SDC & festive season ads: Stringent checks on Food & Health ads; caution in copywriting

The self-declaration mandate, as per a directive by the Supreme Court of India, has sent the ad world into a tizzy. According to the Supreme Court order, no advertisement shall run on print, television, or digital media without a Self Declaration Certificate which is valid.

As the ad industry goes about complying with the SDC mandate, several areas of concern have arisen. The ground realities of submitting the Self Declaration Certificate are beginning to hit the agencies – such as increase in workload and logistical challenges, ambiguity, possibility of unethical players exploiting loopholes. There are also concerns about the whole process adversely impacting creativity and innovation.

Keeping these concerns in mind, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) met with various stakeholders of the industry on June 25, following which the Ministry issued a new advisory, wherein submission of the self-declaration certificates has been limited to food and health ads. Moreover, advertisers in these two sectors need to upload annual SDCs instead of every ad released.

This has helped ease the situation to a great extent.

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With the crucial second half of the year coming up, where advertisers and ad agencies look to make good their revenue targets, Adgully spoke to some ad industry experts to find out what would be the impact on ad industry revenues, programmatic ads, festive season campaigns and more.

Impact on ad spends in second half of 2024

Complying with the self-declaration certificate mandate has been causing delay in the release of new ads as agencies and advertisers familiarise themselves with the procedures. Any delay in the release of ads has a bearing on the ad spends and revenue implications. So what will be the impact in the second half of 2024 when the festive season sees a surfeit of ads?

Rishabh Mahendru, VP - Client Success & Growth, AdLift, explained that while there was a situation of confusion earlier, the picture is clear now since MIB issued a new advisory, limiting Self-Declaration Certificate to the food and health sector only. “Earlier, it was across industries, hence everyone was unsure to release a new ad. But since the new advisory, I feel the ad spends will not be effected at large,” he opined.

Meanwhile, Rekha Motwani, AVP - Media, #ARM Worldwide, noted, “Ensuring compliance with the self-declaration certificate mandate may involve some initial adjustments, potentially leading to delays in releasing new ads, especially for industries affected. To ensure smoother execution and management of these compliances, initial expertise will be required, necessitating the allocation of additional resources, including legal reviews and oversight. These additions will increase operational costs and negatively impact the budget for ad spending, potentially affecting smaller companies more stringently than larger ones.”

While these delays will primarily be due to the initial adjustments needed by advertisers to comply with the new regulations, the long-term benefits are promising, felt Motwani. They will promote transparency, uphold ethical conduct, and safeguard consumer interests. With right and proactive planning, enhanced information, clarity, and streamlined processes, these measures will integrate into regular operations, making them more manageable and minimising significant impact on overall ad spending.

Prakhar Srivastava, Finance Controller, White Rivers Media, too, noted that any new policy shift/ directive always brings with it some momentary inconveniences, but one must see the larger picture. “The central focus of the Supreme Court directive on SDC was to further establish transparency and authenticity in advertising, and with its latest advisory, there’s a sense of reassurance for the advertisers. Now, the SDC will have bearing only on advertisements in the Food and Health sector. With practicality at its core, the latest advisory offers clarity, easing initial apprehensions for a lot of advertisements that were in the pipleline.”

Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Grapes, agreed that there is a huge delay because of the self declaration mandate. “For almost 2 weeks, a couple of my clients have not posted anything. And they are expecting confirmation this week from their legal team to start posting,” she added.

Will the SDC mandate have a bearing on festive season ads?

AdLift’s Mahendru felt that there will be more caution in copywriting departments across agencies and industries now. “No one wants to have delays in deliverables and will be more cautious in releasing an ad. If we are avoiding fancy claims and sticking to the facts then there will be no bearing on any ad during the festive season,” he added.

Motwani of #ARM Worldwide added here that while the exact impact remains uncertain, there is a possibility that festive season ads, particularly in food and health-related sectors, could be influenced by the SDC mandate.

She said, “Given the heightened scrutiny and adherence to legal and ethical standards required across all advertising, brands must ensure their festive campaigns comply with self-declaration requirements. This may involve additional preparatory measures to meet regulatory obligations while maintaining the creative and thematic integrity of their seasonal campaigns. Considering festive season ads are time-sensitive, brands and advertisers will need to adopt a proactive approach to their ad planning, including securing SDC. This will require extra effort initially, but as processes become more efficient, it is expected to become more manageable over time.”

Grapes’ Agarwal pointed out, “It’s an annual self-declaration, so you have to be focussed on your RTV and USPs. In case you keep changing those creatives from a perspective of personalisation, but you uploaded one of them also, it will work and should not create much of a difference, because they are again focussing on the claims not on the way of creative telling.”

According to her, “This mandate will not make much of a difference, because its only the food and health sectors, but also due to the fact that its annual self declaration, so if you do all your RTVs and USPs in one go, this will not impact the festive ad season at all.”

Impact on programmatic ads

“The SDC announcement was a hold-back for most programmatic ads as the volume and deliverables for programmatic ads are way higher than any other medium. But since we are directed with the new advisory, we now know which industry we need to take care of most,” said Rishabh Mahendru.

Meanwhile, Rekha Motwani said that the impact of programmatic ads remains a topic of interest, considering the personalised nature and high volume of such advertising. She explained, “In this form of marketing, brands often share creatives and copies, while audience selection and display are dynamically automated through platforms, based on numerous criteria and categories tailored to target specific audiences. Advertisers are keen to understand how these intricate and automated processes will fall under the purview of compliance with the requirements of the self-declaration certificate (SDC).”

Clear guidelines regarding the personalisation of these ads, including instructions on handling dynamic content and managing high-volume ad campaigns, can significantly aid in manoeuvring through this. Furthermore, collaborative efforts among advertisers, platforms, and regulatory bodies will be crucial. A practical starting point could involve establishing transparent practices that uphold legal and ethical standards mandated by the SDC. This approach will enhance accountability and trust in programmatic advertising, ensuring it continues to deliver targeted and effective campaigns while meeting regulatory obligations.

Prakhar Srivastava of White Rivers Media noted that while the food and health sector brands will have to follow the due diligence of SDC, other brands in any case will have to conform with the ethical forms of advertising and in compliance of Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 - be it for festive season ads or programmatic ads.

Rishabh Mahendru, VP - Client Success & Growth, AdLift, explained that while there was a situation of confusion earlier, the picture is clear now since MIB issued a new advisory, limiting Self-Declaration Certificate to the food and health sector only. “Earlier, it was across industries, hence everyone was unsure to release a new ad. But since the new advisory, I feel the ad spends will not be effected at large,” he opined.

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