The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) yesterday announced the ASCI Academy, a flagship programme to build the capacity of all stakeholders in creating responsible and progressive advertising, in collaboration with other related stakeholders.
ASCI Academy aims to raise standards of advertising content through training, education, outreach, and research on the preventive aspects of advertising self-regulation.

Be it advertisers, agencies, industry bodies, educational institutions, consumer bodies, government and research and insight organisations, all are joining hands to create a more responsible future, the ASCI website on the academy said.

According to a media statement put out by ASCI, “In today’s digital landscape, characterized by brief campaign durations and a surge in number of advertisers, the ASCI Academy is positioned to empower current and future industry professionals including influencers and students with a foundational understanding of advertising regulations, ensuring ethical practices from the outset.”

The ASCI Academy has 50+ founding partners and supporters that include companies like Cipla Health Limited, Coca-Cola India Private Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, Diageo India, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Mondelez India Foods Private Limited, Nestlé India Limited, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd., P&G, civil society and consumer organisations like Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, Consumer Voice, CUTS and CMS, apart from industry bodies like AAAI, ISA IAA and ISWAI.

ASCI Chairman NS Rajan in a statement said: “While ASCI has always had a strong corrective mechanism, we also wanted to harmonise the dynamic interplay between creativity and responsibility and address the broader consequences of advertising on society at large. The ASCI Academy is a big step in this direction which will facilitate a preventive footprint and shape an advertising ecosystem to help the industry to get it right.”

The Academy aims to create an advertising ecosystem that takes responsibility, as seriously as it does creativity

The mission is to enable all stakeholders to have a better understanding of their rights, roles and responsibilities with regard to advertising and to support a constant engagement of stakeholders with the preventive and proactive aspects of self-regulation in advertising through training and research.

Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, ASCI, said, “With short campaign durations, it is important that attention is directed at the point of creation of ads, not just after they are published. When the only ads to hit the market are responsible and compliant, it is a win-win for both consumers and industry.

“Over the next three years ASCI Academy aims to train 100,000 current and emerging professionals through self-learning and on-campus workshops and sessions, besides programs for research and consumer education.”