IMC stakeholders must take a definitive stand on debt management – Beam Media boss
An out -of-home adverting specialist, Kingsley Omo Abumene has advised stakeholders across Nigeria’s Integrated Marketing Communications Industry to think towards putting in place definite standard procedures for management of debts in the industry.
Abumene, Managing Director/CEO of Beam Media Company Limited is of the opinion that issues of debts poses serious challenge in the industry and as such stakeholders must take a definitive stand in addressing it.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE in Lagos, the outdoor industry expert specifically criticised the controversial 120 days credit term policy offered by multinational companies describing the policy as a dangerous trend capable of destroying the industry.
”Debt is a very worrisome development in the industry. It borders us as practitioners, and it’s part of the reason why we feel that there is a need to put standards in place to ensure that we have good terms of engagement.
“You find a situation whereby we are basically funding the clients business. You can’t go and buy a bottle of beer without paying in cash and the same thing, I think, should apply for advertising services.
“We’ve had a situation now where multinationals are doing to us what they are unable to do in their home countries. Two things responsible for that: firstly, we allow it and, secondly, they keep pushing it. But we have a standard operating procedure that we are working on and we intend to communicate it to the press and to stakeholders very soon,” he revealed.
He continued: “The irony about debts is that if you do not pay me when you ought to, it will affect my services to you and others going forward. So, you find a situation whereby some practitioners are forced to compromise and then you turn round to blame them for poor services and things like that.
“APCON does not like it. That is the least I know. OAAN does not like it either. But everything basically comes back to standard. So, if we have agreed on a particular industry standard, then any party that violates it will be clear for all to see. But where such standards don’t exist, you can do almost anything and get away with it.”
According to the company boss, so much distrust, lack of transparency and integrity issues exist within the industry and all of these owe to lack of standard procedures on ground for handling issues in the industry.
He added: “There is mutual suspicion among practitioners because those regulatory standards are not there. Once those standards are there either from the client’s side or even from the agency side, any party that goes against it could be penalised or even sued. Yes, you are at liberty to do that, but when things are opaque, vague and without clear standards, this is what you get.”
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