The President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Lanre Adisa, has warned that the greatest threat facing advertising agencies is no longer losing pitches to competitors but becoming irrelevant in an era of artificial intelligence (AI), rapid technological disruption and changing consumer behaviour.
Adisa gave the charge while delivering his welcome address at the 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Conference of the association held at Providence Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, where he called on agencies to reinvent their business models and invest aggressively in talent development to remain competitive.
The conference, themed “AdVolution: The End of Advertising as We Know It and How to Win What Comes Next,” brought together advertising professionals, marketers, media executives, creative leaders and business decision-makers to examine how Nigeria’s marketing communications industry can navigate the fast-changing communications landscape.
According to Adisa, the industry has entered a defining moment where the challenge is no longer competition among agencies but staying relevant as technology reshapes the entire business of advertising.
“Not too long ago, one of the biggest anxieties for an advertising agency was losing a pitch. Today, a far more fundamental question confronts us: what if the bigger risk is not losing a pitch, but losing relevance?” he said.
He noted that artificial intelligence, data, the creator economy and evolving consumer expectations have fundamentally changed how brands communicate with audiences, warning that agencies relying on old operating models risk being left behind.
“In a world where artificial intelligence is transforming creativity, where consumers are changing faster than brands can adapt, where creators are becoming media companies, and technology is reshaping every aspect of communication, the greatest threat is not that another agency wins the business. It is that the business itself changes, and we fail to change with it,” he stated.
While acknowledging AI’s growing influence on the creative process, Adisa maintained that technology cannot replace human creativity, emotional intelligence and cultural understanding.
“Machines can generate, but only humans can imagine. Only people understand culture. Only people can feel emotion, appreciate nuance and create ideas capable of moving hearts, shifting behaviour and building enduring brands,” he said.
He stressed that the future would belong to agencies capable of combining technology with imagination, data with empathy and innovation with human creativity rather than viewing AI as a replacement for creative professionals.
Adisa also identified continuous learning as the industry’s next competitive advantage, urging agencies to evolve into learning organisations capable of adapting faster than technological change.
“The agencies that will thrive will be learning organisations. The professionals who will lead will be lifelong learners,” he said.
As part of efforts to prepare practitioners for the future, Adisa highlighted AAAN’s partnership with South Africa’s Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, describing it as a strategic investment aimed at producing globally competitive Nigerian creative talent equipped with expertise in strategy, technology and commerce.
Beyond technology, the outgoing AAAN president called for stronger collaboration across the integrated marketing communications ecosystem, saying agencies, advertisers, regulators, media organisations, academia and technology platforms must work together to strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness.
“Our ambition should extend beyond being the biggest advertising market in Africa. We should aspire to become its most respected creative economy—a nation whose ideas travel, whose talent is sought after and whose agencies compete and win on the global stage,” he said.
He urged stakeholders to move beyond conference discussions and translate ideas into concrete industry reforms and innovation.
“Advertising as we once knew it may be coming to an end. But what comes next offers possibilities greater than anything we have known before. If we embrace technology without surrendering our humanity, invest in talent and stand together as one industry, we will not merely respond to the future; we will define it,” Adisa added.
The conference featured keynote presentations by Tomiwa Aladekomo, Chief Executive Officer of Big Cabal Media, and Dr. Meksley Nwagboh, Head of Brand and Communications at Fidelity Bank, who shared insights on the future of advertising, brand building and strategic communications.
A panel session moderated by creative strategist Oyindamola Fakile also explored how agencies and brands can remain competitive amid artificial intelligence, changing consumer behaviour and emerging technologies. Panellists included Damola Richard Salvador, CEO of digiSplash; Tobiloba Beckly Williams, Creative Director at 7even Interactive Limited; Olusegun Akinyemiju, Marketing Manager at MSS Guinness; and Rotimi Ade-Onajobi, Creative Director at Spice 360.