48% of Indians want more inclusive representation in ads; Channel 4 unveils results of ad trial; TikTok shop to reopen in Indonesia

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 12th Dec 2023 in News

On today’s ExchangeWire digest: 48% of Indians want more inclusive representation in ads; Channel 4 unveils results of public ad trial; TikTok shop to reopen in Indonesia with $1.5bn deal...

Around half (48%) of Indians want more inclusive representation from brands in advertising, according to a report by Kantar, which published the findings from a collaborative study on diversity and inclusion in Indian advertising, conducted by the Advertising Standards Council of India and the UN Women convened Unstereotype Alliance. This is compared to 33% of consumers across the world. The representation of fair skin tones in ads was more prevalent among women than men, at 58% for women versus 25% for men. The study also found less than 1% representation of the LGBTQ+ community as well as people with disabilities, and only 4% of Indian ads depicted people aged above 65 years.

Directing attention over to the TV landscape, Channel 4 has unveiled the results of a UK-first public trial with 15 brands on new streaming ad formats, which deliver an 81% boost in long-term brand recall. The trial explored whether effectiveness can be optimised through different ad formats, such as solus takeovers and reduced ad loads. Following the trial’s success, the broadcaster confirms its intention to offer the ad formats to the market in the coming year.

Meanwhile, TikTok Shop will be reopening in Indonesia thanks to a USD $1.5bn (£1.2bn) deal with Indonesian tech giant GoTo. This follows its recent shut down in the country two months ago, in order to comply with legislation which set out to protect smaller merchants and users’ data. Through this new deal, TikTok will buy just over 75% of Tokopedia and integrate it with TikTok Shop’s Indonesia business.