After a total of 187 ads by Mamaearth-parent Honasa Consumer were flagged for violations by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the company acknowledged the evolving challenges of the advertising and marketing ecosystem and said that it is committed to comply with industry standards.
“It has been our constant endeavour to educate ourselves and our partners on the guidelines defined by ASCI and be completely compliant with them. Almost 94% of the cases have been around influencer content. While we acknowledge the challenge, we would like to highlight that the dynamics of creator content marketing have been rapidly evolving and since Honasa has potentially works with the largest creator pool being having the largest content creator pool, hence the quantum looks large, while this is a fraction of the content churned out by the company at large,” it said.
“However, we understand the gravity of the matter and have enhanced our internal protocols to ensure minimizing the same. We are committed to complying with industry standards and maintaining the trust of our customers, which is of paramount importance to us,” it added.
In its latest Annual Complaints Report (2023), ASCI on Wednesday noted that Honasa Consumer, founded by Ghazal and Varun Alagh, is the biggest violator with 187 such ads processed with its brand DermaCo range of products leading with 14 such ads, Mamaearth range of products with 10, followed by Aqualogica with 6, among other ranges of brands and products.
Most of these brands are actively promoted and advertised on digital media, especially through influencer marketing. The report noted that 85% of the total ads scrutinised by ASCI appeared on digital medium. Overall, 91% of ads were in violation of the celebrity guidelines and 99% of ads violated the influencer guidelines. Under Influencer violations, the top five categories were personal care, fashion and lifestyle, F&B, edutech, and baby care.
Honasa Consumer today showcased a 28.7% year-on-year growth to near Rs 2,000 crore revenue threshold in FY24. The Gurugram-based firm also saw a modest 3.7% decrease in revenue to Rs 471 crore in Q4 FY24 from Rs 488 crore in Q3 FY24.