Govt’s new rules for surrogate ads to be released within next quarter: Exclusive

Draft guidelines indicate that celebrities and social media influencers must avoid promoting restricted products, such as alcohol or tobacco.

The draft is undergoing an exhaustive consulting process with the key stakeholders and has introduced digital under its purview for the first time. It also urged a distinction between celebrities endorsing ‘brand extension’ and the celebrities associated with ‘restricted’ brands and introduce bans and penalties in case of violations.

AI now a core component in advertising strategies, says Publicis Groupe’s Anupriya Acharya

According to Anupriya Acharya, South Asia CEO of Publicis Groupe, the work done in AI within the advertising sector has already produced some truly exciting results.

“The potential of AI is humongous,” says Acharya, emphasising that the key to harnessing this potential lies in structuring efforts around the right set of data to develop relevant solutions for real business challenges.

Creatives cross with clients for scraping their ideas

The commoditisation of creative work and viewing ad agencies only from the 'transactional' point of view has drastically reduced the average length of a client-agency relationship. (Image: ckturistando via Unsplash)

Brands need to think of the agency / creative partner as collaborators rather than service providers or vendors that are meant to be squeezed.

Bisk Farm secures injunction against Parle Biscuits in trademark dispute

Bisk Farm adopted the mark 'Top Gold' for one of its biscuits in 2005 and secured statutory protection through trademark and copyright registrations. Recently, it was noticed that Parle Products launched a new product in the same category under the name 'Top Gold Star'.

Parle Products has purported to infringe the registered mark of Bisk Farm ‘Top Gold’ by way of malafide adoption of ‘Top Gold Star’. The Court passed a stay order restraining Parle from selling and marketing their product under a similar brand name until August 27, 2024.

When dadi saved the day for Ajanta Clocks

While brainstorming, Mudra Communications' Prathap Suthan came up with the idea of a pregnant woman knitting in a rocking chair. When the clock strikes a particular hour, and the track begins to play, she falls in love with the music and turns into an orchestra conductor, wielding the knitting needle as her baton. She imagines that the musicians form a circle around her as she conducts. When the music ends, life goes back to normal. (Stills from the ad film)

Senior ad man Prathap Suthan, who was the senior copywriter at Mudra communications and who came up with the idea for Ajanta Clocks’ famous `cuckoo waltz’ ad film, initially conceived the character as a pregnant lady. But things changed…

InspiRAYtion: Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite

Life is where the stories are. Life is where you’ll find the deepest insights. Life is all around you and all you have to do is simply observe. It’s like taking candy from a kid really. Keep your third eye open. Absorb it all, writes Rayomand J Patell.

Creative people are wired differently at birth. We suffer greatly for our art, we go through an uncaring education system as lateral minds, enduring the demands of the linear world. Make no mistake, each of us have felt like the proverbial fish being evaluated on our ability to climb trees, writes ad veteran Rayomand J Patell.