The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, (ARCON) has unveiled plans for the third edition of its National Advertising Conference (NAC) which is scheduled to hold from the 6th to the 8th of December 2023 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The unveiling which was made known by the organisers during a press briefing held last Monday, October 2nd at L’eola Hotel, Ikeja, Maryland Lagos promises to not only be educative and insightful, but also to be beneficiary to practitioners and the economy as a whole.
Speaking on the theme “Marketing Communication As An Enabler Of National Transformation’ the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr. Tunji Adeyinka said, the theme of the event speaks to the new administration and the transfer of power that we had earlier this year and to form the centre of this, three key issues are picked from the last National Advertising Conference which is ‘determining the size of the industry, ‘the contribution to GDP’ and ‘the multiplier effect
“The multiplier effect means that for every kobo spent in advertising, it is translated into a certain amount in the economy, then we decided that we would start a committee on that assignment that will put together the contribution of this industry to GDP and the multiplier effect to GDP and also the social factors and other contributions that the industry have made.”
“The committee will examine the contribution by employment, contribution by value and use a formula to determine how it contributes to the growth of the economy.
“In planning this year, we set out very clearly to not just replicate but to have a conference that is able to deliver on some of the key highlights and narratives of the industry.” He added.
In his welcome address, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, Director-General, ARCON, said “Today’s event is not about just ARCON, it is about the industry. Therefore, we inaugurated two major committees ‘The Brand Nigeria Committee’ led by the President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Steve Babaeko, and ‘The GDP Multiplier Committee’ led by the President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Femi Adelusi.
“The Brand Nigeria Committee is the initiative of the industry to take a look at Nigeria as a brand and come up with a campaign. As an industry, this is part of our activities for the 2023 National Advertising Conference to build our dear Nigeria and build communication for it.
“The second committee which is the GDP multiplier committee will look into the industry spending, the contribution to GDP, and the effect of the contribution. It is just for us to sit down, interrogate, and discuss every other area that contributes to this profession we call advertising.” He added.
According to him, the committee is the industry’s endeavor to position the brand Nigeria among the committee of nations. “We know that professionals are the best for this task which is why as part of the National Advertising Conference, we will assess all elements of our brand Nigeria and develop a communication strategy.”
In addition, the President of AAAN and Chairman of the Brand Nigeria Committee, Steve Babaeko said “For me, any opportunity to serve this great country is a privilege, so it is a privilege for me to chair this committee to develop something sustainable in terms of branding for this great country called Nigeria. There is always the need to give this country a very beautiful face which is why it is time to look at the bright side to see the country.
“At the end of this conference, I hope we are able to do something befitting for Nigeria.” He added.
Femi Adelusi, president of MIPAN and chairman of the GDP multiplier committee while speaking on his committee said “Our assignment is a very important one, one thing that joins everyone around this table is the state of our economy. In recent month, we all know there has been so many policy and strategies on how to fix our economy, this is something that determines how well we are as individuals, families, and business. It also determines where our nation Nigeria stands in Africa from an economic point of view.
“We believe the advertising profession plays a vital key role and the numbers are there in terms of absolute numbers to contribution to GDP but beyond the absolute numbers are the indirect numbers which are the multiplier. Beyond the numbers reported on GDP, a lot needs to be put together in terms of indirect impact and how all these come together to impact the economy, as what we need to do in influencing the strategies and policies of government to make sure that the industry also continues to get the right support that will make our work a lot easier.”
Among industry stakeholders and leaders at the press briefing were Chief George Onwujiariri, Vice President, the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN); Dr. Creg Odutayo, representative of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON); Angela Makinwa, Vice President of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) who represented Tolulope Medebem, President of EXMAN; and Dr. Joe-Euhene Onuorah, Director, Registration, and Professional Development team at the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria.