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The social media influencer drawn into the Cadbury Bournvita controversy, has a supporter. The Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest India (NAPi), a think tank working on nutrition policy, has issued a statement saying they stand by him.

Revant Himatsingka, who calls himself @foodpharmer on social media, with 1,35,000 followers on Instagram, drew the ire of Mondelez India, the company that owns Bournvita, with his April 1 video in which he had flagged the products high sugar content. He, however, deleted the video following a legal notice from the company on April 13. He has also apologised on his Instagram handle, while his Twitter handle has been suspended.

Bournvita, the 75-year-old brand, calls itself a chocolate health drink on its Instagram page with 4,43,000.

In January, NAPi had said that a Bournvita advertisement and product packaging was misleading and did not disclose the sugar content. The organisation has filed a formal complaint with the Department of Consumers Affairs, working under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. It alleges the ads violate the provision of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

However, this has brought to a boil the real issue at hand the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) dragging its feet over implementing its own guidelines to regulate packaged and processed food.

FSSAI has been discussing the possibility of front-of-pack labelling. According to this, brands would need to put a notification indicating if a food product was high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS). The labelling would allow consumers to make informed choices.

In September 2022, the statutory body had issued a draft notification on front-of-package labelling that proposed Indian Nutrition Rating. The health star-rating system for packaged foods will assign 1/2 a star (least healthy) to five stars (healthiest) depending on the ingredients and the degree of processing.

This, despite massive opposition from doctors and the governments own bodies such as the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Nutrition. Often ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are made to look healthy by adding some vitamins and minerals. That doesnt really work well for human health, said an expert, adding that the negatives of UPFs could outweigh the positives from the added vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Arun Gupta, paediatrician and NAPi convener, said the FSSAI has not been at the forefront of implementing its own regulations. Stars are a method to reward, and they should not be used. An upfront warning that a product is high in sugar content is required, he said.

In the past, easier ways of identifying healthy, relatively healthy, and unhealthy foods have been under consideration. One was the green-amber-red way, which was easy for even a young child to understand.

While ingredients in Bournvita can be found mentioned on the back of the product, the company, in a statement, said Bournvita is best consumed with a glass of 200 ml of hot or cold milk as highlighted on the pack.

Every serving of 20 gm of Bournvita has 7.5 gm of added sugar, which is approximately one-and-a-half teaspoons. This is much less than the daily recommended intake limits of sugar for children, said Mondelez India.

The World Health Organization in its nutrient profile model for the Southeast Asia region recommends prohibition of marketing in the category of milk and dairy-based drinks if the total sugar content of the product exceeds 7 gm per 100 gm.

According to FSSAIs Advertising and Claims Regulations, 2018, any product which has 5 gm of sugar per 100 gm can be categorised as low sugar.

In 2020, FSSAI had looked into 1,306 product samples across 30 food companies, including dairy, confectionery, sweets, snacks and more. None complied with its threshold for sugar to avoid warning labels 6 gm per 100 gm. A panel then proposed increasing the threshold arbitrarily by six times. Despite that, only 20% of products were found to be meeting the new threshold 36 gm of sugar per 100 gm. The rest had over 36 gm of sugar, a source in the technical expert committee constituted by FSSAI told The Hindu.

The panel was then dissolved and another committee formed to propose whether warning labels or health star ratings should be given in front-of-the-pack labelling, the source said.

Dr. Gupta says that FSSAI has not been at the forefront of implementing its own regulation. It works on a system of complaints and at times hearings drag on for years, he said.

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Bournvita row | FSSAI needs an energy shot to regulate processed food - The Hindu

While TikTok may offer an environment to speak to a hard-to-reach audience from an advertising perspective, brand safety is an issue where TikTok has not yet applied all technology safeguards possible to protect advertisers, UM wrote in March 2021.

But last July, UM reversed its recommendation, saying TikTok had started working with technology company Integral Ad Science (IAS), which analyses a pool of curated videos and sends safe videos back to TikTok to add to an advertising campaign before it is launched.

Trialling in-feed ads for graduate hiring campaigns or Defence Force Recruiting would be a good place to start, UM said.

It is recommended to trial TikTok on a suitable campaign of this nature before considering broader application, UMs revised appraisal said.

But TikTok was ultimately deemed inappropriate for Defence Force recruiting.

Defence does not currently advertise on TikTok, a spokeswoman said. Defence will not use TikTok as an advertising medium as part of the 2023-24 Defence Force recruiting media strategy.

Earlier this year, UM proposed two pilot TikTok campaigns for the Australian Taxation Office, one about superannuation and the other about graduate recruitment. They were approved by the Department of Finance but also did not proceed.

An ATO spokeswoman confirmed the tax office ran a superannuation education campaign for a month until April 16, but had used previously successful channels.

UM also proposed pilot TikTok campaigns for the upcoming Voice referendum, which had not yet been approved by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

An AEC spokesman said the body had not used TikTok in any advertising campaign to date.

We are aware of broader government considerations regarding the use of TikTok as a channel and this will be a key factor in a final decision regarding AEC advertising, he said.

One trial that was approved was for Australian Eggs, which finished on March 31. Australian Eggs promotes eggs and is funded by statutory levies and the Australian government for research and development.

Australian Eggs managing director Rowan McMonnies said the organisation differed from government agencies that hold sensitive information. Australian Eggs doesnt hold any national security information, so the relevant risk doesnt arise, he said.

The government hasnt banned TikTok and millions of Australians continue to use it. If it became apparent that TikTok could adversely impact the reputation of Australian Eggs or Australian Egg farmers then we would immediately reconsider using it as a media platform.

The organisations campaign on TikTok was a success, he added.

A TikTok spokeswoman confirmed the social media platform had worked alongside health departments and the AEC in the past.

A wide range of brands and advertisers, both big and small, find great success working with TikTok and connecting with our millions of users, she said.

This includes successful information campaigns run in collaboration with Health Departments regarding COVID-19 and the Australian Electoral Commission around elections. We look forward to working with government entities in the future to help them reach new audiences.

The Department of Finance told the Financial Review TikTok may be trialled for campaigns where deemed suitable.

In April, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus issued a directive banning TikTok on government-issued devices based on advice from intelligence and security agencies.

However, the directive included caveats for legitimate business reasons to have the app, including: where an entity must use the application to reach key audiences to undertake marketing or public relations activity on behalf of the entity.

James Paterson, the newly appointed opposition spokesman for Home Affairs and Cyber Security, called for a consistent approach across government agencies and departments.

UM told the Financial Review it regularly reviews and updates its advice to government on a range of media and social media platforms.

Over time, UM has communicated the improvements to brand safety made by TikTok most notably integration with Integral Ad Science to pre-vet video content and advised government the platform should be considered for trial for any campaigns deemed suitable, it said.

Given how rapidly the media landscape changes and the prevalence for new and unforeseen brand safety issues to arise, UMs advice to all advertisers is constantly under review.

Excerpt from:
TikTok given government advertising green light despite device ban - The Australian Financial Review

Snapchat has announced a new integration with measurement and attribution provider Rockerbox, which will provide more data to help Snapchat advertisers maximize marketing performance.

Rockerbox provides attribution and performance insights across a range of online channels, giving you a more holistic view of how each of your ad elements is performing.

With this new integration, Snapchat will now feed its performance data into the Rockerbox system.

As per Snap:

Through this enhanced partnership, Snap will sit alongside Rockerboxs 200+ other platform integrations with popular search, social, display, and traditional channels, allowing marketers to see exactly how much of their conversions and revenue can be attributed to Snap. You can do this by tapping into Snaps expansive set of Performance Marketing solutions, whether youre focused on driving online sales, generating leads, or acquiring and re-engaging with users of your mobile app.

The partnership will provide Snapchat marketers with new capacity to measure attribution, share of impact within your marketing channels, and additional insights into audience response, which will help you optimize and maximize your Snap ads performance.

Its another step for Snaps business tools, which continue to evolve as the platform looks to capitalize on its marketing opportunities. Snapchat, which is now up to 750 million monthly active users, remains a key connective platform for younger audiences, and as such, it also provides significant potential for reaching these audiences and generating hype around your products.

The new insights will help to optimize your Snap approach within your broader marketing strategy.

You can read more about Snaps new partnership with Rockerbox here.

See the article here:
Snapchat Announces New Integration with Rockerbox to Provide ... - Social Media Today

When incoming first-year student Tai Jackson started looking at colleges his junior year of high school, Emory University was not his top choice. He knew he wanted to go somewhere with a strong theater program, and Jackson said Emory did not seem to fit the bill with its pre-med reputation.

However, after discovering Emorys very strong theater community, such as Dooleys Players, on Instagram, Jacksons perspective shifted. By senior year, he was set on attending Emory. He was accepted in Early Decision I.

I would have never even known that Emory had a good theater program, or even had a theater program, if it wasnt for social media, Jackson said.

Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Admission John Latting said that if the University sends an email to 300,000 prospective students, only about 600 people will open it, while an Instagram video can get 30,000 views in three days. This outreach is a large part of the admissions process, Latting said.

Our whole team were involved, not just in selecting students, but in engaging students, in telling the Emory story, in providing information so that students and their parents and family members and counselors can make decisions on whether Emory is a good fit for them, Latting said.

Latting added that students seek answers to their questions on social media instead of looking up statistics in a book.

New media just really are changing the landscape but were really having to shift and rethink what tools do we use to tell the Emory story, Latting said.

Emory has had to shift how it markets itself to prospective students to keep up with the changing demand, Latting added.

According to Director of Enrollment Marketing and Communications Luca Magnanini (05B), the University started a program called Emory Student Ambassadors in 2022, which employs students as paid influencers. The students create content, such as day in the life videos, that the University can post on their social media accounts.

Five students employed as influencers did not respond to requests for comment. Arianna Ophir (25C) said that she was unable to provide comment as an Office of Undergraduate Admission employee.

Emory has had to shift how it markets itself to prospective students to keep up with the changing demand. (Yashonandan Kakrania/Contributing Illustrator)

The rise of social media in college admissions can help prospective students who are unable to visit campus, Magnanini added. He recalled discussing this with a Canadian student who told him she had never visited campus before coming to Emory.

She really relied on our site as well as social media to really get a good sense of what Emory was about, Magnanini said.

Incoming first-year student Tessa Butler said social media gives a better look into what day-to-day student life is like than campus tours.

Social media and the virtual tour and so forth are really our opportunity to enhance, to help students and their parents make a decision, Magnanini said.

Incoming first-year student Jahara McGarrell, who is from New York, said that one of her biggest concerns about coming to college was moving to Georgia by herself. However, social media nullified this concern because it enabled her to network and form her own little community.

Social media allows students to connect with institutions and find their place, Magnanini added. Incoming first-year student Halle Stewart, who is from Jamaica, said social media was her main outlet for learning about different colleges. She remembered watching Emory recently post about Dooleys Week.

That entire week, those events, those kinds of things, they kind of drew me into the school, Stewart said. It looks like an environment that Id want to be in.

Managing Editor Madi Olivier (25C) contributed to reporting.

See original here:
Social media shifts approach to University marketing, applications - The Emory Wheel

Dive Brief:

The latest effort from the long-running Dove Self-Esteem Project looks to move beyond what brands and consumers can do on their own and focuses on legislative action that could help protect kids and young adults from the ill effects that social media can have on mental health.

Central to the new campaign is "Cost of Beauty: A Dove Film," a three-minute film that tells the true story of a young woman, Mary, who developed an eating disorder while being exposed to toxic beauty content on social media. Set to a version of "You Are So Beautiful," the heartstring-tugging video suggests that Mary didn't survive the ordeal before revealing that she is currently in recovery from the eating disorder. The video concludes with several real-life survivors of mental health issues and their parents.

The Campaign for Kids Online Safety is informed by new Dove research that demonstrates the toll social media has on youth mental health, with eight in 10 specialists saying social media is fueling a mental health crisis. Not only do 80% of young people believe people their age are addicted to social media, but more than half say it makes them and their peers feel anxious.

The problem is particularly acute around how social media affects body image issues and related behaviors the focus of the Dove efforts. Seven in 10 people ages 10-17 have been exposed to social media content that encourages weight loss or body transformation, with more than half of people ages 14-17 exposed to content that encourages restricted eating or disordered eating behaviors.

The main goal of the new campaign, which teams Dove with frequent partner and body-positive musician Lizzo and two advocacy groups, is to advance KOSA, which previously made it out of committee but didn't clear the entire Senate perhaps due to pressure from Big Tech, as suggested by co-sponsor Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.The KOSA bill calls for more transparency of social media apps and algorithms and a duty for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate several harms to minors.

The campaign follows previous Dove efforts including the "Selfie Talk" and #NoDigitalDistortion push, both from 2021. While those efforts utilized Dove's marketing muscle to encourage conversations and consumer actions, the Campaign for Kids Online Safety goes even further.

"While certain aspects of social media can promote creativity and connection for young people, data has shown toxic content online is harming the mental health of today's youth. If there isn't real change, young people will continue to pay with their wellbeing," said Dove CMO Alessandro Manfredi in the press release. "We have a responsibility to act and support a safer environment on social media, helping protect young people's mental health. This means going beyond individual interventions to drive systemic change."

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Dove pushes for legislation to protect kids' self-esteem from social ... - Marketing Dive