ANUBIS

IAA Kuwait Chapter bolsters more transparency in Media

Louai Al-Asfahani, President of IAA Kuwait Chapter. (Source:Al Watan)

KUWAIT: The International Advertising Association (IAA) Kuwait Chapter held an event Tuesday at the Crown Plaza Hotel entitled “Bringing The Industry Together.” The theme of the event basically says it all. That is, the media industry is collaborating together in order to have their voices resonate positively in the media field by showing more transparency.
The evening’s guests included the senior management staff from the IAA, distinguished guests and members of the press including magazines, broadcasting channels and newspapers.
The program of the night started with a speech delivered by Fawzi Al-Tamimi, representing Sheikh Faisal Khalifa Al-Malek Al-Sabah. The night went on to witness key figures deliver speeches, in addition to open round table discussions between clients and ad agencies and between media buying units (MBU’s) and the media.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, President of IAA Louai Al-Asfahani exclusively expressed to Al Watan Daily that the celebrations are quite unique, elaborating on that point, Al-Asfahani noted, “What distinguishes this celebration from other celebrations is the fact that we have introduced the new board. This is the first time the new board meets and has an open discussion with members of the industry after the elections.”
Al-Asfahani added that a further aspect which makes this celebration distinct is that the media industry has finally come to acknowledge the fact that transparency has been addressed as an issue, saying “We finally got the industry to acknowledge that a problem exists and this is the first step towards solving the problem.”
“The industry has been in denial for more than ten years and it is only now that they have realized it. We are now working together to solve the existing problems,” he lamented.
Al-Asfahani went on to note the ways in which they intend to approach the problems and explained, “The first step is getting the industry together which is the title of this gathering. Hence, the open round table discussions between agencies and clients and between media buying units and the media, whose interests are usually on opposite sides of the fence. We are now getting them together in public: no closed doors – you say something and share your views. We have the right to contribute to the discussion – agree or disagree which has not happened before. In other countries it is the normal way of doing business, but has not been the case in Kuwait.”
Elaborating on his opinion, Al-Asfahani spoke about how the media can improve, saying, “One thing the Kuwaiti media can do in order to move in the right direction is to adapt transparency and to get audited in circulation figures. All agencies and media buying units (MBU) base their decisions on circulation/penetration figures. EPA, the business publication auditors verify on our behalf that this magazine or newspaper truly prints the quantity that they are claiming,” he ended.

Published in Kuwait Times May 13, 2010. Page: 3.

Published in Kuwait Times May 16, 2010. Page: 24 – 25 (Business section).

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