The theme for this year’s National Advertising Conference, held in Abuja, recently, could not have been more apt! For practitioners in the nation’s integrated marketing communication space, advertising and marketing communications are quiet influential in shaping hearts and minds.
But how well has this influence been leveraged by stakeholders and practitioners in achieving national integration, cohesion and transformation?
Interestingly, the general consensus was that practitioners must know their onions, be aware of this power, and own it, before they can conveniently deploy it.
Speaking at a Fireside Chat, at the event, the Group CEO, Prima Garnet Africa, Mr Lolu Akinwunmi believes practitioners must be professional, ready to stand their grounds anytime, to be able to make the necessary impact.
Going down memory lane, the Prima Garnet Africa boss recounted how his agency had insisted on being paid a pitch fee, by a frontline financial institution in the country, a demand many of the nation’s agencies are still scared stiff to make, for fear of being dropped from the process.
According to him, while the first generation bank initially turned the agency’s request down, it later agreed to pay when it was obvious to it that it wouldn’t be able to go ahead with the process without the agency’s participation.
He added that the agency was able to temporarily walk out of the pitch process because its management team knew their onions, and they were not ready to compromise industry standards.
For the President of the National Institute of Marketing (NIMN), Idorenyen Enang, there is the need for practitioners, especially marketers to cultivate the ‘farmer’s mentality’of cultivating before harvesting, to enable them grow.
Enang, while discussing the topic ‘Growing talents for the IMC Industry’ argued that talents can only be grown when the individuals, in question, are willing to be mentored.
He charged the younger ones, aspiring to be marketing professionals to avail themselves of the opportunities provided by the institute to develop themselves and grow their careers.
The Chief Executive Officer of X3M Ideas and Chairman of the Brand Nigeria Committee, Steve Babaeko stated that the idea of the committee, comprising of the best strategists in the country, was to change the ugly narratives about the Nigeria Brand, and promote her positives to enable it attract the much-needed investments.
“Gone are the days we’ll leave the narratives in the hands of strangers,” he stated.
He explained that the task, which was done pro-bono by members of the committee, represents the industry’s own contribution to the nation’s socio-economic growth.
The Chairman, Organising Committee of the National Advertising Conference, Mr. Tunji Adeyinka, explained that one of the aims of the Conference was to deal with the issues of determining the size of the marketing communications industry, understanding the contribution of the sector to GDP and frame the discussion around the multiplier effect of every naira spent on the marcoms sector.
In his welcome address, the Director General of ARCON, Dr Lekan Fadolapo,
explained that this year’s edition of the conference, the third in the series, was designed to take a detailed look at Advertising as an economic enabler.
This, he noted, was to bring forth suggestions and recommendation that will impact the industry positively and the Nigerian economy at large.
Fadolapo also used the opportunity to assure practitioners that the reforms being embarked upon by the Council is meant to sanitize the industry, enhance its standards, and reposition it for growth.
He however warned of the Council’s readiness to drag any erring practitioner, or professional body, to the recently-constituted Advertising Tribunal to answer for whatever misdeed they must have committed.
Declaring the event open, the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, charged practitioners on the need to use their immense influence to enlighten Nigerians on some of the reforms and policies of the federal government.
“I ask that you as communications professionals rally around to help us convey that information without sensationalism or distortion,” he stated.
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