AIC 2.0: For The Industry To Thrive, We Must Build Bridges Between Town And Gown, Says Fadolapo, ARCON DG
The Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo has stressed that for each sector to thrive and succeed in the marketing communications industry, stakeholders must deliberately build bridges between the town and the gown.
He said this while giving his welcome address at the Advertising Industry Colloquium 2.0 themed “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Practice in Nigeria” and held on Thursday, 27 June, 2024 at the Sheba Event Centre, Ikeja. Lagos.
In the words of the DG, “The AIC is one of the greatest things happening in our industry, this important event, as always, is set to bring the academia and the practitioners in the advertising and marketing communications industry together to dialogue and exchange ideas on how to improve the Nigerian advertising ecosystem.
“I am very pleased that we will be witnessing another intellectual boost in the industry that would add tremendous and invaluable information to our knowledge and giving credible reference from first hand insight and experienced speakers and panelists with the theme “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Practice in Nigeria”.
Emphasizing on the academia and stakeholders contribution, the DG said the contribution has helped display the passion that helps in the effort to realize the fundamental goals of keeping the profession and business of advertising and marketing communications healthy.
According to him, the event will also afford another opportunity for tertiary institutions to participate in a pitch competition judged by experts in the industry with firsthand experience and who have mentored and groomed international standard executives in the advertising and marketing communications businesses.
“The uncommon challenges and elations in the industry are expected to be conversed, harnessed, and put to mutual benefits. There are always additional ideas and trends to learn and to share in our industry. We will always appreciate the contributions of the academia to the body of knowledge, the sharpening of the skills set that makes up the body are also interrogated from time to time to meet or exceed societal demands in line with best global practices.”
In his remarks, Professor Rotimi Olatunji, PhD, rра Chairman, Advertising Industry Colloquium and Journal Committee, said “Increasingly, the transformative power of technology in shaping the advertising and marketing communications education and industry is phenomenal. From digital marketing to data analytics, emerging technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for growth and innovation in scholarship and professional practices.
The event witnessed a pitch contest involving selected campuses. At the end, Lagos State University took the second runners-up position and went home with N500,000. University of Ilorin was the first runners-up and went home with N750,000 while Covenant University won a million naira and was the overall winner of the pitch competition.
Other schools that participated in the pitch competition are River State University, Ebonyi State University and Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State.