Goafest 2025: Tejas Apte calls for collective accountability in cleaning up digital media

On the final day of Goafest 2025, Tejas Apte, Head of Media and Digital Marketing at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), took the stage to unpack the urgent need for a safer, smarter, and cleaner digital media ecosystem. Speaking at a session titled “Building a Safer, Smarter, Cleaner Media Ecosystem,” Apte outlined the Indian Society of Advertisers' (ISA) media charter and stressed the importance of collaboration across the value chain to restore trust and transparency.

Apte began by highlighting a fundamental threat to the digital advertising landscape: fraud. “Up to 30% of digital impressions could be fake or non-human,” he cautioned, noting the heavy cost this poses for marketers chasing real return on investment. From ad fraud and bot views to data misuse, these issues not only erode effectiveness, they damage trust.

He pointed out that unlike legacy media, which operated on a balanced mix of subscriptions and advertising, digital media is overwhelmingly ad-funded. “This raises the stakes dramatically for both consumer safety and brand integrity,” he said.

To address these issues, Apte presented the ISA’s four-pillar media charter, co-developed with agencies, publishers, and platforms:

1. Safe placements – Ensuring brand and user environments are secure.

2. Viewability standards – Filtering out fake impressions with clearer benchmarks.

3. Fraud prevention – Combating fraud across formats and platforms.

4. Responsible data use – Prioritising consent-led, ethical handling of first-party data.

This framework, Apte explained, is being applied within HUL to not only refine internal media practices but also discover new, trustworthy media partners.

A major shift, Apte noted, is happening in how agencies and brands measure success. “We’re moving from input metrics, like clicks, to business outcomes,” he said, reinforcing that the role of media partners is evolving from execution to impact.

While in-housing is on the rise, Apte clarified it is typically partial, with agencies still playing a key role in creative strategy, innovation, and planning. “The agency of the future must go beyond service delivery, it must drive business outcomes,” he asserted.

Apte also discussed the ISA’s partnerships with platforms like Google and Meta to co-create industry standards and expectations. These efforts are not just technical—they’re cultural. “We’re building trust by aligning metrics and goals across the ecosystem,” he said.

The success of the media charter, he added, will not be defined by adoption among large advertisers alone. Its real impact will be felt when small and mid-sized advertisers see measurable reductions in fraud, clearer media buys, and better returns.

Tejas Apte’s message at Goafest 2025 was clear: fixing digital media isn’t a solo effort, it’s a shared mandate. As brands, agencies, and platforms align under common standards, the industry moves closer to delivering not just impressions, but genuine impact.