IOAA: Putting green on the OOH front
Come August 2015, the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA), will be eight years old. And even as the industry is seeing a positive pick up sign, IOAA is planning a raft of activities in the next quarter.
14 Jul 2015 | 2666 Views | By PrintWeek India
The association, which began with eight founder members working to promote and protect the Indian Outdoor Advertising industry by uniting and creating a common platform for all the stakeholders, today boasts of 1032 members under its belt. This includes the four regional associations from the cities of Mumbai, Kerala, Delhi, and Bengaluru.
But that is not the only update that Deepa Ankalikar, general manager at IOAA shares from the association's office in Goregaon, Mumbai.
To begin with, IOAA is conceptualising a green initiative; use of eco-friendly media and eco-friendly inks for the OOH campaigns. "The flex has long been under the scanner. Today, both the media and the inks used for OOH printing need to take a shift towards more sustainable measures. Kerala has already imposed a ban on the use of flex. "The plan," shared Ankalikar, "is to bring on a common platform, the media owners, the advertising agencies and the solution providers."
"The alternatives to the flex and solvent inks are available but the awareness is not widespread. That said, the investment in eco-friendly solutions is perceived to be high. This too, is a deterrent for adopting the sustainable solutions," she added.
The first of these seminars is likely to be organised in Kerala in the month of August-September. While the other modalities of the seminar arr being decided upon, DuPont has extended its support for the initiative. The spotlight being on Tyvek - the non-woven, non-tearable synthetic substrate from Dupont - for the innovative market-driven applications.
Then is the association's Credit Control Council (CCC) - an initiative activated on 7 June, 2012. Under the CCC, IOAA works in tandem with the association members and the advertising agencies addressing the problems of payment terms, documentation, non-adherence to contractual terms, and faulty execution. "The CCC is a program to ensure due credits to both parties involved. Till date, we have had a success rate of 48% in the program."
While currently the initiative is only restricted to the media owners and agencies, the IOAA has a special membership program for the wide-format print service providers under the 'Allied Services Membership' program.
"Any initiatve is a success only when all the stakeholders in the chain are involved and form a consensus. The printers joining on the IOAA board will eventually give them a direct representation and facilitate better operation and execution of the OOH campaigns."