ASCI appoints Dhananjay Keskar as chairman

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has appointed Prof. Dhananjay Keskar (pictured) as chairman of the its board. Keskar is director at IBS, a B-school and has been a member of the ASCI board of governors for the last five years.

Rajiv Dube, president (passenger car business unit) - Tata Motors Ltd. has been elected vice-chairman, while Vikram Sakhuja, COO-South Asia, Group M has been assigned the role of honorary treasurer.

The other members of the new board of governors are Narendra Ambwani (Johnson & Johnson), Shantanu Khosla (Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care), Gopal Vittal (Hindustan Unilever), Bhaskar Das (Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.), Vikram Kaushik (Tata Sky Ltd.), G Krishnan (TV Today), I Venkat (Eenadu), Madhukar Kamath (Mudra Communications), Arvind Sharma (Leo Burnett), Srinivasan Swamy (RK Swamy BBDO), Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations), Pranesh Misra (Brandscapes Consultancy P. Ltd.) and Partha Rakshit (The Nielsen Company).

During the year 2008-09, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) met 12 times and deliberated on 137 complaints against various advertisements. Of these, 66 complaints were upheld, while 68 were not upheld and three were considered non-issues. In 62 cases, the ads were withdrawn or modified appropriately as per the CCC’s decisions. This resulted in a compliance rate of 94% which is the highest ever achieved by the Council.

Madhukar Kamath, MD and CEO, Mudra Group and the outgoing chairman of ASCI said, "ASCI’s current focus is to increase awareness about its role and its code amongst the general public, advertisers and marketers. The Council has taken many large strides in this direction during the recent past. During the last financial year ASCI has added 47 new members, taking its tally of members to over 300 for the very first time. ASCI will also soon be releasing a mass-media campaign to make the general public aware about its role in society. I'm certain that Dhananjay Keskar will continue this momentum and help ASCI attain its goals."

The incoming chairman, Prof. Keskar said, "ASCI will soon enter its landmark silver jubilee year and we have planned several programs to commemorate this momentous occasion. The coming year will see us renew and strengthen our commitment to self-regulation and marketing responsibly by focusing on the marketing fraternity and the general public - the youth in particular. We intend to engage the youth through interactive platforms and by involving the entire student community."