Rohit Jawa, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), on Monday, highlighted the importance of credibility in advertising in the digital age and shed light on how marketers can leverage technology to resonate with evolving consumer behaviour.

“Today, advertising is no longer restricted to written words or moving images. With consumers moving online and entering the world of AI, advertising too, has gone digital. Be it through digital ads or OTT or metaverse, advertising is about reaching consumers through credibility”, Jawa said. He was speaking at the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) conference held in Mumbai on Monday.

During his address, Jawa spoke about the need for self-regulation in advertising and how important it is for brands and marketers today. He said that self-regulation ensures ads can continue to be honest, truthful, decent, safe, and fair. "The need for regulation in advertising has become more in the digital age. Self-regulation can truly benefit everyone- policymakers, consumers, the advertising ecosystem, and the society at large", Jawa further added.

Lauding the role of ASCI in maintaining credibility and transparency, Jawa said, "ASCI has successfully propagated self-regulation in advertising and made various processes transparent, backed by both technical and judicial experts. With high compliance scores, the body has demonstrated that self-regulation can indeed be a workable model that balances creativity with responsibility".

"ASCI, over the years, has shown that self-regulation takes deep roots into the advertising and marketing fraternity", he further added.

The ASCI today unveiled the ASCI Academy, a pioneering initiative poised to amplify the advertising industry's capacity to create more responsible and progressive advertising campaigns. This platform embeds self-regulation right at the point of the inception of advertisements.