Mumbai: They say, with great power, comes great responsibility. Knowing and understanding that the personal care category is one of those which advertise strongly, the personal care category players need to be more vigilant about the violations that are taking place by them, says the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). A recent report published by the advertising regulatory body, ‘Objectionable ads in the Beauty & Personal Care category and the rising impact of influencer marketing & D2C brands’, reveals how the personal care sector has emerged among the top three violators contributing to 12 per cent of all objectionable advertisements scrutinised by ASCI.
Indiantelevision.com spoke to ASCI and veterans in the advertising fraternity to understand what they make of this matter and what could be the possible solution for it.
First things first, the beauty and personal care market in India is growing at a rapid rate. It was estimated to be $24.53 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $33.33 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.32 per cent, as per the Research and Markets Report - India Beauty and Personal Care Market, 2022.
Talking about the advertising industry, a GroupM report revealed that it is expected that the Indian advertising industry's growth will accelerate to 16.8 per cent in 2023. This growth is led by pure-play digital advertising, which accounts for the largest share (48.8 per cent) in 2022 and is expected to continue rising above pre-pandemic levels.
And as per Statista reports, the D2C sector in India, which was valued at $33 billion in 2020, is projected to reach $100 billion by 2025. The D2C beauty and personal care segment alone is expected to reach $4.4 billion in India, with a whopping CAGR of 29 per cent by 2025, as per Avendus Capital.
Coming back to the point in question, while personal care has always been among the top ten violating categories, in the past two years, it has risen to the top three on account of high volumes of ads violating ASCI’s guidelines. The launch of influencer guidelines in May 2021 along with ASCI’s proactive monitoring using AI-based tools has added to the increased number of ads under scrutiny.
With respect to the personal care sector, in the period 2021-2022 to Q1-Q3 2022-2023, ASCI processed complaints against 1,126 advertisements in this sector versus just 347 ads in the previous two years. The sector report also sheds light on some facts:
· There was a 272 per cent rise in the monthly average of ads processed in the last four years, starting from 2019.
· 5.7 per cent of ads in violation of the ASCI Code were from the personal hygiene category, 30.3 per cent from the skincare category, 24.7 per cent from the cosmetics category, and 19.4 per cent from hair care. 17.5 per cent of ads showcased multiple categories.
· Social media influencers were responsible for 68 per cent of the ads processed in the personal care category, out of which 92 per cent violated the ASCI Code and required modifications. Of these, 77 per cent were not contested and the voluntary compliance rate stood at 91 per cent.
· 84 per cent of violative ads belonged to the D2C brands, which have a large presence on social and digital platforms.
· 24 per cent of total complaints across categories received at ASCI from consumers, industry and consumer organisations between Q1-Q3 in '22-'23 were for personal care ads.
· The platform split for violative ads in personal care was Instagram (55.3 per cent), YouTube (25.9 per cent), Facebook (11.3 per cent) and websites (4.8 per cent).
· The other top two violators mentioned in the report were education (26 per cent) and healthcare (15 per cent).
· Sharp and focused suo-moto surveillance by ASCI in the digital space using AI-based technology resulted in an expanded surveillance footprint.
The personal category being among the top three violators
The question is what has driven the personal care category to become one of the top three violative industries? ASCI CEO & secretary general Manisha Kapoor says, “When it comes to objectionable advertising, the beauty and personal care category has always featured among the top ten violating categories. The reason why this year it is among the top three is because of the growing footprint of digital advertising and the use of influencers within the category. Influencers and D2C brands have contributed significantly to the catapulting of this category to the top three.”
Brand consultant and BBH & Publicis Worldwide India former CEO Subhash Kamath seconds Kapoor, “Personal care has always been one of the more advertised categories. So the number of complaints or code violations would also be higher than in other categories.”
AnyMind country manager India & MENA Rubeena Singh understands that both, the personal care and influencer marketing industries, are growing tremendously in India. They have also harnessed digital a lot more in recent years for growing awareness and easy accessibility.
“Influencer marketing which is currently on the rise has been a big channel for creating awareness for these categories. Most influencer marketing campaigns have resulted in positive outcomes for the brands and their customers. Due to the fact that the number of collaborations that this category does is maximum, perhaps the violations are also more, given that influencer marketing is yet not a mature medium,” she adds.
FoxyMoron is the AOR for beauty and personal care brand, Schwarzkopf Professional India. FoxyMoron (Zoo Media) CEO Vivek Das states, “There has been explosive growth in the category, mainly D2C & e-commerce businesses. There is a huge ecosystem of manufacturers and raw material suppliers which makes it easy for anyone to enter the business without the requisite knowledge of the category and the regulatory environment. Unlike large established brands or serious players, a majority of these businesses are in to make a quick buck while others lack the acumen/support to do it right. The same goes for a large number of small digital marketing shops.”
Industry opines about this subject
Kapoor mentioned clearly, “ASCI is constantly adding to its capacity to monitor digital, given that a significant portion of advertising is now happening there. Digital media allows several smaller brands to use various formats to advertise. However, we see that some of them may not be very deeply aware of their responsibilities to consumers, and about their obligations under the law. There is a tendency for digital advertising to be less compliant, and this raises questions about the safety of consumers online, from objectionable advertising.”
She goes on, “ASCI has been at the forefront of both, raising such issues, as well as developing the mechanisms and infrastructure to identify and correct such breaches. There is an urgent need for the entire ecosystem to understand their responsibilities more deeply. Today, the Consumer Protection Act provides for the levy of fines and even jail terms for such violations. In their own interests, brands need to think twice before putting out exaggerated claims and other objectionable ads.”
“Fact is, it’s a fiercely competitive category with hundreds of personal care brands vying for the same consumer’s mind and heart. So, it’s a big challenge for marketers and their agencies to come up with truly differentiated claims and propositions. So in their effort to be more persuasive and more competitive, sometimes they tend to cross the line. But that’s what ASCI is there for. To bring them back and help the brands stay within the corridors of freedom,” Kamath brings out.
Influencer marketing, in Singh’s perspective, is a young industry that has expanded greatly over the last two years. “These ad violations are neither intended by the influencers nor the brands; rather, they are the product of a lack of awareness. In my view, brands and influencers should be well-informed about the newly drafted guidelines. Disclosures made in the endorsement message should be prominent, easy to understand, and quite impossible to miss. As the industry matures, both brands and content creators will grow observant and start to self-regulate their content.”
Das feels that there is a need for stronger support and regulatory mechanisms in India. “As a country, we only tend to do this for industries that reach a certain maturity stage. That needs to change. Such initiatives are absolutely necessary for India to be seen as a serious manufacturing, production and marketing player in the global arena. I would love to see the emergence of a professional B2B ecosystem to help emerging businesses from a regulatory, compliance and marketing perspective.”
ASCI’s AI digital monitoring and techniques to curb this matter
ASCI has an AI digital monitoring system in place and is looking at several methods to solve this issue. Kapoor elucidates, “Our AI-based monitoring capabilities have enabled us to effectively monitor the digital space. We have successfully deployed it to monitor several platforms and priority categories. Besides the entire code which is applicable to all advertising including ads that feature on digital media, we have also developed specific guidelines for influencers. Besides giving wide publicity to these guidelines, we also seek the support of other industry bodies such as the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indian Beauty and Hygiene Association (IBHA) to also take up the task of educating their members. Social media platforms, too, on their part need to work out mechanisms where such violative content can be screened out to protect consumer safety in the online world.”
Kamath spells out that as far as digital is concerned, it certainly poses a lot of challenges. “The lines between advertising and content are blurring. In digital, campaigns can be posted or changed within a matter of hours. So, policing them for violations is a challenging one indeed. This is why we need to use technology and AI to be constantly alert about it. As far as influencer marketing is concerned, I think it’s also about creating awareness and a sense of responsibility among them to be transparent and honest with their followers. After all, their own credibility is at stake if they’re found to be dishonest or misleading.”
Singh of AnyMind fathoms that integration of AI to monitor ads will assist the industry in growing in the right direction and avoiding any mishaps in the future. AI monitoring will make the process more quick and effective at a base level. “I feel this was a necessary step and we appreciate ASCI's decision to regulate the digital frontier.”
“AI & NLP platforms have evolved enough to monitor text and visual data for regulatory and compliance. Start-up and Digital India schemes have good companies in their roster who can take this up in partnership with ASCI to cover a wider gamut of marketing and advertising. The next level will also be to verify certifications on product labels - ISI, FSSAI etc. to prevent fake products from penetrating the market,” concludes Das of FoxyMoron.
