Advertiser body launches media charter to promote transparent practices in advertising

The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has launched the ISA Media Charter, a comprehensive programme aimed at protecting brand interests in the advertising sector by pushing fair and transparent practices.

The ISA Media Charter has six key focus areas, including the ISA Model Media Agency Agreement, Zero Tolerance to Ad Fraud, Brand Safety, Viewability, the Common Minimum Standard for First-Party Data, and Cross-Screen Measurement.

According to the association, the model media agency agreement template was established to establish clear and exact agreements between advertisers and media agencies, especially given the significant media flow and intricacies of the media ecosystem.


To prioritise privacy and consumer protection, the charter also establishes guidelines for the responsible collection and usage of consumer data.

The charter also aims to provide unified measurement standards for both TV and digital platforms, allowing marketers to better gauge the success of their campaigns across multiple media channels.

ISA is the apex national body representing advertisers across the country.
Sunil Kataria, Chairman of ISA, and Raymond, CEO-Lifestyle Business, said, "As India's advertising media spending continues to surge, it becomes essential to have a clear and equitable framework that protects the interests of brands and fosters healthy relationships between advertisers and media agencies."

Tejas Apte, ISA Media Forum Head and General Manager, Media, South Asia, Unilever, added, "The media charter will evolve a common minimum standard on first-party data collection and usage to safeguard consumer privacy. The other important aspect of the media charter is to evolve a cross-screen measurement for TV and digital."

Anuj Poddar, MD and CEO of Bajaj Electricals, said that the ISA media charter includes global best practices that govern the relationship between advertisers, agencies, and media owners.

"The model media agency agreement is just prescriptive, as advertisers and their agency partners can come up with their own agreements by keeping the ISA template as the base," he stated.

Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, Mirum India, said that the ISA media charter is a step in the right direction as most clients want data ownership, privacy, and audit rights for media spending.

"Due to technology, advertising today is very different from the print and TV eras." Now, with AI coming in, it is creating a whole new dimension to advertising," he stated.