THE President of the Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria (AAAN), Mr Lanre Adisa, has called on media practitioners covering the marketing communication beat to devote more space for advertisements review, since that genre of brand journalism is gradually experiencing a decline.
Adisa, who is also the president of the Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG), made the request when some officials of the Brands Journalists’ Association of Nigeria (BJAN) paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos.
The Noah’s Ark boss believed the appeal had become imperative in order to deepen brand journalism, enhance creativity and uplift the integrated marketing communications space.
He added that giving more space and time for brand review would keep stakeholders, especially brand owners and creative agencies in the sector, on their toes.
Adisa allayed the fear that such reviews might cause ill-feelings within the nation’s ad ecosystem, insisting that, rather, the industry would have a lot to gain from such development, if done in good faith by the critic.
“The fact remains that the industry needs it. The art of ad reviewing is dying, and my special appeal is for it to be resuscitated. Let’s talk.about global events, for instance the awards. Can we look at those that won, and those that didn’t, and the reasons behind these performances? I don’t think anybody would begrudge the writer of such critique, because you can not always have things your way all the time, as a practitioner,” he stated.
Adisa, also assured the visiting BJAN executives of the readiness of AAAN to support the association, especially in the area of capacity building.
“Capacity building among members is also critical because we believe by lending our support to that cause, we are building a virile brand journalism, and helping the industry to grow,” he stated.
The Chairman of the association, Daniel Obi, had earlier explained that the essence of the visit was to solicit for AAAN’s support, as the World Consumer Rights Day, approaches. He added that the association would be marking this year’s edition on March 14, instead of the globally recognised March 15 date, due to logistics issues, and the need to enhance robust participation from critical stakeholders.
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