By Jeremiah Agada
The International Advertising Association, IAA, a global association that brings together advertisers, media practitioners and agencies with presence in over 70 countries across the world, recently inaugurated the Nigeria chapter of the association at Radisson Blu, GRA Ikeja, Lagos.
Following the inauguration, Dr. Tunji Olugbodi, Chief Executive Officer of the Verdant Zeal Group was made the President of IAA, Nigerian Chapter. Other executive members of IAA Nigeria includes the CEO of BrandEye Media, Femi Adelusi, Vice President and ADVAN Executive Secretary, Ediri Ediale, Treasurer.
While speaking at the inauguration, the IAA Chairman and global President, Felix Tataru, said there was need for the vibrant Nigerian market to key into best global practices and networking a platform like IAA offers, hence the inauguration. He added, “Media, brands and agencies must abide by the standards of mouth-to-ear and mind communication processes in order to stay relevant and to honour the past and build the future for the Nigerian advertising industry.”
In his keynote address, the Chief Executive Officer of Insight Publicis Nigeria, Feyi Olubodun, highlighted how advertising agencies should add more value in the fast and changing business economy of the world, Nigeria especially.
“We have always prided ourselves more often than we deserve and clients have generously allowed us this liberty,” he said. “Prior to this time, advertising was an industry filled with men and women of density, who were trained to be branded and clients hired top marketing practitioners from the advertising industry. In less than a decade, the industry has come to a stage where there are few giants and fewer acolytes; members now care more on how to get paid and bag awards instead of doing their jobs well.”
Olubodun therefore opined that advertisers should raise the fundamental skill level of current and future practitioners in the industry.
Earlier in an interview with a team of journalists, Olugbodi who is the new President of IAA, Nigeria Chapter, clarified the roles and objectives of IAA in Nigeria. He said, “IAA is not just about the advertising industry as we know but all-encompassing to include everyone that has business with marketing communications in general.
“In the Nigerian chapter, we have made conscious efforts to have representatives from other organisations such as AAAN, ADVAN, EXMAN, OAAN, MIPAN etc. When we talk of unity of purpose, it is imperative we focus on that unity not in the amorphous sense but to ensure that we collaborate to ensure the vision is unified to propel ourselves for the future.
In his closing remarks, the Vice President, IAA Nigeriand Chief E Femi Adelusi, believes the coming of the global advertising body will provide leadership of inspiration in the era of enormous change.
IAA has once had a viable Nigerian chapter then led by Late May Nzeribe, CEO, Sunrise D’Arcy and former Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), before it became comatose and eventually inactive in the IAA. Currently, in Africa, only IAA Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt Chapters exist.