The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) today launched a $1.6 million national Out-of-Home (OOH) public education advertising campaign for the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) entitled ‘Tell Someone Who Cares’.
The two-month campaign promoting the ASB’s complaints process will run on roadside and railway billboards, bus and tram shelters, bus interiors, taxis and on digital screens in shopping centres and airports.

“We will highlight there is a place where people can raise their concerns about any advertising they see on the TV, radio, in a newspaper, on a billboard or even online,” ASB CEO Fiona Jolly said. “We want the community to know that they can tell someone who cares”.

“Our research shows that almost 70 per cent of the community know how to go about making a complaint. We know that this outdoor campaign will boost that figure by ensuring more people find out where they can raise their concerns.”

This will be the first year the OMA and its members have provided pro-bono OOH advertising space to the ASB.

The OMA’s CEO Charmaine Moldrich said, “We are excited about this partnership and the opportunity to use the power of our medium to raise awareness of the ASB’s complaints process.”

“We expect this campaign may lead to more complaints but welcome community feedback because it shows the system of self-regulation is working. Our main concern is in the number of complaints that are actually upheld by the ASB.”

“In 2010 our industry posted 30,000 ads and we had 7 complaints upheld by the ASB, a 99.98% success rate. Nevertheless we are committed to continuous self improvement.”

The OMA is also working with the ASB and the Australian Association of National Advertisers on another industry initiative, an annual training program for OMA members about codes of practice.

“This education program is a way of informing our membership about issues regarding outdoor advertising. We have run two very successful workshops in Sydney and Melbourne this month and will be rolling out in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide next month,” said Ms Moldrich.

“The OOH industry is taking into account recent views presented to House of Representative and Senate Inquiries into self-regulation and is always mindful that we need to reflect broad community views and standards.”

More information about the complaints process is available at www.adstandards.com.au

Outdoor Media Association of Australia
www.oma.org.au
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