Advertising practitioners relive the rough, torturous journeys through 2017

F OR quite a number of practitioners in the nation’s integrated marketing communications industry, despite some flashes of brilliance recorded in the industry,  in the outgone year, the general consensus, among stakeholders,  was that of a  rough, torturous and not –too- impressive year. A year that still lives those tell-tale signs, behind, weeks after its exit.

One of those factors, they claimed, held down the industry, in the outgoing year, was the yet- to- be sorted out governing council for  its apex regulatory body, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). This was further compounded at the twilight of the year, when the newly-reconstituted board of the regulatory agency, announced by the government, failed  to meet the statutory requirements of that board.

For instance,  the body had been  without a governing council since the last one headed by Mr. Udeme Ufot, the SO& U boss, was dissolved by the incumbent Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, shortly after assuming office, few years ago.

Unfortunately, not a few practitioners believe it is far from being Uhuru as far as the issue is concerned, even with the announcement of the board.

For example, the President of the Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria (AAAN), one of the sectoral groups in the industry had vowed that practitioners would fight the decision with every legal instrument available to them.

The marketing profession was not without its own fair share of the 2017 challenges; albeit self-inflicted, too. For instance, what started like every other peaceful year at the Head Office  of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), in Lagos,  was to be shattered, later when the  Tony Agenmonmen-led council of the institute,  decided to do away with 28 out of its 31-member workforce, and also shut down the  institute’s zonal offices.

Expectedly, this was  not without a fierce protest from some of the disengaged staff, who felt the disengagement process ‘did not pass the ‘integrity test’.

It was obvious that the institute, and by extension, marketing practice in the country,  was set for another round of unrests. The aggrieved were ready to go full throttle  to ensure they were not inappropriately disengaged.

“Can we say the recruitment  process handled by the professional HR Consulting  Agency really passed an integrity test when the process retained only three old employees out of which only one of the retained staff applied and was interviewed for a new role?” the disengaged staff had argued, in their protest letter to the leadership of the institute.

But the council was adamant too, insisting the whole exercise was done in good faith!

Interestingly, the crisis that started in the first quarter of the year, did not get resolved until the twilight of the year, a development that really held marketing activities down in the year.

Perhaps an indication that the institute has been able to put the ugly development behind it, was its eventual relocation of its former office from the GMD Complex, in Shangisha area of Lagos, to a more befitting one in Ikeja GRA.

Besides, it also held its annual Best Marketing Student Award Ceremony, a very key programme in the institute’s calendar, where marketing students of the nation’s higher institutions are annually celebrated.

Worst hit in the industry, as far as 2017 is concerned, was the Out –of- Home. And, practitioners in this sector would not mince words about the trauma they passed through in the year.

It is on record that practitioners, here, have been having a running battle with the  Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA), the agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating outdoor advertising in the state, over  policies, considered  inimical to the growth of outdoor advertising  business in the state.

For instance, one  of  such,  had been the agency’s  insistence on payment for vacant billboards, by practitioners, a policy they described  as a major disincentive to outdoor business in the state.

“The year has been very challenging,  tough and rough. The regulatory environment is stifling outdoor business. Remember advertisers patronise us, not because they like us, but because they want their products promoted. But if they realise the cost of doing this, with us, is becoming unreasonable, they look for alternatives, the way they’ve been doing, of late”, explained Mr. Emma Ajufo, a foremost outdoor practitioner and the Vice President of Outdoor Advertisers Association of Nigeria (OAAN), the umbrella body of outdoor advertisers in the country.

For Mrs. Sola Salako-Ajulo, a consumer activist, Year 2017 was quite memorable for the average Nigerian consumer. Salako, who is the founder of a consumer advocacy group, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON),  argued that though consumers’ rights are still being violated, events in the outgoing year, she noted, bore eloquent testimonies to the fact the average Nigerian consumer  is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

“Now they are gradually becoming aware of their rights. Now they know they can protest any bad product or service. That is why we witnessed an unprecedented lambast of products on the social media. Consumers now know that even if they are snubbed and the relevant regulatory agencies refused to take action, they have a space in the social media, where they can go and complain and be heard,” she stated.

The CAFO N boss however berated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for not being responsive enough to the plight of the consumers in that market segment.