCI, marking its foray in the Global Advertising Self Regulation movement, won the prestigious Silver Best Practices Award of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) in its first year of membership. ASCI as a member of EASA has launched the Pre Copy Advice Facility which will benefit the Advertisers, Ad Agencies and Media to avoid receiving complaints against their ads."
 
Kamath said, "We aspire to taking ASCI forward through an Annual ASCI Workshop on current issues on Self Regulation. The focus in the year ahead will be stimulating interest in youth. This will be done through Board Members and the Secretary General making Interactive Presentations with case studies at various Management and Media Institutes across the country. It is my privilege to be elected as Chairman of ASCI and I shall endeavour to enhance its relevance to the various Constituents."