At the IAB SA AGM, held this week, chairperson Jarred Cinman emphasised that the organisation has not only grown in terms of members, but also in realising its vision of making a constructive, positive contribution to the South African digital industry.
Its greatest achievements for 2015 include:
- Successful engagement with the Film & Publications Board, negotiating an alternative to the direct the regulation of online press by the FPB through a restructure of the Press Council.
- Providing a series of full-time, part-time and short-form educational courses to individuals, agencies and businesses, in a bid to close the critical skills gap in the digital industry.
- Holding another successful Loeries Saturday Night Party, with our partners the Brand Council of SA, as well as being integrally involved in the Creative Circle and Loeries organisations, and digital judging panel.
- Successfully launching app measurement within Effective Measure, which has already attracted top publishers like Autotrader, EWN and Vodacom.
- Reaching 275k completed surveys on EM - making it a sample more than ten times larger than AMPS.
- Commissioning the second PwC Digital Adspend survey, the only credible local source of spending on digital channels.
- Launching the Pulse campaign in partnership with Metropolitan Republic, which was the first ad campaign to promote the value of online media in South Africa.
- Making submissions with regards to the following legislations: Copyright Amendment Bill; B-BBEE Marketing, Advertising and Communications (MAC) Charter; and the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill.
- Hosting a record-breaking Bookmark Awards and Digital Summit to wide industry acclaim, which saw a 30% increase in the number of entries received.
The IAB 2016 Board was re-elected in its entirety apart from the Publishing Board member. Tim Spira, who has given over two years of excellent service to the industry, stepped down and Nathi Maramnco from Times Media was elected in his place. The remainder of the Board are Jarred Cinman (Chair, third term), Gustav Goosen (Vice Chair, third term), Fred Road (Agency Representative, third term) and Andrew Allison (Finance and Regulatory Representative, third term). They are joined by Melissa van Zyl from the AMF and Yaron Assabi from the MMA who both serve as non-executive advisors.
Jarred says his plans for 2016 include ensuring self-regulation is a reality for publishers and advertisers, in partnership with the Press Council, the ASA and other bodies; building and launching an industry-led educational institution that will have a substantial impact on the skills shortage and unemployment challenge in South Africa; and launching a Transformation Committee to drive real opportunities for women and create diversity in senior leadership in the industry.
Under Andrew Allison from Quirk, the Regulatory Affairs Council will focus on content regulation, the development of best practice standards and guidelines, and ongoing engagement with government regarding legislation.
Continuing the IAB SA's focus on digital learning, The Education Council headed by Astrid Ascar will expand its part-time educational courses, refine its short-form training, and design part-time material training courses tailored for the needs of companies. The council is also actively involved in the National Curriculum Standards MSC project, which aims to harmonise standards and education training norms for the marketing, sales, and communications industries, and influence the continual development of industry professionals.
The Publisher Council will provide innovation, education and research on South Africa's ever-changing publishing landscape. It will work on guidelines for native advertising and content marketing, work with advertisers to define and document viewability standards for the South African market, and assist with key developments in audience measurement.
In 2016, social media measurement will be a priority for The Measurement Council, headed by Ryan Harris from FNB, and assisted by Mike Wronski from Ornico. This committee also has a lot of work ahead in terms of new Effective Measure features such as AV measurement, a mobile survey and other advances expected in the next 12 months.
Jarred concludes, "It is incredible to see such a committed group of volunteers who are willing to give their time to make a difference. Add that to our crack team of IAB staff and it's easy to see why the IAB can do so much. We are a group of people who realise one simple truth: what's good for all of us is good for each of us. The real threat is not claiming our rightful place as an industry."
