Airpower holds workshop, highlights benefits of airport advertising
By Felicia Nwosu
To enable brands to optimise their untapped potential and advertising opportunities inherent in airport advertising, Airpower Limited, one of the top outdoor advertising companies in Nigeria, has held a workshop. The industry stakeholders’ exercise, which had the theme: “Optimising Consumer and Brand Engagement”, dissected the role and benefits of advertising at the airport, the gateway to the nation’s economy.
The event, which held on 7 December, 2022 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, was attended by heads of marketing, managers of renowned brands, agencies, heads of sectoral groups, captains of advertising industry and representatives of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Felix Ehikhuemen, the Managing Director of Airpower, while giving his welcome address, said the company’s focus is to provide the IMC industry and companies a niche market to leverage their brands which has resulted in the warehousing of advert & media asset at airports, malls, prime & high traffic locations, street poles and mobile trucks.
He explained that the workshop was in collaboration with its partners, including New Crystal Communications Ltd. Nkpoko Ikenga, FAAN, Marks & Adams Investment among others who are concessionaires to FAAN.
“Our goal tonight is to put a searchlight on the tremendous opportunity in leveraging your brands at the Nigerian airports, especially because your record shows that this platform currently is being under-optimised. This workshop would be in two segments; the first would be a talk, and the second was the opportunity to showcase the assets and the platform that we have available,” he said.
Opening the floor for other speakers, Dr. Ken Onyeali Ikpe, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of Insight Redefini, said airport advertising remains a strong avenue to reaching a wide array of consumers who cut across the mid and higher income earners as well as a veritable channel for brands to showcase innovation and creativity. According to him, it is an effective means of creating brand awareness and positioning. He, however, reaffirmed that positioning is more important than awareness in this case.
Dr. Ikpe noted that airports do not have to be static or focus only on advertising, but can as well be used to tell cultural stories. Most importantly, he mentioned that the airport helps to see things beyond the conventional perspective, shape consumers’ impression and also build sustainable brands.
“Consumer impression is based on the number of times an advertisement is exposed to the consumer and such a message is able to have an important effect. How it helps them feel will determine their next line of action. Impression is important when a brand wants to create awareness, and awareness, for me, is simplistic because it gives attention, interest, desire and action. It provides an opportunity to do more,” Dr. Ikpe explained.
Alhaji Sadiku Rafindadi, Director of Commercial and Business Development, FAAN, represented by Hyacinth Ngwu, the General Manager, Commercial, Business Development, FAAN, confirmed that airport advertising is evolving and fast becoming the gateway of modern economy. He stated that one of the advantages inherent in airport advertising is the power of captivation by the aesthetic nature it bestows on the environment.
Mr. Ngwu commended the tenacity and resilience of the OOH sub-sector in bouncing back with full force irrespective of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the outdoor business.
“Advertising at the airport carries trustworthiness, reliability and, of course, international recognition. Take for instance, in 2020, the incident of COVID-19 came and we shut down the whole world, including the airports. I tell you as of 2021, businesses returned to the airport faster than other areas of business ventures, and they gave quick returns immediately after the pandemic.
“In the year 2018, our total passenger traffic at the airport was 16.37 million. In 2019, it rose to 17.58 million, in 2020, with the pandemic, it crashed to 9.35 million, but in 2021, it rose to 15.88 million. All businesses at the airport bounced back in 2022. Already we have recorded 18 to 19 million; that means we have surpassed 2019 figures. We are projecting about 20 million this year. It is statistics and a fact; so you can see that airport businesses are lucrative businesses,” Mr. Ngwu revealed.
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