ASCI launches Vision 2032 to strengthen trust in advertising

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has announced Vision 2032 at its 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM), laying out a development plan from 2027 to 2032 focused on building a framework of trust in India's advertising ecosystem.

ASCI said the time available for reviewing advertisements keeps shrinking, monitoring methods differ across mediums, and content creators have outpaced older regulatory frameworks. Traditional safeguards are struggling to keep up with this pace, the body said, adding that protecting trust, explaining it clearly and sustaining it at scale is now the most important task. Threats facing brands are part of a larger trust problem, where bad actors sometimes hijack genuine conversations while consumers demand proof and clear explanations. Advertising is also increasingly drawn into larger social issues such as public health, online safety and children's wellbeing.

Vision 2032 recognises that the advertising industry is going through a period of major change, involving disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence alongside personalised communication, retail media and new digital formats. Traditional self-regulation will remain central to ASCI's work, but the organisation wants to expand its role through policy, research, education, technology and industry capacity building.

Under the plan, ASCI will set up three centres of excellence. The first, the ASCI Legal and Policy Forum, will bring together industry, legal experts, regulators, academics and consumer representatives to discuss regulatory clarity and policy issues, and will support research, policy discussions and industry training. The second, the ASCI Centre for Responsible Innovation in AI in Advertising, will focus on the responsible use of AI in creative development, targeting, personalisation, influencer marketing and consumer engagement, and will prepare guidance and research on issues such as synthetic media, AI-generated claims and automated decision-making. The third, the ASCI Centre for Creator Excellence and Trust, will engage with the fast-growing creator ecosystem on professional standards, training, creator certification, disclosure and compliance.

To lead these initiatives, the board has re-elected current chairman Sudhanshu Vats for another term. S Subramanyeswar continues as vice-chairman, while Partho Dasgupta continues as honorary treasurer.

ASCI chairman Sudhanshu Vats said, "Given the pace at which the advertising industry in India is changing, we face major regulatory challenges. AI, creators, different platforms and personalisation are completely changing the way brands reach audiences. My biggest focus is to ensure that ASCI's Vision 2032 actually becomes reality. The three centres of excellence we want to set up in the coming months are a major step in ASCI's journey. The board is emphasising that ASCI's own capabilities must grow at the same pace at which it is regulating the industry."

Vice-chairman S Subramanyeswar said, "Today's advertising industry involves far more participants than before, and Vision 2032 gives them the confidence to move forward together. The centres of excellence we have planned go beyond the traditional parts of the advertising industry to open the way for wider participation by multiple stakeholders, and this is necessary. It offers assurance that this growing advertising ecosystem will remain effectively connected to self-regulation practices and will contribute meaningfully to the growth of the ecosystem."

The ASCI Academy will continue its work on training, consumer education and thought leadership, with a Trust in Advertising Index, training programmes for industry and students, research partnerships, consumer education initiatives and the ASCI AdTrust IP planned ahead.

ASCI's existing grievance redressal system will continue to examine consumer complaints, while strengthening its suo motu department, which monitors priority categories, new advertising formats and gaps on its own. To boost its monitoring capacity, ASCI's complaints department is also exploring the use of various AI technologies.

Through Vision 2032, ASCI aims to expand its self-regulatory mandate by keeping trust in advertising at the centre of its long-term agenda, while strengthening its role in policy, research, education, technology and ecosystem participation.