Youths should embrace advertising profession – Steve Babaeko
By Felicia Nwosu
In a bid to show young people the attractive nature of advertising as a profession, Steve Babaeko, President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Chief Executive Officer of X3M Ideas, has called on young Nigerians to embrace the advertising profession and see it as a viable industry where they can have fun and still earn decent living.
The adman and current industry flagbearer made this statement during a one-on-one interview with MARKETING EDGE, while responding on how young people rule the digital world, and how the advertising profession can be made so attractive for the Nigerian youth.
He said: “As the new flagbearer in the industry today, I am closer to the youth constituency. If you look at my followership, it is made up of more young people. We will continue to encourage them to embrace advertising as an industry with the kind of business we run, and kind of values we hold.”
Speaking on digital, the AAAN helmsman agreed that Nigerian agencies are getting stronger and better equipped. He called on them to join the association to enable them enjoy the benefits of the association as members.
“Honestly, there is a new generation of advertising agencies that are springing up by the day; we keep encouraging more to join us because one of the key cardinal pillars of my campaign as an executive for this current board, is that we are going to embrace younger agencies and all of the agencies on the fringe of our industry especially those that ply within the digital space to come join us.”
The AAAN boss further re-assured members saying, “Once they join us, then they will begin to see the benefits of belonging to the association in terms of being guided by the operating code. By joining forces together to confront challenges, they will automatically be recognised by APCON.”
The X3M boss advised that, for agencies to double down on client satisfaction, they should adapt and adopt the motto of Saatchi and Saatchi agency which says: “Permanently Infatuated Clients”, an acronym they called PICS.
“If you really want your clients to be endeared to you, the quality of your service must be constantly improved upon. You must be able to be pro-actively take up some of the client’s challenges. The client must see passion and empathy, because we are like Siamese twins joined with the clients at the head. If anything happens to your clients, it will directly impact on you.”
As the 21st President of the AAAN, he reiterated the fact that the organisation has really come of age, almost hitting the golden age of 50 in the next two years. He revealed he had a lot of plans to take the association to the next level but unfortunately, it was interrupted by the Covid-19 crisis.
The President, while giving details on what practitioners should expect from the forthcoming AAAN AGM scheduled to hold in Ibadan on 23rd and 24th July, 2021, said: “This is going to be my first AGM as the President of the association; definitely for me, it is more special to me than most people. I look forward to hosting it in the very beautiful city of Ibadan. We look forward to sitting down with our members, and putting heads together to see how we can move our industry forward.”
He noted the AGM will host important personalities such as His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State and Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, who has jurisdiction over the industry as their special guests.
“We will also have a golf tournament. We will have Mr. Abubakakar Suleiman, MD of Sterling Bank Plc, Mitchell Elegbe MD/CEO of Interswitch, Mr. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Founder, Future Africa, and many others will be speakers at the event. It is all just going to be about learning and interacting with one another and having fun in the process.”
Reminiscing on his recently golden age of 50 years celebration, Steve who happily shared his happy moment said: “I feel great; I am probably the oldest person in my office right now. I am surrounded by many young men and women who everyday continue to challenge me and I always dare them.
“As long as I have those young people always pushing the envelope, trying to show me that they are better than I am, I will continue to want to rise up to the challenge and say: ‘I still have something and I am not so old after all’. It is a win- win situation for me and I am so happy to be surrounded by lots of young brilliant people.”
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.