Self-regulation is essential for the growth of industry: Varghese Thomas

Speaking on the topic'Can self-regulation contribute to OOH industry growth' at Kerala Talks OOH 2015, Varghese Thomas, State President of Kerala Advertising Industries Association (KAIA), stated that self-regulation in advertising industry is the recognition which creates an environment that complies with a set of ethical rules that are legal, honest and trustworthy.

"A set of rules prepared with social responsibilities to serve consumers as well as the society is essential to bring an industry that is well maintained and discipline oriented. This allows the industry to build up a strong bond, trust and healthy relationship with consumers thus promoting growth of the industry,” said Varghese. Self-regulation is not only necessary but also essential for the growth of the sector. The industry needs to exercise a certain level of this self-restraint to prove its commitment to maintaining the best standards in advertising.  Effective measures for self-regulation by the industry assures consumers that the products or services being advertised are honest, decent, and truthful, thus building a trust in the consumers for the medium.

The OOH sector is gaining prominence and both locad and national brands have started to regard this as a high importance medium.. "The industry must follow self- regulation for its well-being and overall development. We have implemented lots of legislative methods in KAIA which has a code of conduct, it is being updated by time and mainly based on self-regulations. When the regulations are implemented from both the agencies and media owner, the industry will become stronger, that leads it to be more transparent,” Varghese added.

While concluding the session he said, "KAIA comes with an Approved Business Procedure (ABP) for OOH industry. Certain guidelines for media owners and agencies are included in this ABP. We have added this to our code of conduct as an agenda and in Kerala it is being implemented from the beginning of the next year.  We have to be vigilant about self-regulation in OOH industry. We should deal very responsibly with the codes and guidelines and balance the needs of advertisers and community to promote the industry and our brands in a free market economy”.