AAAN Suspends plans for a sub-regional LAIF

There are strong indications that the planned expansion of the 2016 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival LAIF awards, to include entries from Ghana and other West African countries may have been put on hold.

MARKETING EDGE learnt from sources within Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) that the association may not be able to go ahead with the innovation for the 2016 edition. No reason has yet been given by AAAN for the decision, but MARKETING EDGE gathered it may have been due to logistical reasons.

The plan to make LAIF a force in the sub-regional was announced by the leadership of AAAN after the 2015 edition in Lagos which was the 10th year of organizing the awards. Ikechi Odigbo, who is the Chairman, LAIF management board disclosed after the event that Ghana had indicated interest to be part of the awards, same for a couple of other neigbouring countries.

“For next year, we are going to have LAIF transform into a regional award. We already have the endorsement of Advertising Association of Ghana. We hope to extend across English speaking West African countries for 2016 and I don’t know how we’ll manage the French speaking countries but we’ll see how we do that,” Odigbo told MARKETING EDGE in an exclusive interview in 2015.

Despite the setback, the 2016 LAIF still looks set to be bigger and better than ever as new categories have been introduced, including Agency of the Year Award, ‘Young Agency of the Year Award, Client of the Year Award, Effective Campaign of the Year Award etc. The organizers have also promised to make the event even more exciting than the 2015 edition.

LAIF award is the brain child of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN). The maiden edition was held on Friday, June 9, 206 at the Expo Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. The award was instituted to recognize creative excellence, improve the quality of creative craft and promote the spirit of healthy competition, applying global best practice. The award is the brainchild of Mr. Eyinnaya Odigbo, Chairman CASERS Group.