The second edition of the Annual Advertising Industry Colloquium (AIC 2.0), of The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) will hold tomorrow June 27, 2024, at the Sheba Events Centre in Ikeja, Lagos.
The event which is a synergy between academia and professionals, aims to foster a well-structured advertising industry.
Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director-general of ARCON, said that the event theme, “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Industrial Excellence in Nigeria,” was conceived to ensure that both the academia and professionals were on the same pedestal.
He said the lines of advertising and other courses, including public relations, were getting blurred by the day. He added that technology was causing a major disruption in advertising, particularly the tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI) being introduced into the profession.
“It is very important to us as an industry that is challenged with so many things to ensure that we bring everybody into the same space. Now we have a culture, we have religion, we have our peculiarities, how do we marry these peculiarities with global trends,” he queried.
Dr. Fadolapo further said that the colloquium would give the opportunity to formally present the council’s ‘Advertising Industry Journal.’
According to him, the journal is a collection of research in different areas of advertising that have been done.
Dr. Fadolapo said, “They have interrogated the body of knowledge, they have come up with the findings, and they’ve come up with their contributions to knowledge. Now the book being published, the journal, is going to become an authority and will be cited in research.
The event will feature a lineup of dignitaries and speakers which include ARC. Sonny S. T. Echono, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund), will chair the colloquium. Other notable guests include Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa, Chairman/CEO of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Professor Tahir Mamman, Honourable Minister of Education.
Dr. Bayo Adekanmbi, Founder of Data Science Nigeria, will deliver the keynote address, focusing on the colloquium’s central theme. A panel of distinguished discussants, including Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy from the University of Lagos and Mr. John Ugbe, MD/CEO of Multichoice Nigeria, will further explore the implications of emerging technologies for the advertising industry. Other panellists include Engr. Dozie Mbanefo, Managing Director, New Crystal Communications; Yinka Adebayo, Head, Procurement, OMD West Africa; Kelechi Nwosu, MD, TBWA/Concept and Tunji Adeyinka, GMD, Republicom Group.
The colloquium, which will be declared open by Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, is set to be a comprehensive one-day event featuring a keynote address, panel discussions, and an advertising pitch competition by the departments of Mass Communications in eight select tertiary institutions.