Babaeko lauds Preetesh for award inclusivity
By Oghale Mafuru
Following the visit of the Chief Executive Officer of the Loeries award, Preetesh Sewraj to Nigeria for the ‘Loeries Nigeria Forum’, the President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN, Steve Babaeko has extolled the leadership of the award for facilitating camaraderie and participation of other countries in Africa.
Speaking to MARKETING EDGE, the president stated that the AAAN will work assiduously with the award executive board to drive creative excellence in Africa. He, therefore, called for synergy among stakeholders to enhance the value of the award on the continent and globally.
He said: “A shout out to the CEO of Lories, Preetesh. I mean before he came on board, everybody knew I was a vocal critic of the Loeries. The way they existed before, they were not ready for any kind of Pan- African collaboration. They still saw themselves as a South African award but with Preetesh on board, I think he has been deliberate in cultivating the rest of Africa which is why he is getting the warm handshake from across the Niger, from us”.
The AAAN boss who decried the insufficient representation of Africans at the Cannes awards maintained that the continent must build a local award that will have global relevance, acceptance, and recognition noting that at the Cannes awards, the cultural differences limit the chances of Africans clinching the prestigious award.
“Let’s build our own local and continental awards that will be credible on a global scale as well so that the people who really understand the language of our creativity will be at the table to judge the award. You can do any creative stuff from an African point of view, if it goes to Cannes, there is only a sprinkle of black faces in the room where they will be judging the award so they don’t understand the language of our creativity.
According to him, understanding the cultural nuances is vital to the effective assessment of creative works as well as being judged credibly.
“They don’t understand the code or the cultural nuances driving the creativity. There is no way we can win. It is not a fair contest. That is why we say instead of competing with each other, let’s collaborate and uplift the value of our awards on the continent and that is what we are doing with Loeries” he stressed.
Recall that Preetesh Sewraj was hosted alongside other industry stalwarts at the prestigious Radisson Blu Hotel, Lagos for the Loeries Nigeria Forum, where the focus was to inspire deep creative thinking among practitioners to reposition the advertising ecosystem for growth.
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