Industry experts’ laud ARCON’s agility urges subtility on localization initiative
By Oghale Mafuru
Against the backdrop of the growing interdependence of world’s economies, cultures and populations as a result of technological revolution and international interconnectedness, industry experts have posited that globalization has blurred the lines of individualism and that nations now strive on international relationships.
The experts who lauded the responsiveness of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON to its mandate to ensure strict adherence to the advertising code of practice urged the apex regulatory council to review the policy on localization to prevent retaliatory response from other countries which will be detrimental to the economic survival of the country.
Moses Mogbulu, Head of Marketing, Vitaform affirmed that the localization policy is in line with the Federal Government local content initiative and that ARCON as a government agency is expected to conform to those guidelines but that the latest policy regarding the use of foreign models and voice-over artistes is too stringent and may indirectly hinder the realization of the economic goals intended by the policy.
While noting the policy has positive impacts and shortfalls, the marketing expert urged the advertising regulator to holistically assess the impact of the policy to mitigate adverse reactions.
“A big consequence of this policy is what we call retaliatory measures. It is normal that when you make a policy that affects other countries, those countries’ agencies will not just sit back and keep quiet and look at you. So far Nigeria has come up with this policy, other countries will follow suit and when they do, they will ban Nigerians from performing in campaigns for their brands in their own country. That will also reduce the foreign earnings by Nigeria which will directly affect the country’s GDP because these monies are most times repatriated to Nigeria for development and projects and business growth and various areas of economic growth you can think of.
“The question you will now ask is how many Nigerians are doing this activity outside Nigeria vis a vis the foreigners that are truly doing this in Nigeria. By the time you do the equation, you will find out that we may be the biggest loser because Nigerians are everywhere doing great things in the entertainment industry, advertising industry and this policy take the retaliatory measure, it will surely do a back fire to the economy of Nigeria which I think ARCON will have to look at this clearly with all sense of humility and every analysis to be sure that this policy will not lead to retaliatory measure from other countries,” he added.
For his part, Mobolaji Martins who extolled the new leadership of ARCON for the efforts being made to reposition the industry for growth, stated that the recent policy on localization is too drastic and severe.
“I must say that I admire the agility and courage of the new Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria under the leadership of Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo. Under his leadership, we have seen some impressive activity in terms of making the regulator relevant beyond just the collection of processing fees. We have also experienced initiatives focused on learning and capacity development as well as literal harmonization of the industry.
“With regards to the specific ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022 which bans the use of foreign models and voice-over artists on any advertisement used in the Nigerian advertising space with effect from 1st October 2022, I think it’s almost akin to using an RPG to deal with a rat infestation. While I understand the need to improve localization not only for revenue purposes but also to grow and influence capacity development, I think the outright ban on foreign models and VOAs is quite excessive”.
According to him, over regulation stifles the growth of any industry and the country at large and that in the pursuit of localization, there is need for caution to avoid adverse consequences.
“If the industry seeks any form of growth, then we should focus on harnessing local resources, however, this needs to be graduated. Markets are not built by overregulation, and we can see some of the effects of such practices with the current FX regime, it simply hasn’t worked. For a creative industry, I am more horrified about the effects of overregulation. Ideation in itself is stifled within such limitations. If my content idea requires a foreign projection, should I then get a Nigerian model to act the role? We need to understand that we now live in a global village connected in seconds through technology”.
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