Why we are setting agenda for Buhari’s next level govt. – IMC Experts
As preparations for the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office gathers steam, practitioners in the Integrated Marketing Communications, IMC, have unanimously tasked the Federal Government to urgently address the challenges bedeviling the sector if it wanted the industry to be reckoned with
globally.
According to them, the IMC industry is in comatose. They maintained that things would only take their proper shape and function optimally, if the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, constitutes a proper council for the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), as a regulatory agency of government.
They also argued that a substantive APCON Registrar should be appointed that can chart a path-way for the industry.
The President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Nigeria, Tunji Olugbodi, lamented that Nigeria leaders lack a holistic vision for the country in terms of celebrating creativity like other
climes.
“I think it is a shame for us not to have an APCON Council. We really need to have an APCON Council in place but beyond that we need to have government show and demonstrate a lot more interest in what happens within the marketing communications industry,” he said.
Mr. Olugbodi further called for the establishment of an Advertising Day, a day set aside to celebrate everything that has to do with the marketing and communications industry.
In his words: “We need to have an Advertising Day and I speak as the President of IAA Nigeria that comprises all the marketing communications bodies. We need to have a celebration of everything that has to do with the industry in Nigeria.”
“When I say celebration, I mean such events as seminars, workshops and festivals that have to do with the celebration of creativity and ideas pretty much like what Brazil has been able to use to reposition itself as a very creative country. Pretty much like why people go to South Africa for most of the creative demands and enterprises and I think that that is what we need.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director, X3M Ideas Steve Babaeko, advised the Federal Government to constitute a new APCON Council, stressing that the advertising industry without an APCON Council is like a plane flying without a Control Tower.
Mr. Babeko empathically pointed out that without an APCON Council and substantive APCON Registrar; there would be no hope for the IMC industry in Nigeria. He, however, stressed that the Federal Government should prioritise working with registered AAAN agencies, adding that it should make it a matter of procurement law that no agency of government can do any form of communication business with an agency that is not a registered AAAN agency.
On his part, the Managing Director, BrandEye Media, Femi Adelusi, advocated for the choice of a Minister of Communication that knows the nitty-gritty of the marketing communications industry.
Mr. Adelusi stressed that the era of appointing politicians who know little or nothing in the IMC industry was over.
In his words: “For me, the Federal Government should appoint a Minister of Communications that knows the nitty-gritty of the marketing communications industry. One who understands the need of an APCON Council. The Minister should not just be a politician but a practitioner that will be what I would love to see, that is one.”
“The second thing is that for a long time, we don’t have an APCON Council. There is an Acting Registrar that is doing a great job but from my conversations with them, there is a lot of decisions that can’t be taken because there is no existing APCON Council and that needs to be done and government needs to appoint a substantive Registrar for APCON so that he/she can take decisions that will impact on our communications industry and I think if they can do these two things, we should be fine, let’s start with that first.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Noah’s Ark advertising agency Lanre Adisa, opined that the Federal Government should formulate a policy direction for the IMC industry. In his words: “I think the most important thing is that we have done a term under the President Buhari’s led administration where our industry did not have a governing council for APCON. For me that is agenda number one, that needs to be treated with utmost urgency and respect and that way we can chart our own part in terms of what to do.”
Continuing, he said, “The other thing for me is that there must be a clear government policy on matters of communications. You know even with government agencies, who handle their communications. You know we are selling Nigeria as a brand, what is our role in all of these things or how do you pitch for government businesses? How do you ensure that this industry can actually earn its real value? There is a whole lot but let start with the council so that we can put our house in order and get things going.”
Lamenting profusely, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Neukleos; a marketing and technology company, Bukola Akingbade, pointed out that the Federal Government does not even have an agenda for the IMC industry. She stressed that government should focus and revitalise the economy for businesses to thrive.
“If the current government does not prioritise the economy, businesses are going to keep closing down; factories are going to keep closing down. We have seen P&G closed; we have seen Suntory did same. We have a lot of multinationals closing their factories; so it means that from the marketing perspective, there will be a lot more less for us, everybody is going to be stingy with their money and I think that there will be a decline if they don’t deal and fix the economy,” she lamented.
Recall that the Advertising practitioners under the aegis of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), and retired veterans condemned in strong terms the alleged appointment or nomination of non advertising and marketing practitioners into the new board of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) when the
government was planning to constitute the council in 2018 and that APCON Council did not see the light of the day.
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