Advertising and marketing, key contributors to creative economy – Rotimi Bankole
By Abimbola Mohammed
Media planning expert Rotimi Bankole, CEO, SBI Media, the foremost Next-Gen media planning, branding & digital marketing agency, has reaffirmed the role of marketing and advertising as a contributor to the creative economy.
The media expert said this in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE magazine, while noting the positive role of the integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the national gross product (GDP) in 2022.
His words: “Aside from being a core element of business, advertising and marketing is also a key contributor to the creative economy. The contributions made by the marketing communications industry will be seen in all areas of business, from manufacturing to healthcare, from transportation to hospitality, from fintech to agriculture, and, of course, media and the creative economy.”
Speaking on the challenges advertisers face, Mr. Bankole said when other sectors of the economy are down, it affects the marketing communications businesses a great deal. He is, however, optimistic that 2022 being an election year and with the ease in travel restrictions, business will return to normal.
“The challenges faced by these industries are usually felt, sometimes extremely intensely, in the marketing communications business. Therefore, 2022 being an election year, the sector will become quite busy with increased political advertising, public relations, and media buying.
“Also, the world is gradually easing COVID restrictions and we hope that this will result in increased cross-border business activities across industries, which will in turn bring back engagement with agencies.”
The media guru is confident that 2022 will be better than 2021 for the IMC industry as there is hope to develop local expertise amid the weak naira challenge the country is facing now.
“With regard to the challenges for 2022, we will still have to pay attention to government policies regarding trade, manufacturing, media and other key areas. We will have to watch the economy with regard to inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates,” he said.
“For instance, a weak Naira makes it more costly to pay for international collaboration in content production. But that may also be an opportunity to develop local expertise in certain areas. Altogether, when we compute the hopes against the fears, it looks like 2022 will be better than 2021 for our industry,” he noted.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.