Advertising industry creates SOP for outdoor media

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) have arrived at a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed by members of both Associations, with a view to regulating and growing the Indian Outdoor Advertising Industry.

 

According to a media statement, this landmark agreement in the history of the outdoor advertising in India will go a long way in building advertiser confidence in buying outdoor sites and enable them to invest more in outdoor media and exploit its true potential.

 

Nakul Chopra, president, AAAI said, “Many vexing issues have been sorted out in an amicable manner through healthy debate and discussion over the past few months. I am confident that this will go a long way in growing the OOH industry.”

 

Noomi Mehta, president IOAA said, “The agreement is a significant step and I do hope that both outdoor site owners and agency owners will carry out their responsibilities in order to benefit from the advantages that the SOP spells out for both parties.”

 

The SOP story

 

The Outdoor Media industry is highly fragmented in India with a large number of smaller players who own sites or are concessionaires of site owners. This has led to improper utilisation of the medium and stunted growth of the industry. This has also often led to the exploitation of either the advertiser, outdoor agency or outdoor media owner. As a result, advertisers are not able to buy outdoor with the same confidence that they buy other media.

 

The AAAI Outdoor Media Forum (OMF) and IOAA has agreed on a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that shall be followed primarily between outdoor agency and media owners, and will have implications for advertisers too.