IMC experts predict industry growth in Q3, 2021
By Ibidunni Banjoko
Experts in the integrated marketing communications industry have predicted appreciable growth in the industry in the third quarter of the year. They are optimistic that the resilient spirit of Nigerians is enough to overcome the challenges that could be present.
Sharing his perspective on the subject with MARKETING EDGE, Steve Babaeko, President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and CEO of X3M Ideas expressed optimism, noting that business will pick up in the third quarter.
“Nigeria is a wonderful place to do business. We’re having a couple of challenges at the moment, but I believe the spirit of Nigerians is resilient enough for us to overcome this very difficult time we’re facing. I’m optimistic that our industry will grow and that more foreign participation will happen going into the future so that we can have a much more robust advertising industry,” he said.
Babaeko added: “Though security has been a serious challenge that makes it difficult to do business, efforts have to be intensified to bring an end to the country’s security challenge. There are clients who want to do activation in different parts of the country, but if the country is not at peace, how do you transact business there? There are people who want to bring investment here who are thinking: ‘well, let’s just wait and see if this government is able to take control of security’. So, most of those things are the challenges we see in 2021, but overall I’m hoping. I’m a very optimistic that Nigeria is still one of the best places to do business and this is in case anybody that’s a foreign investor is watching.”
In the same vein, Biodun Adefila, Chief Operating Officer SO&U, believes that in very broad terms, business is picking up as life returns to “normal”. “Some routines of our lives are obviously irrevocably changed but within the confines of what has changed and what remains unchanged, businesses and consumers are taking each day at a time. We now even talk about the future with more courage, but we also carry a note of caution as we proceed.”
She said a Proshare report of June 1, 2021 painted an interesting picture of our economic situation – “off the floor but a low ceiling”.
In her words: “the first 2 quarters have recorded some growth, but this has not visibly moved the needle where the cost and standard of living are concerned for most consumers. Inflation is still eroding the value of money and increasing poverty levels.”
She added: “For communication, empathy is still the best way to reach the hearts of consumers. We know that they are going through a lot. Demonstrating understanding of their situation and helping to provide solutions that work is the most effective message cues we can drive at this time. Making that message entertaining and relevant to the situation is the magic we have to bring to the game as communication partners.
“Q3 should see even more growth and this makes us optimistic. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has moved from 52.9 in April to 54.4 in May. This is an indication of more industry activities. This should reflect positively on production output and therefore communication.”
She continued: “Again, the challenge will be convincing the consumer that smartness begins with him trusting you with his wallet. We need to fine-tune our opportunity radar to deliver value that can translate for all stakeholders, the consumer, our clients and ourselves.”
The Group Managing Director/CEO of MEDIAFUSE dentsu International Network, Emeka Okeke, said: “The first quarter of the year 2021 was not the best period. Spending was very low, but we have incremental improvement in Q2; we also see that Q2 by far is better than Q1 when compared between 2019 Q2 and 2021 Q2. We can’t compare year 2020 because businesses were totally shut down. We can see significant improvement giving us high hopes that maybe by Q4 we will see full recovery in place. To some extent, we can only predict for budget permutation.”
The agency boss, however, added: “The same way we are competing with the likely revenue that you will get from activities of your existing client, you also compete in the likelihood that you may win new businesses, you may lose some. You have to also bring the inter-play of micro-economic activities. In the marketplace, things like inflation will have to play. Things like government spending. People lose jobs and they don’t have disposable income, and if they don’t have disposable income, they don’t buy goods and services. If they don’t buy goods and services advertisers will not spend money. So, it’s cautious optimism for me; we should not be over-exciting ourselves because of flagship comparison.”
It should be recalled that though the majority of businesses were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the severity differs from one sector of the economy to the other. The advertising industry is one of the most affected as adspends were axed by advertisers in the wake of the pandemic. This, notwithstanding, integrated marketing communication experts are still optimistic of positive growth in the industry in the third quarter of the year 2021.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.