Top executives in the UAE outdoor advertising business agreed to form a self-regulatory industry association at a roundtable discussion hosted by Communicate magazine in Dubai on Oct. 2.
Communicate hosted an unprecedented gathering of leading figures in UAE outdoor advertising, a business often criticized due to overcrowding of public spaces with commercials. Advertisers and media agencies met over evening iftar with outdoor suppliers to discuss problems and challenges facing this fast-growing industry.
A consensus emerged that a group of outdoor advertising suppliers would organize to promote the interests of the industry as a whole, addressing problems such as the overcrowding of the market, a lack of standards and poor measurement of audience figures.
Mohammed Mahmoud Al Noori, head of the advertising section at Dubai Municipality, also took part in the roundtable discussion and endorsed the idea of the major players in the market banding together to form an association.
Founding members of the association will include Concept Group (represented by CEO Aldrin Fernandes), Emirates Neon (represented by executive director Rehan Merchant), Group Plus (represented by CEO George Chehwane) and Kassab Media and Marketing (represented by director Salim Barkett).
Other participants in the UAE outdoor advertising market will be invited to join the association, which will be open to all companies active in the industry that meet certain standards.
Representatives of Samsung Gulf Electronics, Damac Properties and Masterfoods - all firms that make extensive use of outdoor advertising - took part in the discussion. Executives from media buying units Mediacom, Mediaedge:cia, Mindshare, OMD and UM7 also participated, as did officials from market research firm Ipsos Stat and outdoor supplier Outdoor Exchange.
"The discussion was lively and saw a surprisingly frank and honest exchange of views," says Scott MacMillan, editor of Communicate. "We decided to host this roundtable after hearing the suggestion from outdoor suppliers and media buyers who said such a forum was needed."
Communicate, published by Paris-based Medialeader Group, is a business-to-business monthly covering the Middle East media, marketing and advertising industries.
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For more information or to receive Communicate:
Dana Abdelhadi
Public Relations Officer,
Medialeader Group
dana@medialeader.biz
Phone: (971) 4 391 0896
© Press Release 2006
