The World Out-of-Home Organisation (WOO), recognised as the apex global body for Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising and an advocate for the industry’s interests worldwide, has thrown its weight behind the inaugural edition of the Location Marketing Awards (LOMA) scheduled to take place on September 29, 2023, at the Marriot Hotel in GRA Ikeja, Lagos.
The backing from WOO is preceded by the approval and further endorsement of LOMA by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria’s (ARCON), following a rigorous vetting and verification process of LOMA’s procedures. This endorsement marks a significant milestone as LOMA becomes the first awards platform in Nigeria to voluntarily undergo and successfully pass the ARCON test, aligning with the latter’s recently enacted legislation pertaining to awards within the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) industry.
Curated by the OOH Academy, LOMA has a primary objective of recognizing and honouring outstanding individuals and OOH companies that have contributed significantly to the industry’s growth year after year.
LOMA also comes with the advantage of being among the few awards platforms in the IMC industry to be audited by reputable auditing company, Mazars in Nigeria.
Kingsley Onwukaeme, the visionary convener of LOMA, emphasized the importance of the partnership with Mazars in Nigeria, explaining that collaborating with this globally recognized organization, known for its specialized services in audit and assurance, financial and business advisory, is pivotal to ensuring the utmost fairness and transparency in the award selection process. “Our partnership with Mazars is because their expertise in overseeing the external audit process will guarantee the fairness and transparency of the award outcomes.”
Kingsley Onwukaeme, convener, LOMA
LOMA has also gone into other local and international partnerships including one with BroadSign, a leading Canadian digital out-of-home marketing platform as well as ABSEN, a renowned Chinese company specializing in LED display solutions, covering indoor, outdoor, and rental applications.
Now in its voting stages, LOMA has had a call for entry that lasted weeks with various players in the OOH putting in their entries for the various categories of awards for contest.
Currently, LOMA is in the midst of its voting stages, after a comprehensive call for entries that spanned several weeks. Numerous stakeholders from the OOH industry have eagerly submitted their entries across various award categories. Now, the fate of these entries lies in the hands of the voters, who comprise professionals from the marketing communications industry, determining the eventual winners and their achievements in this prestigious event.
Expressing his immense enthusiasm for the forthcoming event, Onwukaeme shared that LOMA represents an initiative long overdue for the OOH industry. He confidently asserted, “LOMA is here to stay, and the OOH Academy is committed to enhancing the industry holistically through continuous learning and the celebration of excellence.”
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
