OAA 2014: Turning A New Leaf

The annual Outdoor Advertising Awards (OAA), the most coveted awards given in the Indian OOH industry, will once again showcase the most outstanding initiatives taken by OOH advertising brands, media owning firms, and specialist agencies in the course of a year. OOA 2014, to be held in Goa on July 5, is turning a new leaf with the introduction of new awards categories -- Activation, Digital OOH & Green Initiative. The awards event, presented by Kinetic, will turn the spotlight on three key areas: consumer experience, new technologies and environment-friendly practices.

The'Activation' category will include any outdoor activity, execution or demonstration done solely for the purpose of promotion or advertising, while the'Digital OOH' category will be open to any execution or display using digital media like interactive/non-interactive screens, LED screens, projection systems, etc., solely for the purpose of advertising. Under the Green initiative' category, initiatives like maintaining parks and gardens or any other environment-related activities will be covered. Media owning firms that have used recycled material or any other environment-friendly material to crate OOH media would be eligible for this award.

Further, to cover a larger number of advertising categories, this year's awards edition will have an'Other Categories' in the'Multiple Execution Category' in place of sub-categories like business & technology, healthcare, education and training. Hence, entries related to business and technology, healthcare, education and training, as well as any other category that is not explicitly stated in the sub-category list will be accepted under the'Other Categories'. However, the entries that make the podium finish will be given the awards in their respective business categories.

Likewise, the'Campaign of the Year' award has been moved from the'Multiple Execution Category' to the'Special Category', and the technology award has been discontinued as the'Innovation of the Year' will cover technology innovations too. The'Campaign of the Year' award will be given to a campaign -- irrespective of product/service advertised or the outdoor media format used -- comprising a minimum of three creative concepts based on the same central idea used in multi formats. The'Innovation of the Year' award will go to the most innovative special effect created on any conventional outdoor format, including the use of special builds, 3D cutouts, customised lighting, creation of movement, use of technologies, etc.

To streamline the award for outdoor media owners, no entry will be considered at the same for national as well as zonal media owner of the year awards, unless the entries represent different companies with different properties.

OAA 2014 will not feature an award for print innovation. The'Printer of the Year' award will cover innovation too, as this award will be given to progressive and forward thinking large format printing companies. The entries will be adjudged on multiple parameters like print innovation, print quality, consistency, value-added services, service orientation etc.

As always, OAA will celebrate creativity, which is core to any brand building initiative. To showcase the most creative OOH initiatives, awards will be given away, both in single execution and multiple execution categories. The'Single Execution Category' will include OOH creatives that have been executed only at one location, using one conventional OOH format, such as, a billboard, bus-shelter, street furniture, transit media, etc. The'multiple execution category' will be more broad-based, covering OOH creatives that have been used in multiple locations.

The'Multiple Execution Category' will cover the entire panoply of advertising categories, such as, telecom cellular service providers (basic telephony, ISP, calling cards, etc.), financial services,  banks, investment services, insurance etc., entertainment & media TV channels, radio, print media outdoor concessionaires, movies, music labels, festivals, artistes etc., automotive manufacturers and suppliers (including consumables and spares in the automotive segment),  FMCG personal care, household, and food & beverages,  consumer durables (white goods and brown goods), clothing, footwear and accessories like watches, jewellery, bags, purses, belts etc., retail brands stores, restaurants, salons, clubs, gyms, etc., real estate & construction (real estate developers, construction products and services), travel & hospitality (airlines, railways, bus services, hotels, destinations, tour operators, travel services etc.).

The'Multiple Execution Category' will also bring forth the best efforts in the realm of public & social service covering public health, environment and social issues.

Ambient media is a vital pillar of the OOH industry. As city infrastructure expands, new OOH media assets are being created. OAA will recognise the'Best Use of Ambient Media', which entails the most creative use of non-conventional outdoor media covering structured ambient like restrooms, shopping malls (excluding point-of-purchase advertising), airports, bus stations, theatres, as well as one-off, non-scalable ambient opportunities.

One of the key challenges for the OOH industry lies in bringing more advertising brands into its fold. Effective media strategy and planning go a long way towards expanding the OOH advertising canvas. In recognition of the most innovative and effective outdoor media plans executed over the last one year, OAA 2014 will give away the'Outdoor Media Plan of the Year - Local' and'Outdoor Media Plan of the Year - National' awards. The contenders for the national category should have covered more than four cities/states. Here, no entry will be considered at the same time for both the national and local awards unless they represent different campaigns of the same brand.

Innovation is key to success in the OOH space. To further this imperative, the'Best Format Innovation' award will be given to outdoor media concessionaires who have created new and innovative advertising formats.

OAA covers the international landscape too. In the'International' category, entries will be accepted for work done by Indian and international agencies outside India.

The stage is set for India's foremost and enterprising media owning firms, specialist agencies, leading advertising brands, and OOH suppliers to vie for top honours at OAA 2014. The last date for sending entries is May 30, 2014.

OAA Means Business   Merit and transparency will be the overriding factors determining the adjudication process. To ensure this, the awards terms and conditions specify that:   Work created specifically for the awards purpose will not be considered by the organisers. The organisers will have the right and discretion to reject entries which in their view have been manipulated or are not genuine. Organisers have the right to ask for documentary proof of information provided/audit the information provided. If such a request is made and the applicant does not comply within 3 days from the date the request is made, the applicant would be disqualified from the awards Only paid work for OOH media will be considered for the awards.