MIPAN President urges operators to ‘open up’ to foreign investments inflow

Advertising Agency operators in Nigeria’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) sector have been advised on the need to open up their operations in order to attract foreign investments inflow to their businesses.

This advice was handed down to agency practitioners by a communications expert, Group MD/CEO of Insight Publicis, Dr Ken Onyali Ikpe while speaking in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE in Lagos.

Ikpe, who doubles as President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) is of the view that Nigeria was gone past the era when “one-man or two-man” agency structure could deliver the right mix of solutions to complex communication demands, hence, he said agencies must have to ‘open up’ and allow foreign interests to flow in and help grow their business.

The agency boss  emphasised also on the need to allow inclusion of the younger generation of practitioners in the business, not only by investing in them but more especially, to ensure they remain in the system to continue the good works that older generations have done.

“I think a lot of investment is required. It’s no longer an industry where one or two people can come together and a push a company. You must open up for investments so that foreign investors can come into it and then interact with your structure and enhance the structure.”

Taking a critical examination of the entire brand building project, especially in Nigeria’s environment, he noted that ‘courage and consistency’ were basic instruments needed to build brands and added that organisations must ensure that their branding budgets exists separately from their  marketing budgets.

“For me, brand building budget is a different budget. So, the question I ask myself is;   “If my market share is not going to increase, how do I make sure that it doesn’t decrease?” That’s where the budgeting comes in. So, you have to be consistent and not just consistent but ruthlessly consistent,” he said.

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