The absence of advertising agencies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as quoted continues to stunt the growth of the industry and its contribution to the economy, according to NSE President, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
He bared his mind at e-Motion Advertising, an outdoor advertising firm dinner in Lagos in honour of new Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) Chairman, Udeme Ufot.
He urged all stakeholders, particularly APCON, to create an enabling environment for the ad industry to embrace the capital market and source for funds to compete with peers around the world.
Despite over 85 years of advertising practice in Nigeria, the NSE is yet to list one core advertising business, even as agencies like Insight, SO&U, Prima Garnet, Rosabel, DDB Lagos, Cosse, LWT-LTC can compete well among peers in other markets.
Said Aig-Imoukhuede: “Scarcity of capital prevents agencies from deploying powerful tools. The constraint is not a lack of ability and ideas but capital. That can change by coming to the capital market.
“I only know the industry some few years ago as a convivial group of people of like minds. It was later I discovered that APCON is an important organ of the government.
“Our economy is facing challenges and it is tough for business. The principal source of our problem is a very strange structural relevance and foreign exchange.
“People will talk about import substitution and diversification as the solution to some of our economic challenges but I think the strongest source of diversification is profession, be it law or advertising.
“Why do we find it difficult to monetise our profession? You will tell me you need an advert. I know what advert has done to Access Bank and some of our business concerns but how come you don’t find advertising agencies listed on the NSE?”
He recalled that one of world biggest advertising conglomerates, WPP, started as a business before diversifying into advertising.
While it will be strange to most people to know that WPP was formally known as Wire and Plastic Product Company, he added, it has grown to become one of the world’s biggest agencies with $21 billion market capital.
“I saw the impact of Ufot’s SO&U agency played in GTB with ‘Shouldn’t You Bank with Us” advert, and Access Bank ‘Bullet Train’ advert. But I now understand why his agency and Udeme are not receiving surreal salary or listed on the NSE.
“There is scarcity of capital. Why do agencies shoot adverts in South Africa using Nigerian characters and storylines? It is because SA agencies have access to capital to build structure?”
Aig-Imoukhuede advised practitioners to use the NSE to build business and expand to compete with global agencies. “Your industry should use the capital market to develop the industry, build structure, so that no Nigerian advert agency will shoot an advert in South Africa.”
E-Motion Advertising Chief Executive Officer, Paul Onyia, urged the new
APCON council under Ufot to address debts in the industry and regulate political advertising.
Ufot promised to work with stakeholders to drive the advertising reform which the previous council chaired by Lolu Akinwunmi got the federal government to gazette.