Verdant Zeal Marketing Communications Group Managing Director, Tunji Olugbodi, spoke at the 42nd annual general meeting of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) in Osogbo on how marketing communications professionals have subverted the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) Act for financial gain.
Senior Correspondent, GODDIE OFOSE, was there.
Pre-election lull and IMC afterwards
People are being forced to look out for more medium to launch strategic planning as against long term goals and aspirations.
By this, we are able to plan longer and think outside the box to get better results. First, for ourselves as businesses; second for our clients; and third, in what we are able to do for our country – what I call value proposition.
Many expected many things to have happened from the new federal administration. It is expected that by now, it would have started hitting the ground running.
Governance is going on, just that we don’t have people in key positions, like ministers. But even at that, a lot of strategies are being carried out to create a good foundation for incoming ministers and heads of government agencies.
From the body language of the person driving the system, I mean President Muhammadu Buhari, one sees a leader trying to make it known to stakeholders that it is not going to be business as usual.
He is trying to let us know that for good governance to take place there is need to have a good structure and a strong institution. He is trying to let us know that a government needs a clear road map of its objective before hitting the ground.
The business community is going to take a cue from that.
We will be stronger by the time we are able to understand some of these protocols and good government framework. We will be better informed on the kind of resources we need to make things happen and the regulatory framework with which things can work.
Buhari’s trips and impact on destination branding
Shortly after Buhari was sworn in, he was invited by the G7, which had not happened in recent years. And being directly invited to the White House by President Barack Obama is like basically saying, ‘we are interested in you, we believe in you and are ready to offer you support.’
That support can touch on infrastructural growth, policy direction, insurgency, and other areas. Everybody needs to be reassured that you have people at your back to show that you are not working alone.
With such signal, everybody will fall into line because you have the support of the West. The G7 are the most powerful nations in the world with a global influence respected by other world leaders.
Having confidence in us, not only in Buhari but in Nigeria as a nation, can take Nigeria far. World leaders seem to believe in the integrity of the president and his ability to fix things.
All that is expected of us is patience. For instance, fighting corruption cannot be done overnight. One does it in a systematic manner that does not consume the entire time needed for governance.
What is currently going on are pointers that the months ahead will bring something good to the nation.
Marketing communication’s contribution to governance
We have a big role to play, which will complement whatever the government is bringing to the table for the economy.
The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) has sent a kind of policy direction to the government, which included what the advertising community can offer.
We made the government know the role we can play in repackaging the image of the country and repositioning the market for opportunities.
We intend to take a look at Nigeria in a pragmatic approach and see how we can market it better. This will be done pro bono.
Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa but unfortunately not much has been done to let the world know the unique things the country can offer the global market. The level of marketing we are doing for the entity called Nigeria today is smaller than what it should be.
We also need to build confidence in an organic manner from within. I used that liberally, because a lot of us that are even Nigerians look down at the potential the country has.
If we market Nigeria’s potential very well, it is one country that should be reckoned with by the rest of the world. We got it wrong first, from small things like perception, orientation, and the need for our people to know that we have to be a welcoming nation.
Branding is about experience, it is not just about sloganeering. Therefore it is important that we create a good branding experience that will reinforce those essential qualities the world needs to know.
Insufficient awareness of IMC by government
We need engagement to let stakeholders in the Nigerian Project know what the marketing industry can offer the economy and the country as a whole.
We have been involved in a small engagement before now but it is not strategic and at the level it should be. There is urgent need to raise the stakes, especially now when we are keen about contributing more into the repositioning effort of the government.
Part of the things we discussed during the business meeting session of the annual general meeting of the AAAN in Osogbo was the strategy of engaging stakeholders in the government and the business community.
We have created a good engagement platform between corporate Nigeria in the private sector and the advertising community but we think it should be taken beyond there.
If we engage the government the way we should, our leaders we see not only the value but also the wisdom in working with us as professionals to take Nigeria to the next level.
Nigeria as a beautiful bride and marketing industry preparedness
Nigeria’s marketing communication industry is mature enough to serve any multinational in the world. We have the resources and we have the experience.
You cannot serve the multinationals after they have arrived because before they even come at all, they have done their visibility studies and know that they have partners within who can make their businesses thrive.
It is important we know that no foreigner will understand a market like those who have mastered the culture and the nuances of the people of such country.
Before any of these multinationals come in they have had a clear indication of what they want to do and had the relevant contact with agencies that will make that possible.
We have become more relevant in the different chambers of commerce, and some agencies are involved in the few foreign direct investments we see around. Those are things that can give a foreign company the clear signal that there are people on the ground who can help them achieve their dream.
The Nigeria Export Promotion Council has also done a lot to build the confidence of foreign companies.
There have been several interactions between Nigerian practitioners and the multinationals at various levels and such meetings have rekindled their spirit that they have potential partners here who can fly their businesses.
However, we can still reach out to our members on the need to make our service more robust and be strategic. We should be involved in business transactions that will promote a long term relationship where values are considered.
Negotiation between advertising agency and client
That is a broad issue in advertising but I want to situate it in probably three perspectives, depending on what you are negotiating.
Number one, the regulation that guides the negotiation is important, what you are negotiating about, the resources involved and the shared interest on both sides.
This also involves the capacity to manage the client’s business and what kind of reward should the agency expect from the client.
Here, one will look beyond the traditional approach of looking at the service fee and the project fee to how to build trust and long term relationship.
Through this, an agency can surpass the target result and therefore attract reward from the client. In that, more values have been added, which will deepen the relationship.
Relationship and performance driven trend
Business pitch is a global standard of recruiting an agency. But after the exercise, it is now left for the two partners to work out how to push the relationship forward.
After being signed on, agency-client relationship must move beyond transaction to a long term partnership that can add value to both partners.
When business is relational, it goes beyond just ‘nice to meet you and you go your way’ into something bigger. This will be done by bringing in value added proposition that will take business to the next level.
When everybody is focused on value, it makes result better. When the quality of the service is enhanced, trust is built and the relationship is stronger. When values are being added, institutions will be willing to pay premium for services.
Business, especially in the advertising industry, must be dynamic because consumers are also dynamic and change in line with many factors.
One must be able to mirror those changes in consumers’ consumption pattern to communicate with them better and make future projections.
Challenges facing industry
We are yet to get to the promised land as a result of hitches but I am optimistic that things would still be alright. A major problem we face is regulation.
Brazilian advertising is thriving now not because they are magicians but because they are supported by their government by law, their incomes are guaranteed by law.
And there are certain things you cannot do by law in Brazil. Hence in terms of the power of advertising, and in terms of great work, Brazil is beginning to take over from the United Kingdom and United States.
We all know what happens in Ghana and some other places in West Africa. You cannot walk into any media house in Ghana and place an advert; they will refer you to the agency that created the ad.
But here, it is a different kettle of fish. Even the APCON Act is being manipulated.
People now resort to hiring or recruiting media people and house them in their companies. If we have effective regulation in our industry, it will help immensely.
Enough cash to run the business with is not available. A lot of agencies are under-funded and they are not able to attract or do the business they have to do.
Another thing tearing the industry apart is that there are very few spenders. Agency people are fighting themselves unnecessarily for the few businesses available. But if the market is opened up, there will be more business to work on.
Another thing bugging this industry is training and talent development. Advertising is a business of talent. We need to retrain and retrain ourselves to be able to fit into today’s market.
A similar problem is the retention of talent, which is now making us to compete with our clients to get jobs done.
You put an account executive on a job and the client says no, put him in corporate affairs. No agency, no matter how we try, can compete with banks and the telecoms industry on the retention of talent.
Yet, we are not producing enough of these talents. It is a big problem in our industry.
Has technology positively impacted advertising?
The answer is yes and no. Today you find an artist that cannot draw anymore. Today, because of the availability of material on the net, thinking is not too deep anymore; just plug in and you’ll get there.
But in terms of getting the job done, a job that would normally have taken you one month can now be delivered in top quality in two days. Technology has really come to our aid.
Making our creative people lazy is where I see the downside.
But in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of utilisation of time, then it’s a wonderful experience.
Before now, if you wanted to write a copy, you wrote a copy, and it went through a lot of processes and other colleagues before it became ready. But now, one person will do all these in 10 minutes.
So, it has been fantastic. I don’t know how we would have been able to do business without IT (information technology).
And even the other side of ICT (information communication technology), the communication end – you sit at your desk and communicate with the whole of your staff everywhere in one dial.
Technology has helped us. But for creative people, it has made them to be a bit lazy, except the very good ones.