Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self regulatory voluntary organization of the Indian advertising industry has revamped the council with the addition of new members and the appointment of the new chairman. ASCI has appointed Professor Dhananjay Keskar, director – IBS (a Business Management School) as the chairman of the board of ASCI. Earlier, Madhukar Kamat, MD and chief executive officer of Mudra Group served as the chairman.

Regarding the various changes in the council, Kamat said, “ASCI’s renewed focus is to increase awareness about its role and its Code amongst two key audiences – general public, and advertisers and marketers. The Council has taken many large strides in this direction during the recent past. During the last financial year ASCI added 47 new members, taking members tally to over 300 for the very first time. ASCI will soon release a mass-media campaign to make the general public aware of its role in society.”

The new board also comprises of Rajiv Dube, president (passenger car business unit) – Tata Motors, as vice-chairman, and Vikram Sakhuja, chief operating officer-South Asia – Group M Media India, as the honorary treasurer.

The new members who have been added in the council are:

Advertisers

• Narendra Ambwani (Johnson & Johnson)
• Shantanu Khosla (Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care)
• Gopal Vittal (Hindustan Unilever)

Media:

• Bhaskar Das (Bennett Coleman & Co)
• Vikram Kaushik (Tata Sky )
• G. Krishnan (TV Today)
• Venkat (Eenadu)

Advtg. Agencies:

• Madhukar Kamath (Mudra Communications)
• Arvind Sharma (Leo Burnett)
• Srinivasan Swamy (RK Swamy BBDO)

Allied Professions:

• Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations)
• Pranesh Misra (Brandscapes Consultancy P Ltd)
• Partha Rakshit (The Nielsen Company)

The new board announced by ASCI will be effective from September 18, 2009.