EXMAN Holds 2016 AGM in Abuja

The third Annual General Meeting of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), is set to hold this weekend at the nation’s capital city, Abuja. According to the association, the two-day event will critically examine the theme: Building Nigeria through meaningful experiences – the role of the experiential Marketing Industry in building brand Nigeria.

Dr Rotimi Olaniyan President of EXMAN explained that this year’s AGM was moved to Abuja to enable the association establish a presence within government circles as well as showcase the significant contributions that the industry sector was able to make in the area of community and citizens engagement on behalf of policy makers and implementors in the public sector.

The event which is scheduled to hold between Friday 15th July and Saturday 16th July will have the association’s exco pay a courtesy visit to the House committee on Commerce, trade and Investment while also hosting an eminent speaker who will communicate the present administration’s vision in the area of citizens engagement and communications and how the private sector may be expected to contribute.

Also as part of the meeting, the findings of the Experiential industry’s first baseline study will be presented and is expected to form the basis for deliberations by members at the conference towards establishing a way forward for experiential marketing industry practitioners.

The high point of the conference however, shall be the formal launch and kick off of EXMAN’s Certified Brand Ambassadors Program (ECBAP), which is an initiative designed to re-organize the operating structure of the activation industry by establishing a Central register of Field activation personnel across the country, while also offering on-line and distance learning as well as all year round group life and personal accident cover to brand ambassadors recruited by any of EXMAN’s 35 member agencies.

EXMAN, the sectorial grouping of all Experiential and activation agencies in Nigeria, employs over 25,000 contract and part time field activation personnel on behalf of brands, Dr Olaniyan explains that these young people who are usually between the ages of 18 and 27 use the short term employment opportunity provided them as a stepping stone towards either funding their education or establishing an early foot hold within various vocations and careers.

The Certified Brand Ambassadors programme is intended to be the foundation of a more responsible and structured vocational development program as a way of combating youth unemployment, while also instilling better behaviour, discipline and professionalism within the experiential marketing industry which contributes over N30b annually.