Organisers of the outdoor advertising premier reward system, “Brand As King” (BAK) award, have urged the government and practitioners to nurture, protect, and sustain the environment from global warming and its effects.
Billboard World Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Maureen Umanah, made the plea in Lagos when she briefed reporters on plans for the fifth edition of the biannual award.
She said “we are looking at outdoor advertising as a veritable tool to propagate this message. That is why the theme for this year edition is ‘Out-of-Home Media as a Veritable Tool in Aesthetics and Environmental Sustainability.’”
The 2013 edition held in Accra was attended by the creme de la creme of the advertising business in Nigeria and Ghana.
This year’s edition will be held in Lagos on November 15 and is expected to attract personalities in advertising, banking, entertainment, media, and the government.
Umanah denied reports that BAK is for profit making.
“The Brand As King instituted by the publication is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative aimed at encouraging, motivating, and rewarding key industry players and brands that have distinguished themselves and added immense value to the growth and sustenance of outdoor media business and the Nigerian society at large,” she explained.
She said her magazine was the first in Nigeria to create a category of award for brand journalists and reward the winner with N50,000.
“It is on record that it was Billboard World magazine that commenced the honouring of brand reporters in the advertising sector. This we did by attracting a cash reward to the best media reporter of the year category of which we have increased from N50,000 to N100,000.”
Umanah insisted that outdoor advertising has come a long way, “right from its rudimentary days when plywood was used in fabricating billboards to this day, when we have high-tech digital LEDs.”
She said outdoor advertising has done so much in beautifying the environment, made possible by the contributions of individuals and companies.
Billboard World seeks to inspire, promote, and celebrate excellence in individuals and corporate bodies that have made significant contributions to the growth and development of the advertising industry and other achievers in the society.