The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will host the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS) Global Summit—ICAS Global Dialogues 2025 from March 17 to 19, 2025, in Mumbai. It is the first time the summit will be held outside Europe and the US. It reinforces India’s growing role in global advertising conversations.
The by-invite-only event will bring together self-regulatory leaders from 16 countries, international advertising associations, regulators, and Indian industry leaders. The summit underscores ASCI’s contributions to shaping global thought on responsible advertising and evolving standards.
ICAS Global Summit: What to expect
Besides sessions on pressing global advertising issues related to self-regulation, the three-day summit will include:
- The ICAS Global Self-Regulation Awards (17th March) celebrate the most creative, impactful, and innovative initiatives by SROs worldwide.
- Convening of the newly formed ICAS Think Tank. It will be followed by a compelling panel discussion, which is part of the inaugural ICAS Think Tank discussion. Besides ASCI, Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Cipla Health, and Kenvue are also founding members of this global think tank.
- An industry session, ‘Tomorrow’s Regulation Today’ (18th March), will shine a light on emerging areas of consumer vulnerability and how advertising regulation can address them.
- ASCI Academy’s Global Adda (19th March) will see the release of two key pieces of research.
1. ‘Manifest: Masculinities Beyond the Mask,’ the study of the representations of masculinity across media.
2. ‘AdNext: The AI Edition’ explores the intersection of AI and advertising.
Various expert conversations on these subjects will follow. The event will bring together over 250 attendees, including global self-regulatory organisation (SRO) leaders, regulators, subject matter experts, industry leaders, marketing and compliance professionals, and academia.
ICAS Global Summit: The speakers
Some of the confirmed speakers include:
- Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
- Devdutt Pattanaik, Mythologist, Author and Speaker
- Michael Todd, Global Director, Industry Relations, Google
- Guy Parker, Chief Executive, UK Advertising Standards Authority & President, ICAS
- Mary K Engle, Executive VP-Policy, BBB National Programs, USA
- Mohan Jayaraman, Partner, Bain & Company
- Dipanjan Chaudhuri, Head of Industry Relations, Asia Pacific at Google
- Paromita Vohra, Filmmaker and Writer
- Kunal Guha, Director, Privacy (Chrome & Android), Google
- Shelly Kohli, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, United Breweries Ltd.
- Ruchira Jaitly, CMO, Diageo India
- Anila Vinayak, CMI Director, Unilever
- Sameer Chugh, Chief Legal Officer, Games24x7
- Arvind Mohan, Founder & Managing Partner, Religious Brands
Supporting brands
The events have been supported by Diageo India, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Google, United Breweries, MakemyTrip, Games 24X7, Khaitan & Co., and Lexplosion.
ASCI Leaders on Hosting the ICAS Global Summit
Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of ASCI, said:
Hosting the ICAS Global Summit in India is a proud milestone for ASCI and the Indian advertising industry. We look forward to collaborating with global experts and gaining insights that will help us navigate new complexities while strengthening consumer trust.
Partha Sinha, Chairman of ASCI, added:
The timing of this summit is crucial as AI and other technologies rapidly reshape advertising. Bringing global perspectives together will help us collectively design forward-looking approaches that balance innovation with responsibility.
With participation from government officials, industry leaders, and ASCI members, the ICAS Global Summit 2025 aims to foster international collaboration and drive progressive, ethical, and future-ready advertising practices.
About ASCI
The ASCI, established in 1985, is committed to the cause of self-regulation in advertising, ensuring the protection of consumer interests. ASCI seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation, which requires advertisements to be legal, decent, honest, truthful, and not hazardous or harmful while observing fairness in competition. It looks into complaints across all media, such as print, TV, radio, hoardings, SMS, emailers, the internet/website, product packaging, brochures, promotional material, point of sale material, etc.
ASCI has collaboratively worked with various government bodies, including the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Ministry of AYUSH, and the Ministry of Information and PRESS RELEASE Broadcasting (MIB). In August 2023, the ASCI Academy, a flagship program of ASCI, was launched to build the capacity of all stakeholders to create responsible and progressive advertising. ASCI Academy aims to raise standards of advertising content through training, education, outreach, and research on the preventive aspects of advertising self-regulation.
Summing up
The ICAS Global Summit 2025 is an opportunity to reshape the narratives that influence societies worldwide. As we push for responsible advertising, we must also push for inclusive advertising. At Changeincontent, we believe content should not only be ethical but also representative of the diverse voices and experiences that shape our world.
With discussions on AI, emerging regulations, and consumer vulnerabilities, this summit can set new standards for how brands communicate. Will advertisers move beyond tokenism and truly embrace diverse representation? Will self-regulation account for the biases embedded in AI-driven content? The future of responsible advertising must go beyond compliance—it must foster genuine inclusivity, fairness, and ethical storytelling.
