Exclusive ArabAd- Fredrik Borestrom IAA World President & Chairman: Our greatest strength is our chapters

In this exclusive interview for ArabAd, Fredrik Borestrom, World President & Chairman of International Advertising Association, reflects on the global role of the organization and the importance of its network. He explains why, in his view, the IAA’s greatest strength lies in the power and resilience of its chapters around the world.

As you begin your three-year term as IAA World President, what are your top priorities for driving the association’s global relevance and value to the marketing and communications industry?

I want to continue to build on the strong foundation that has been laid by people who came before me. But with this ever-changing world and landscape, I am also convinced that what do us here, won’t get us there and we have to focus on how we can improve and grow. We need to open up new chapters in key markets across the world to make sure we live up to our global ethos, and we are represented where our key partners, members, and stakeholders are present.

We also want to continue to evolve and develop our education and professional development programs as we need to help and train the future generation of marketers, advertising and communications professionals. Given the continuous shifts and sometimes turmoil that our industry is in, I think this is the time for an organization like the IAA to act as the global compass to guide the industry forward with technology, innovation, AI, and legislation coming through. The industry will look to organizations like ours to take the lead, and I am confident that we can take that leadership position in the markets where we are currently present and where we are launching new chapters.

The IAA has members and chapters across diverse markets. How do you plan to strengthen global collaboration and ensure the association remains inclusive and representative of all regions?

The greatest strength and the lifeblood of the IAA is our chapters. Two of our core pillars are internationality and diversity, equity, and inclusion, and it is one of the things I am the proudest of within our organization. It is amazing that we can look out and see us being represented in over 50 countries and we should use this to share best practice and drive sustainable growth for our industry.

In order for us to fulfill our mission and vision of being the compass that guides the marketing, advertising and communications industry forward, we need diversity of voices and opinions to be heard. We will be developing more spaces for collaborations, more tools in order for our chapters to communicate, collaborate, thrive, learn from each other, and leverage great work that is happening across the world.

It is one of the key roles that the IAA World Service Centre will play in order to make sure that we do not have to reinvent the wheel every time and that our amazing event and professional development franchises are being exported and leveraged not just in a few chapters, but as many as possible. We will also be very focused on growing our footprint in areas where we currently are not as penetrated. I feel personally that the Middle East and South America are two critical regions, and I am very excited to see the growth that we have had in the last year in the Middle East. I am sure that we will have new, exciting, and thriving chapters in this region moving forward.

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The Middle East region recently witnessed the launch of a new IAA chapter in Saudi Arabia. With some other chapters currently dormant, are there plans to revive them and further expand the association’s presence across the region?

We are very excited about the launch of IAA Saudi Arabia and the work that the team and the board are doing there. We are also very excited about the new chapters that are in the process of being launched. Alongside IAA Lebanon and IAA UAE, I am sure that we will have a thriving region very soon with several strong chapters helping to elevate the great work that is being done in the region, as well as bringing best practices from other parts of the world into the Middle East.

I am very excited to be working with our regional leadership team and our global leadership team to build connections and hopefully add even more IAA flags into the regional map, not just in the Middle East, but also across other growing regions. All in all, I feel the future is very bright, not just for the IAA on a global level, but in particular in the Middle East. I am excited to be spending more time in the region with all of our chapters and leaders, as well as with our industry, peers, members, and stakeholders.