In a powerful step toward fostering stronger collaboration between academia and the industry, industry key players increasingly turn to town-gown relationships to meet emerging demands and shape the future. These collaborations between academia and the corporate world bridge knowledge gaps, nurture future talent, and ensure the sector stays responsive to dynamic market realities.

Partnerships Yield Mutual Benefits

This approach proves mutually beneficial to both parties, ensuring the sustainable growth and development of the marketing industry while preparing young talents with the tools, mindset, and values they need to lead it tomorrow.

The town-gown relationship, a symbiotic partnership, enables members of the “town” industry professionals, corporate bodies, and marketing leaders to make significant contributions to their immediate academic communities.

These contributions include donations of infrastructure, equipment, and learning resources such as buildings, furniture, computers, textbooks, and writing materials.

In return, the institutions provide a stream of educated, enthusiastic, and increasingly industry-ready talent.

Collaboration Drives Capacity and Development

This collaboration also plays vital roles in capacity building, improves local security through youth engagement, drives job creation, and fosters increased economic development in host communities.

More importantly, it equips young participants with a combination of hard and soft skills, industry knowledge, cultural values, professional attitudes, language fluency, and social awareness that align with the evolving needs of marketing communication.

Industry Players Institutionalise Engagements

In the bid to meet future demands for professionalism and shape a workforce that is ready for tomorrow’s challenges, several sectors within the advertising and marketing communications ecosystem include town-gown engagements as permanent fixtures in their annual calendars.

Through various formats such as competitions, workshops, colloquiums, and collaborative challenges, they prepare young men and women who have been tested and trained in the core realities of the industry.

ADVAN Strengthens Marketing Talent Pipeline

The Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) also adopts the approach. It launched an annual brief writing training and competition targeted at young brand and marketing managers. With a focus on improving campaign efficiency and creative thinking, the initiative culminates in recognition at the ADVAN Awards for Marketing Excellence, where winners are showcased and celebrated.

EXMAN Injects Youthful Energy into the Industry

The Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) embraced the trend during its recent Brand Experience Summit. A pitch competition involving students from Yaba College of Technology, University of Lagos, and Lagos State University (LASU) brought fresh, youthful energy into the industry gathering. LASU eventually emerged the winner, claiming the ₦1 million grand prize amid thunderous applause.

Angela Makinwa, Vice President of EXMAN, captured the moment with deep emotion:
“The entire world filled up with students. They’re excited. What we’re doing is beautiful because we don’t want people to come out from universities and enter the workplace with no exposure or preparation. The pitch was to create an AI campaign for an FMCG brand of their choice. We started with five universities within Lagos because it was our first time, and we weren’t sure what kind of feedback we would get. But it’s been amazing, we’re definitely going bigger.”

This initiative gives students a rare opportunity to transition from classroom theory to real-world execution. It prepares them for the shift from entry-level positions to leadership roles, giving them a deep understanding of the industry long before they fully step into it.

ARCON’s Colloquium Raises the Bar

At the Advertising Industry Colloquium 3.0, hosted by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), the town-gown model once again came to life in a high-impact student pitch competition.

After an intense contest, Covenant University emerged as the overall winner with 564 points, walking away with the ₦1 million prize. Pan Atlantic University came second with ₦750,000, followed by Rivers State University with ₦500,000, and University of Ilorin, which placed fourth and received ₦250,000.

In his welcome address, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Director General of ARCON, emphasised the urgent need for stronger academic-industry alignment:
“Any industry failing to connect ‘town and gown’ will face crises,” he warned. “We must create a seamless link between what is taught and what is practiced.”

Media Guild Inspires the Next Generation

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) joined the wave of town-gown inclusion at the 2025 edition of the Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture. By extending invitations to students across Nigerian universities, the Guild gave aspiring media professionals a rare chance to interact with veterans in the editorial space, further signaling that the industry’s future depends on early, meaningful integration with academia.

Building a Future-Ready Workforce

These town-gown engagements do far more than create buzz; they shape the DNA of a future-ready workforce. They create a pipeline of professionals who don’t need years to adapt to the system; instead, they enter with practical experience, industry understanding, and the confidence to lead.

Steve Onavi, Managing Director of mediaReachOMD, summed it up powerfully:
“I was super excited. If there’s anything we need to do in this country, it’s to empower the younger generation for growth. I believe our problems in Nigeria and the continent won’t be solved outside, they’ll be solved here, by the younger generation. And that’s why I’m passionate about what we’re seeing in these initiatives. The talent is there, and the potential is massive.”

Bridging the Gap for Long-Term Impact

With each pitch, workshop, and challenge, the gap between academia and industry narrows. These young people don’t just gain exposure; they become agents of change, ready to step into the system with full awareness of its demands and equipped with the tools to meet them.

Indeed, with such initiatives multiplying across sectors, the IMC industry does not  just prepare its future , instead, it actively shapes it. And as students move from lecture halls to podiums, boardrooms, and creative labs, the town-gown relationship continues to prove itself a powerful force in building a smarter, more professional, and more sustainable marketing communications ecosystem.

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