AAAN gears up for 50th Anniversary celebrations
By Zion Rufus
Association of Advertising Agencies in Nigeria(AAAN) has announced plans to celebrate its 50th Anniversary this year with the theme ‘50 Years Young, Ready For More’.
Ably led by CEO X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko and his team, the Association which was founded in 1973 as a sectoral body within the Nigerian marketing communications landscape has now become a force to be reckoned with both locally and internationally, having had as President advertising icons such as Sir. Steve Omojafor, Ikechi Odigbo, Rufai Ladipo, Kelechi Nwosu, Bunmi Oke, Kayode Oluwasona, and Funmi Onabolu amongst many others.
Plans for the 50th Anniversary celebrations kicked off in November 2022 with the launch of the AAAN 50th Anniversary logo design competition. The competition which is open to all staff within AAAN registered agencies will see participants compete for a grand prize of N250,000.
Commenting on the Golden Jubilee, AAAN President Steve Babaeko revealed: “This year is special for us because it marks our 50th anniversary as a body. The Anniversary committee, ably led by the Vice President, have gone to great lengths to put together various activities to celebrate the labor of our heroes past and present. We will be reaching out to you for your kind support.”
Babaeko who emerged the AAAN President in 2020 while the Covid 19 pandemic rocked the industry, expressed his elation on how far the Association has come, having been dealt a devastating blow as a result of the general economic situation occasioned by the Covid-19 Pandemic and pulling through to emerge even more formidable.
He had initially expressed his fears on what the future had in store for the Association as his group assumed the baton of leadership.
In an earlier submission while giving his welcome speech at the umbrella body’s 48th Annual General Meeting and Congress, Babaeko said: “When this Exco was sworn in July 2020, I had my fears because we were in the middle of one of the most devastating pandemics the world has seen at least in about a century. My fears were: Would we even be able to deliver against our campaign promises; When the dust of the pandemic settles, would we still have an industry or business; With everyone struggling to stay afloat would our members be able to rally round the Exco to push our association forward? One year later, I am here to report to you that my fears are not just unfounded, the state of our union and our association remains stronger than ever before.”
During the Association’s 49th AGM in Lagos, the Steve Babaeko-led executive council was re-elected for a second term. Babaeko retained his position as the AAAN president. Other returning executives include Jenkins Alumona, Vice President; Tope Jemerigbe, Publicity Secretary, Tola Obi, Assistant Publicity Secretary; and Kayode Ebatamehi, Treasurer.
Some notable achievements and initiatives by the Association include the launch of AdCademy in partnership with HBS.
AdCademy is a Global Education and Innovative Marketing Communications Academy formed to provide educational services that would teach deep strategic thinking skills and practical advertising craft that will help practitioners and prospects to become first-class professionals.
AAAN also announced plans to put in place professional indemnity insurance for its members.
Also, to build an advertising ecosystem devoid of gender bias and harmful stereotypes among its Practitioners, the Association established a strategic partnership to launch the Nigeria National Chapter of the UNstereotype Alliance, convened by UN-women to dismantle harmful stereotypes across the local advertising industry.
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