ADVAN’s night of glitz and glamour
By Felicia Nwosu
It was a memorable night of excitement, glitz and glamour as well as a gathering of crème de la crème in the marketing and advertising space at the just concluded prestigious Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Awards for Marketing Excellence, West Africa, held at the Shell Hall of Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos. This year’s edition was unique and symbolic being the 10th and also the post-Covid-19 pandemic special edition.
The well attended ceremony was held in adherence to Covid-19 protocol, where professionals of timber and caliber, all dressed in their best, queued patiently, irrespective of class or profession, to be observed by security personnel.
The glamorous event, which was described by some of the audience as top-notch, saw brands making bold statements at every table in the electrified, well decorated hall, which wore the unique green colour of ADVAN, symbolising the majestic presence of the apex advertising body.
Call it a night of Heineken dominance or all eyes on Heineken’, and you won’t be charged by any court of law, because the premium beer brand saw itself proudly and prestigiously picked by every hand dipped into the drink basket, in demonstration and appreciation of its unmatched worth in taste, quality and glaring presence as a global mover.
Speaking during the occasion, Acting President of ADVAN, Bunmi Adeniba, said the award is poised to improve the quality of marketing activities across the continent and also to spur brand custodians and owners to aim for excellence all geared towards the development of the industry.
In her words: “Today is a celebration of excellence. It is one where we redraw the baseline for knowledge sharing, creativity, and capability building as a team. So, what we expect of this event is not just the glitz and glamour of the occasion, it is actually that we see good works that have been done and the other people have been inspired. So either way, whether you are on a stage taking a trophy or not, you are learning, inspired for greater works that you can do in the interest of our consumers that we serve.”
The keynote speaker for the 2021 awards ceremony, Adia Sowho, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria, during her speech which centered on the theme: “Future Fit Marketing”, stated that advertisers need to be in tune with new realties and events in the business of advertising through reinvention, re-strategising and adoption of innovative ideas propelled by technology.
“The future is here, the future is now. Tomorrow is no longer distant and tomorrow’s visions are relevant in our businesses more than yesterday. We need to start re-adjusting the decisions we made to address this very notion today and also to change the way our work is done.”
Chairman of the Judging Panel for the 2021 edition, Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Chevening Scholar, Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, while speaking on how the panel arrived at the choices of nominees, stated that it was not based on sentiments but on a well scrutinised process. She said a number of brands could not present their entries due to non-adherence to the laid down procedure by the panel.
“We validated about 160 entries in 13 categories; some of the entries may not win today, not because they didn’t have great campaigns, but because they were unable to present their entries in adherence to ADVAN’s limited criteria. Unfortunately, this has been the trend for some years now.”
For the Consumers Promotion Category, brands such as Indomie, Hypo, Budweiser, Kellogg’s, Life Lager Beer, Hero Lager Beer were nominated. Hypo clinched the position, Hero Lager followed with second position while indomitable Indomie sat on the first position.
On the Experiential Category Marketing of the Year, the nominees were Power Oil, Indomie, Colgate, Molped, Goldberg, Munch-it, Star Lager Beer, Mamador and 33Export Lager Beer. Molped in this category occupied 3rd position, Munch-it on the second seat while the winner was Star Lager Beer.
In the Digital Category of the year, Indomie noodles, Familia, Bournvita, Budweiser, Smoov, Molped, Malta Guinness, Three Crowns, Arla Dano, Jonnie Walker, Devon King’s Oil and Haier Thermacool wrestled it out. First position was taken by Malta Guinness, Second by Molped, while the winner was Budweiser.
Nirvana Water from the stable of the La Casera Company emerged the only nominee and winner in the Public Relations Category, for its unique campaign where it lent a strong voice to the issue of child abuse.
Other Categories were: Indigenous Brand of the Year, which was led by Trophy, Hypo and winner being Bigi Rite.
Innovative Category had nominees such as Mentos, Knorr, Indomie noodles, Kellogg’s, Mamador, Grand Cereal, Haier Thermocool, Luscil Apps, Budweiser, Bold, Chupa Chups and 2Sure Sanitizer. Molfix came 3rd, Luscil came 2nd, while the winner was Haier Thermocool.
New Brand Extension Category revolved around brands such as Peak Choco, Mentos, Lush Hair, and Indomie noodles, Kellogg’s, 2Sure Sanitizer, Amstel Malta and Trophy Extra Stout. Peak Choco was named the winner, with Kellogg’s and Amstel Malt taking second and third places respectively in this category.
Legacy Brand Category featured Star, Indomie noodles, Haier Thermacool, Devon King’s Oil, CSR Brand of the Year, Brand Journalist of the Year and Future Leaders of Marketing, where ADVAN recognised and awarded future marketers to encourage them to embrace and appreciate Marketing. Star Lager took 3rd place, Indomie noodles made second position and Hailer Thermacool led the top position as the winner.
In its bid to leave an enduring legacy in the marketing ecosystem, ADVAN also introduced a Category known as future Leaders of Marketing, where three lads emerged as winners in the category.
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