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Transcript of Brand Visibility
Vol. 001 Issue No. 001, OCTOBER - DECEMBER, 2014 N1000 US$7.50
Promoting Excellence in Visibility Communication
OAAN Rewards Creativity
Dangote Cement Takes Branding to the Next Level
Adopt InnovationsPromasidor Boss
Biodun Sobanjo Donates Building to UNILAG
Outdoor Advertising In Nigeria
Signage Agencies Truncate Growth
Brands and Social mediaplatforms
Tips on Effective Branding
... Hampper Brand Communication
Pro
mo
tin
g E
xcellen
ce in
Vis
ibilit
y C
om
mu
nic
ati
on
BR
AN
D V
ISIB
ILIT
Y
INT
RO
DU
CT
OR
Y E
DIT
ION
CONTENTS
News
7
Dangote Cement Brands Depots,
Customer Warehouses,
Sales Offices & Regional Offices
24
OAAN Rewards Creativity
Events
34-35
Story
40 DWINDLING FORTUNE IN THE
OUT-OF-HOME INDUSTRY.
Biodun Shobanjo
Donates Building To
Mass Comm.
Department,
UNILAG
43
At Jaiz Bank, We Serve The
Needs Of People Of All Religions
Apcon To Be Without
A Chair For Now
BRAND VISIBILITY
3 Brand Visibility
Interview
Interview Prince Yinka Adepoju,
Director General of Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA).
He speaks on how he is changing
the face of outdoor Advertising
practice in Oyo State to meet world
standards and the Agency's fight
against indiscriminate erection
of billboards.
25
Mr. Emmanuel Ajufo,50 General Secretary of the Outdoor Advertising
Association of Nigeria (OAAN), and MD/CEO of Opportunity To See Limited
He spoke with Brand Visibility on a number of industry related issues, including what he considered most pressing: the dwindling fortunes in the industry and the formation of West African Outdoor Advertising
Association.
Odun Fadoju, Managing Director, DP Partnership FCB,55
He x-rays issues relevant to the
marketing communications
industry in Nigeria.
He reveals the secret behind the Media
Link's success and offers informed
opinion on how to halt the dwindling
fortunes of the Outdoor Industry
Chief Babu Akinbobola, Chairman, Media Link Limited
13
Technology
David Zhu Country Marketing Manager
Liatronics’s Limited
37
Liatronics Invades Nigeria with
LED Indoor and Outdoor Platforms
Dozie Mbanefo Buries Mum, OAAN
Floods Nnewi
...and the Oparaekes gave out their daughter in holy matrimony
48
49
9
Industry
Lanre Fasehun Installed 48th
President of Ikeja Rotary Club78
Special Report
NIGERIAN BREWRIES PLC: Winning With Nigeria
38
OAAN Strategises For The Future68
EDITORIAL
5 Brand Visibility
ear in, year out, corporate organizations across the world invest a whole lot of resources Y
to create and promote the personality they desire for their brands, in a bid to enhance what is popularly termed brand personality. Today, creation, promotion and sustenance of brand personality have assumed prime positions in marketing communications. As such, it is necessary that they are taken seriously, in terms of crafting the message, which must be meticulous, and execution, which must be professional. To achieve this, there are right steps to take, just as there are pitfalls to avoid.
has come as a medium through which useful contributions will be made in the effort to achieve effective brand visibility communication. Our intention is to adequately inform and educate brand owners and promoters on the most profitably efficient way to promote their brands. This we shall do by keeping them up to date with new and effective brand communication strategies, while also highlighting the pitfalls to avoid. Our primary focus is the Nigerian environment. We shall nonetheless share the experience in other lands, especially the more buoyant economies, with our readers. We also offer to constantly present educative features on aspects of brand communication. The aim is to bridge the gap between town and
Brand Visibility
gown; between the lecture room and marketing/brand communications departments, with a view to exposing both students and practitioners to the p r a c t i c a l a s p e c t s o f b r a n d communication and management. To achieve this, each edition shall feature well researched features in areas relevant to the promotion of brand education.We shall be thoroughly analytical and critical as the need arises, while remaining focused on our primary objective of contributing to brand p r o m o t i o n t h r o u g h e f f e c t i v e communication strategies.To help in the assignment that we have set for ourselves, we shall rely on the g u i d a n c e , a s s i s t a n c e a n d contributions of seasoned and well-grounded professionals – men and women who have devoted much of their lives to the creation, promotion and management of brands. Some of the brands are leaders in their respective categories, and are major contributors to the growth of the nation's economy.Above all, we shall constantly be guided by the tenets of informative and educative journalism, such that our readers will find us a useful ally in their quest for relevant, up-to-date information in all areas that pertain to brand promotion and management.Of course, your contributions will be highly valued, and your feedback deeply appreciated. We shall rely on them to guide our steps in our conviction that we are both working to achieve a common goal: improved visibility for the brands!
The Eagle Has Landed!
this Edition
This Edition The Team
6 Brand Visibility
Publisher/Chief Editorial Officer
Editorial Consultant
Editorial Advisers:
Contributors:
Reporter/Researcher;
Correspondents:
Designed By:
Graphic Artists:
Marketing Consultants:
Published By:
’Sola Akinsiku, frpa; mnipr
Haniel Ukpaukure
Prof. Ralph AkinfeleyeDr. Dayo Daramola
Dr. Joe-Bel Molokwu, frpa
Dr. Abigail OgwuezzyDr. Odion Oscar Odibo
Dr. Kunle AdeyemiChief Akin Babafemi (Ph.D)
Mr Bankole EbisenujuAlhaji Bola AgboolaEngr. Dayo Akinola
Ibrahim Olalekan
Adebayo Tosin Blessing
Toyin Ebisemiju
Akinsiku Motunrayo
Maxima Designs & Prints80, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja,
Lagos State.
Awolumate JoshuaAigbe Edo Otasowie
Isaac Phritnol Professional Services
Visibility Dynamics Publising Limited
80, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos State.
In this maiden edition of , we present some of the issues
that are germane to effective brand visibility communication, especially as they affect the exercise, whether negatively and positively. For instance, there is the issue of the signage and advertisement regulatory agencies. Since the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) was c r e a t e d , s i m i l a r a g e n c i e s h a v e mushroomed across the country. Virtually each of the states in the South West, South-South and South East now has a replica of LASAA. Nothing wrong, except that some states have copied the Lagos example word for word and error for error! Interestingly, this appears to be the only issue on which the political parties seem to agree: the need for a signage agency to shore up their internally generated revenue (IGR). But, in what other areas have they added value to the practice of outdoor advertising in Nigeria?
also had chats with a number of practitioners: Chief Babu Akinbobola-Chairman Media Link and member, OAAN Board of Trustees; Yinka Adepoju, DG Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA); Emman Ajufo, MD/CEO Opportunity To See and General Secretary, OAAN; Yinka Okesiji, formerly of Optimum Exposures and now CEO, Allied Outdoor, and a host of others whose views are really important in the industry. And then Odun Fadoju, MD/CEO DP Partnership thinks Outdoor Operators got what they deserve from government agencies. We also share his views in this edition.
It is no longer news that the fortunes of the outdoor sub sector are fast dwindling. Signage agencies are seen as the main culprits, because they allegedly suck outdoor agencies dry. But what are the operators doing? We present a report of the efforts of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, (OAAN), in stemming the ravaging and
thrampaging tide. The association held its 29 annual general meeting in Owerri, the Imo State Capital, and came off proud owners of a landed property, courtesy of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the state governor. You won't find the details elsewhere.
thYou probably were not at the 8 OAAN Poster Awards event that held recently at the Eko Hotels. And if you were there ,you already know that Nigerian Breweries, makers of the “Chairman of all beer drinks:” Heineken and other top leading brands went home with the Grand Poster Award that night. But you most probably were having a nice time, and so, you must have missed certain other fine details. Not to worry, the juicy details are served in this edition. And we know you won't find them the way we have served here anywhere else.
And in line with our commitment to brand communication education, we present details of a paper presented on: Brand Management Exposition. Readers will find it quiet illuminating.
We have a whole lot more: on how to keep you well informed, such that your brands will get more visible not only in the market place but also in the opinion of your audience.
Happy reading!
Brand Visibility
Brand Visibility
Sola Akinsiku, frpa Publisher/CEOBrand Visibility
7
Brand Visibility: Comment on the business philosophy of Jaiz Bank.
The business philosophy of Jaiz Bank Plc, is “To deliver world class
sharia compliant financial services to our clientele irrespective of class,
creed, race or religious belief and to contribute to the socio-economic
upliftment of humanity.”
Idris:
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
There is this
notion in certain quarters that the
Bank is an Islamic Bank, and so
the practices and processes may
not be favorable to the business
interests of Christians and the
people of other faith. What do you
say to this?
Jaiz Bank is established
based on Islamic principles of
fairness, transparency and ethical
standards which prescribe for trust
and justice in dealing with all class of
people irrespective of their religion,
tribe or race. The bank is open to
everyone and customers cut across
different religion.
As a matter of fact, our first ever
financing as a Bank was to a
Christian. Besides him there are
other several Christians that we
have provided financing for. It is
important to stress here that Jaiz is
not an exclusive club. It is a business
and a bank that is open to all
irrespective of race or religion. It is
therefore erroneous to say that Jaiz
Bank is for Muslims alone. Our
employees are made up of both
Christians and Muslims alike.
We know that for
now the Bank's operations are
largely and predominantly
concentrated in the Northern part
of the country. Is it a Northern (or
a Northerners') Bank?
The Bank's presence is
currently predominantly in the North
East, North West and Abuja (FCT)
because our operating license as at
now is a Regional Operating
License which allows us to open
branches and to operate in the areas
Idris:
Idris:
For well over 20 years, he has been in the Corporate
Communications terrain-variously at FSB Plc, Fidelity
Bank Plc, and at a point was on the Vision 20:20:20
team. Now he is the Head, Corporate Communications,
Jaiz Bank Limited. Idris Salihu is, by all standards a
gentleman. He is equally intellectually sound, and a
thorough bred Corporate Communications expert.
Not too long ago, there was a chance meeting with
Brands Visibility and the magazine took full advantage
of the opportunity. Below, we serve excerpts from the chat.
You no doubt will find it interesting and illuminating to know
that Jaiz Bank caters for the needs of people of all religion
AT JAIZ BANK, WE SERVE THE NEEDS OF
PEOPLE OF ALL RELIGIONS- IDRIS SALIHU
Banking
Brand Visibility
the bank’s property. However, you
are given an option to purchase the
asset on the expiration of the lease
period.
The third way we make money is
through partnership or what we call
Musharaka (partnership through
profit and loss sharing). So one can
safely say that we make money
through three main financing
outlets; Ijara (lease), Musharaka
(partnership), and Murabaha
which simply means buying and
selling at a profit.
What are the
major strengths of Jaiz Bank,
and how will such mark it out
from the crowd of banks
operating in the country at the
moment?
Our strength lies in our
unique model of banking which
emphasizes fairness, justice,
t ransparency, h igh e th ica l
standards and above all social-
economic welfare of the society at
large where profit is not the ultimate
objective, but it is guaranteed and
will come only as a logical
sequence of the value that we
deliver to our customers.
And finally,
how, and where do you see Jaiz
Bank in another 10 years?
First, we want to be a national
bank with presence in all the State
Capitals of the Federation. Then we
will expand our footprints beyond
the shores of Nigeria by expanding
to Sub-Saharan Africa. Then we will
be seen and respected by most of
these other banks. They would
respect us for our unique model,
qual i ty service, special ized
products, high ethics and for our
professionalism. Simple!
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Idris:
Idris:
BV
8 Brand Visibility
mentioned above. However, we
have applied for a National License
from the Central Bank of Nigeria
and we are optimistic we would get
it very soon to enable us spread
across the country.
So, how does
the Bank plan to nationalize its
operations?
As stated above, as soon as
we receive our National operating
License from the CBN, we will go
national or as you put, nationalize
our operations.
In what ways is
the Bank different from any other
Bank in Nigeria, both in terms of
outlook and product offerings?
Jaiz Bank as a Non-Interest
Financial Institution operates under
the Islamic principle of not giving or
receiving interests. For instance,
under the interest-based system,
deposits are taken as loan from
customers to the bank and a fixed
return is guaranteed to depositors
regardless of the performance of
the institution. Under the Islamic
Non-Interest, the Bank receives
deposits from depositors and invest
same on behalf of the depositors.
The profit earned therefrom is
shared between the depositors and
the bank, otherwise called the
fund's manager..
Conventional banks give loans at a
fixed rate without any risk on their
part. However, under the Non-
Interest model, the bank shares
both the risk and rewards. Profits or
losses are jointly shared based on a
pre-agreed ratio and to the level of
capital contributed by both parties.
In what specific
ways can Jaiz Bank be of
significant help to businesses,
especially the SMEs?
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Idris:
Idris:
Idris:
Idris:
If I may take you back to our
business model, an integral part of
our business philosophy, is to
contribute positively to socio-
economic upliftment of the society
through meaningful investment in
capacity building. We have since
our inception remained true to our
ideology and have partnered with a
lot of businesses in this regard. We
have a dedicated SME desk and
potential entrepreneurs can contact
us for more details.
Is it true that the
Bank does not charge interests
on loans? And if yes, how does it
plan to break even, and even
make profit?
We make money through
three basic means. One is through
buying and selling or what we call
Murabaha (Cost-Plus Mark-UP).
You see non-interest banks are the
only ones who are authorized to
engage in trading. Here a customer
can approach us with a need to
acquire an asset. We will in turn
look for that asset that he/she
requires, purchase it on his behalf
and we put our little mark-up (profit)
and sell to him/her. If the terms are
acceptable to both parties then we
enter into a sale contract whereby
the customer is given the benefit to
conveniently pay on agreed
installments.
Secondly, is through Leasing or
what we call Ijara. Here customers
(Individuals or Corporate bodies)
approach us based on the need to
acquire equipment say a generator
for their businesses. Consequently,
we will acquire the generator and
give to you on lease basis, but you
will be paying us rental for the use of
the generator also based on agreed
terms and conditions. Note that
under the lease agreement the
leased item is not your property; it is
Brand Visibility:
bANKING
9
In fulfilment of its commitment to promoting and rewarding creativity in the out-of-home advertising subsector of the Nigerian economy, the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) has held its 8th Poster Award ceremony in Lagos. The event, which was witnessed by leading practitioners and operators in the advertising industry in the country, held at Eko Hotels and Suites on Thursday, May 15, 2014. It was a colourful event.
The awards were in nine different categories: D a i r y / F o o d / B e v e r a g e s ; N o n - A l c o h o l i c d r i n k s ; Electrical/Electronics; Public Service; Telecoms/ICT; Household; Financial Services, and the Grand Poster Award. The categorisation, according to Bankole Ademulegun, Chairman of the Planning Committee, and OAAN's immediate past president, was intended to cover all the sectors of the Nigerian economy. It was however primarily focused on those sub-sectors that are generally active in engaging the out-of-home platforms to connect with their intended audiences.
Speaking to welcome guests at the event, Mr. Charles Chijide, president of the association, said the ceremony was held to reward creative excellence in outdoor advertising. He said the
OAAN Rewards CreativeExcellence
Brand Visibility
- CEOs of some OAAN Member-Companies
- Chijide
EVENTS
- Chijide field questions from a reporter
10 Brand Visibility
event was also aimed at encouraging and promoting the creative thinking ability of those who create the advertisements that are exposed on the various platforms of the out-of-home subsector of the advertising industry.
“It is our way of appreciating the cerebral work that has gone into creating the messages through which our clients have connected with their various targets using our platforms”, Chijide said.
He also added “A lot has been said and written about the fact that our media platforms increase exposure and that they are the most flexible when compared to other media groups; and that they are highly efficient as they help to reach higher number of viewers repeatedly, making them the most cost effective media. They have the lowest cost per thousand.” He said: “While the messages on other media are fleeting and pass away very quickly, messages on the outdoor platforms are dazzling and more permanent. All of this has been scientifically proven to be authentic, and we believe that it is only proper that the creators of the messages should be rewarded, at least to commend, encourage and promote their creative ingenuity. It is our way of helping to promote creativity in the larger advertising industry in the country”
In his speech at the event, Senator Enyinanya Ababribe, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, commended the leadership of OAAN for its foresight and for creating a platform for the promotion of the advertising industry in Nigeria. He said that efforts were being made to protect the interest of industry players in the country.
The rule and law the Federal Government has is to ensure foreigners in Nigeria are allowed to practice,” Abaribe said. “But the issue is, while that is allowed, the Federal Government will not allow for impoverishment of Nigerians. We are doing our best to protect the industries that are already built.”
He spoke on the yoke of multiple taxation currently strangulating operators, especially in the out-of-home sub-sector, noting that it was not an insurmountable task. He said it would require federal legislators to design a legal framework that would address it.
“…our media platforms increase exposure and they are the most flexible when compared to other media groups; they are highly efficient as they help to reach higher number of viewers repeatedly, making them the most cost effective media. They have the lowest cost per thousand... While the messages on other media are fleeting and pass away very quickly, messages on the outdoor platforms are dazzling and more permanent”
The rule and law the federal government has is to ensure foreigners in Nigeria are allowed to practice... But the issue, is while that is allowed, the federal government will not allow for impoverishment of Nigerians.
The OAAN outing received the endorsement of the international community of outdoor advertising operators, as Mac Philips, general secretary of the global association, FEPE, was also there to represent the association's president at the event.
In his speech, the FEPE president commended OAAN's efforts to position Africa, especially the West African sub-region, as the outdoor advertising hub. He assured OAAN of the support of the international association in its fight against multiple taxation and other frustrating regulations.
Winners at the memorable event were Loya Milk, in the Diary Food & Beverages category; Star Beer in the Alcoholic Drink category and LG SmartTV in the Electrical/Electronic category. For the Household products, the award went to Mouka Foam, while Fanta won in the Non-Alcoholic category. Swift 4G Lite was the winner in the Telecoms/ICT category. In the Financial Services category, the winner was Fidelity Bank's Fidelity One Card.
EVENTS
Left: Geoge Noah(MD LASAA) with Lolu Akinwunmi Chairman, APCON
Left: Mac Philips: General Secretary FEPE with Garba Belo Kanarofi, Registrar/CEO, APCON
EVENTS
The Grand Poster Award also went to Star Beer, while the Special Award was won by Rota Panel, one of the leading international suppliers to the Nigerian outdoor advertising market. The marketing director of the Netherland-based firm, was personally in attendance to receive the Award.
At the colourful event were Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi, immediate past chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON); Alhaji Garba Bello Kankarofi, registrar of APCON’s Registrat/CEO and Mr. Ade Akinde, chairman, APCON's Advertising Standards Panel. Others were Chief Odunmoluwa Fadoju, MD/CEO, DP Partnership FCB; Mr. George Noah, MD/CEO L a g o s S t a t e S i g n a g e a n d Advertisement Agency (LASAA) and Honourable Aliu Oluwadare, immediate past chairman, Ondo State Signage and Advertisement Agency, as well as dignitaries representing the sub-sectors of the advertising industry in Nigeria.
Chijide announced that the next
edition of the annual event had
been scheduled for May 15,
2015.B&V
-Left to right; Bayo Adio, Charles Chijide(OAAN President) Dozie Mbanefo and Kole Ademulegun
-Kole Ademulegun fielding questions from a brand journalist from Channels Television
A winner Receiving an Award from Lolu Akinwumi
12 Brands Visibility
INTERVIEW
Brand Visibility recently met with Chief Babu Akinbobola, Chairman, Media Link Limited at his Ilupeju Office, Lagos; and despite his busy schedule, he had a chat with the duo of Sola Akinsiku, and Lekan Ibrahim. In the excerpts below, he reveals the secret behind the Media Link's success and offers informed opinion on how to halt the dwindling fortunes of the Outdoor Industry
Chief Babu Akinbobola
Who is Chief Babu Akinbobola ?
Professional career.
My name is Folusho Akinrolabu
Akinbobola. I was born in Idanre. I
am an Ondo State man. The Babu in
my name, by which all and sundry
now know me, is a corruption of
Akinrolabu, my first name. How I
came about the name Babu. This is
an abbreviation of the name
Akinrolabu. It was the coinage by
one of my teachers in the primary
school then. He found it more
convenient to call me Babu, as a way
to distinguish my own Akin from the
numerous Akins that were in my
class then. And, so it has stuck. Even
my parents, relatives, colleagues –
all call me Babu.
Thirty years ago, I joined Media
Link as managing director. I joined
Mr Bankole Ademulegun to start
Media Link as the founding
managing director. About 10 years
ago, I became the chairman. I'm
married to Funmilola Akinbobola
and I have grown up children.
I came into advertising in 1974 when
I joined the then Ogilvy Benson. I
was in the media department. I was
there until 1976 when Ondo State
was created from the then Western
State; and having established its own
radio station, the state had need to
engage professionals into the
various departments.
So I joined Ondo Radio as the Lagos
Office Manager and Head of
Advertising Traffic. As the Head of
Lagos Office, my main duties were
to get advertising businesses from
the advertising agencies.
Unfortunately, I didn't quite find the
new environment as challenging as I
was used to . While I was
contemplating on my next move, I
was invited by Grant Advertising to
join them by the then media group
head (We had worked together in the
media department at Ogilvy). I
remember I had my interview with
Mr Biodun Shobanjo and they
employed me immediately. That was
my new beginning in advertising.
I joined Grant Advertising in 1977,
and rose through the ranks of media
executive; media manager; media
group head; then media director, and
became a member of the executive
council. I left at the end of August
1984 to join Mr Ademulegun, who
had started Media Link a couple of
months earlier
Outdoor advertising is still big
Outdoor Advertising still big
business; with more challenges
13 Brands Visibility
-Babu Akinbobola
Brands Are Successful because of Advertising
business; but now with serious
challenges. The major problem
outdoor advertising has now is that
politicians are focusing on it as a
source of huge internally generated
revenue (IGR), and that is creating
some serious problems for outdoor
advertising. In fact, it is becoming
bigger business but unfortunately
the owners of the business are no
longer feeling the gain; they are not
really getting adequate returns for
their investments and efforts, as
expected.
Today, governments across the
country and at all levels concentrate
much of their IGR drive on the
outdoor advertising industry.
The painful thing is that they
are going about it in a way
that is destroying outdoor
advertising practice.The
rates (permit fees) being
demanded are unjustifiable
and are very outrageous.
A situation where a state
government is demanding
for about 40 per cent of the
r e v e n u e o f o u t d o o r
advertising can only be
inimical to the growth of the
business. Practitioners in the out-of-
home industry now compete
favourably with their counterparts,
in terms of professionalism,
expertise and innovativeness,
anywhere in the world – in Europe,
Asia and everywhere. But the sad
th ing i s tha t the Niger ian
practitioner has got to contend with
m o r e c h a l l e n g e s t h a n h i s
counterparts anywhere in the world!
There are no billboards that you
have anywhere in the world that you
don't have here. The problem we
have is that the cost of doing
business here is enormous, and
government has not made the
environment conducive as a result of
excessive taxation. Outdoor
companies obtain loans from the
banks at very high interest rates, to
bring in new generation billboards.
Then the state governments come,
making unreasonable demands so
you have nothing left for further
growth and to compensate your
workers. That is the danger outdoor
advertising is facing right now,
because of the huge demand by state
governments.
It is so bad that our clients are now
running away from using the
medium that used to be the cheapest
medium. This is because the once
cheapest medium has now become
the most expensive medium,
because the agencies of government
have, by their action, increased the
rates beyond reasonable limits. Most
of the users of the outdoor medium
have now left. Only a few sectors of
t h e e c o n o m y l i k e
telecommunications and breweries
are there and even those ones have
reduced their budgets on outdoor
advertising. Other sectors are going
for other media like internet and
social media. Having said all that,
however, I say it is still big business;
but now with bigger challenges. The
major challenge is that it is now seen
as an expensive medium because of
the stifling taxation by the various
agencies of governments.
On the signage and advertisement
regulatory agencies
Ordinarily, I would have been one of
the people that should welcome the
activities of the signage and
advertisement regulatory agencies.
At the initial stage, when we were
told by former Governor Ahmed
Bola Tinubu's regime that they were
going to start such an agency, we
were in total support because at that
time, outdoor advertising was poorly
managed and had badly affected the
environment.
At a point, former Governor Raji
Rasaki of Lagos ordered
t h e d e m o l i t i o n o f
billboards in Lagos in
January 1991. Then, we
had a horrible situation in
terms of uncontrolled
installation of billboards
all over Lagos. For
example, between Palm
Grove Bus Stop and
Maryland (in Lagos), we
had a total of 771
billboards. That was how
horrible it was. So we
knew something had to come up to
cleanse the environment of
undesirable billboards.
So when Asiwaju Tinubu came up
with the idea, we wanted it. What we
didn't know was that apart from
planning the environment to
accommodate billboards in such a
way as to remove cluttering and the
visual blight that we had then, the
other aspect which they saw in the
whole exercise was that it was also
going to be a veritable source of high
revenue generation. If I can illustrate
their being unreasonable with their
rates, I will use the Unipole billboard
as an example.
INTERVIEW
14 Brand Visibility
Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
Prior to the enactment of this law, the
local governments charged less than
N200, 000 per annum regardless of
the number of faces. The Lagos State
Signage and Advertisement Agency
(LASAA), right from the onset, took
the rate to three million naira per
face!
So, for the three-sided billboard for
which you were paying a total of
N200,000 as ground rent, the Lagos
S ta te Government , th rough
LASAA, is now demanding nine
million naira. That is outrageous and
should be seen as such by any
reasonable person. Now, the greed
for more money by the signage
agencies is the major problem of the
industry.
The law that enacted LASAA was a
fantastic law. It was intended to
make the environment to be more
beautiful; and to make billboards
more environment-friendly. We love
the control that the LASAA law has
brought into the practice. But the
revenue generation aspect is a
serious problem.
As should be expected, outdoor
companies had to add the additional
rates by LASAA into their existing
rates, and I think the average rate we
were charging then was about N4
million per face. So suddenly, clients
were being asked to jack up their
budget from N4 million to N7
million per face. And as a way of
resisting the outrageous increase, a
great number of advertisers who
were on outdoor simply walked
away. There was no way most of
them could do with the charges. And
I'm quite sure that was not the
intention of government for coming
up with the signage law. The
intention could not have been to kill
the business. They just wanted to
derive more revenue out of it. But
they have gone beyond reasonable
limits.
What the signage agencies are
charging is about 40 per cent of our
income and that is getting too much,
and so unreasonable. Government
should encourage companies to
grow. This is the only way the
economy of the state and that of the
nation can grow.
I will still go back to say there is
nothing wrong with the signage laws
that I have seen. In the LASAA law
as an example, again, you find out
that in their wisdom, they made
provision for a governing board
which is to have the various local
governments and the Outdoor
Advertising Association of Nigeria
(OAAN) represented. By design, the
board was intended to sit as an
appellate body on issues of
complaints brought against the
a g e n c y b y a n y a g g r i e v e d
practitioner.
Yes, there was a board, but this board
initially met for one or two years and
it stopped. For the past seven years,
no meeting of the board has been
convened. If the board has been
functioning, maybe we would have
been able to resolve all the problems
we now have.
I will say that in the '70s, as far as I
can recall, we did a
fantastic job up till early
80s. In those days
N i g e r i a n s h a n d l e d
everything in-house and
here at home. They were
d o i n g t h e i r f i l m
productions here at
home except for a few
m u l t i n a t i o n a l
c a m p a i g n s . T h e y
weren't jumping from
What needs to be done?
Advice for improvement in brand
promotion and communication:
nation to nation all in the name of
shooting commercials.
Today, people go to Kenya and the
U n i t e d K i n g d o m f o r f i l m
productions. I'm appalled that hardly
can you produce any commercial in
Nigeria without going to South
Africa or wherever. What happened?
I remember that in those days, too,
advertisers and their agencies had
relationships with international
agencies. When we were in Grant
Advertising, we had the Resident
Consultants. Could it be because
they do not have that anymore that
they have to go and meet them?
But I do know that brands are as
successful as they are today because
of advertising.
I think it was better then. I have been
wondering what happened. Could it
be because most of the agencies had
resident professional consultants
here then? I just told you that they
produced their commercials in
Nigeria and that they did so much
without going anywhere. These
days, they hardly can do anything
without going to South Africa. But in
the 60's, 70's, they did them in-house
and they did beautiful jobs. I still
don't know why. But having said all
that, I must also admit that certain
changes even in market ing
The marketing communications
industry then, and now:
INTERVIEW
16 Brand Visibility
Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
communications analysis may have
led to this. But then, most of those
trips for commercial production
may not be necessary, after all as
these things can still be done locally,
and the results would still be as
outstanding, if not more.
Yes, Nigeria is a part of the global
village and by now Nigeria should
be creating for the rest of Africa. So,
my own concern is that we
are going to a level where
Nigeria should be a hub
where these things should
be created and sent to
similar “villages” around
the world. But that is not
happening. Now we go to
South Africa and other
such “global villages”
when we could get all the
resources and facilities for
excellent jobs here.
Why can't Nigeria be the
hub? We have very
intelligent people here.
Talking about this global
village, I believe creatives
are made for similar
markets. Markets across
the world are similar in all
ramifications. If you are creating
for what can be understood in
Nigeria, similar things will be used.
And you can then use such a
commercial in markets like Ghana,
Sierra-Leone, Liberia, and some
other parts of Africa. My question is,
'why are they not produced in
Nigeria? ‘
But what I have observed is that
affiliation seems to be in total
control of everything. Every day you
see accounts moving from one
media buying agency to another one,
just as even creatives move from one
agency to another.
Impact of globalization?
I would say that in total, the
Advertising Practitioners Council of
Nigeria (APCON), has done well.
Ye s , t h e r e a r e r o o m s f o r
improvement. I think where
APCON might have deviated a little
bit is the fact that we have tied
ourselves too much to the apron
strings of the Federal Government,
and this is obviously affecting us
very badly.
The signage and advertisement
agencies shouldn't have any control.
But then the organ that government
has given total authority to control
the practice of advertising could not
do everything they should do. The
states, through their signage and
advert isement agencies, are
beginning to take onto themselves
certain powers that they do not have,
and which they should not even
have.
The signage agencies should only be
in the business of allocating sites and
collecting revenue on whatever they
APCON's performance so far: have allocated, not to be in the
practice of advertising. Thus, the
ground rent which they should
collect should be the same as the
tenement rate for buildings. It
should be calculated based on the
total size of land used for the
billboard, and nothing more.
Talking about APCON, I think the
Council has done very well, but it
could do better. For example, I
noticed that the Council has started
generating revenue. I think the next
goal will be for the Council to seek
autonomy from government.
It is not only APCON that got a
charter form government. We have
Architects Council, ICAN (Institute
of Chartered Accountants of
Nigeria); NIPR (Nigerian Institute
of Public Relations), among others.
APCON would do better if it breaks
itself from the apron strings of
government. We should stop
co l lec t ing subvent ion f rom
government, and instead, tax
members and let members run the
affairs of APCON. The Council is
lucky to have highly experienced
practitioners that we have not even
used.
There are so many of them, and if we
are able to break away from this
strong link with government, I'm
sure this people can be called upon.
They will come in with ideas that
will assist APCON to grow. We have
people like Mr Biodun Shobanjo, Sir
Steve Omojafor, Senator Akin
Odunsi, and Mr Ayo Owoborode.
They all played a significant and
commendable role towards the
establishment of APCON. None of
these pillars of the industry has been
made Chairman of the Council. I
think we should look towards using
these people to give us more ideas
17 Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
and allow APCON to grow. But for
them to be able to do it, we need to
run APCON like other professionals
are running theirs – free from the
encumbrances of being tied to the
skirt of government.
I've talked on this lightly when I
spoke about APCON getting
subventions from the government.
We don't need subventions from
government. If you take subventions
from the government, government
would want to dictate some things
but I believe this is a mistake from
the government.
When the late Mr. May Nzeribe was
chairman, government announced a
board comprising just politicians.
He went to Abuja and met with the
minister and it was reversed. I'm sure
the i ssue of the purpor ted
appointment of a non-practitioner as
Council Chairman was a genuine
mistake on the part of Mr President,
and I'm sure if taken up with him, he
will reverse it quickly. But to avoid a
re-occurrence, APCON should do
what other professional bodies are
doing. Practitioners in advertising
should learn to stand on their feet,
a n d n o t b e d e p e n d e n t o n
government.
The government has been wonderful
in giving us a charter. We should
now run our own affairs without
r u n n i n g b a c k t o m e e t t h e
government with a bowl in our
hands. If we do that, then we should
expect this type of interference once
in a while. But I do not think such an
appointment will hold. It cannot
hold because there is no way
politicians will come around to
control professionals. It will also be
Appointment of the next APCON
Council Chairman:
a gross violation of the law that set up
APCON.
The constitution makes it very clear
that the local government is the only
organ that should control and derive
revenue from outdoor advertising.
It's clearly stated in our constitution.
But like they say, politicians are very
smart people. They set up agencies
and said they want this body (signage
agency) to collect revenue on behalf
of the local governments; and we all
know what has been happening.
If there is a way of being more
specific in the amendment of the
constitution, to make it clear that
state governments should not
interfere, I would like it because if
you want to set up an agency that will
be national, that may not work.
People are saying that we should be
more of federal than a unitary
system. Some of the problems we
have in Nigeria is that the federal
government is trying to control the
states and control everything. If we
are truly a federating country, we
should not be asking for a national
law for everything. But if we could
strengthen the local government or
authority, especially over
ou tdoor adver t i s ing
practice, I will go for that,
because that would be
f a s t e r a n d m o r e
meaningful than what we
are seeing now.
What we are seeing now
is really very wrong. The
v a r i o u s s t a t e
governments see outdoor
as another source of
revenue generation, and it
is ridiculous. Having a
national law may not
really solve the problem.
The call for a national signage law:
Tough times for outdoor practice:
How APCON and OAAN can
bring about change:
I think the major problem outdoor
advertising has is the signage
agencies. The signage agencies
should have been a welcome
development, because outdoor
a d v e r t i s i n g i s n o w m o r e
environment-friendly and the
practice in Nigeria now competes
favourably with the rest of the world.
The truth is, the signage agencies
have contributed to this development
but, unfortunately, they are also
concentrating on how to generate
huge revenue to the government. As
a result, the permit fees are now so
unreasonable. And since this has to
be borne by the clients, this is driving
them away from the outdoor media
platforms. Clients now believe if
they put their money elsewhere, say
on other less expensive media, they
could get much more benefit because
the main advantage of outdoor in the
past was because it was cheap. But
now it is changing from being the
cheapest to being the most
expensive. That is not good for the
medium; that is causing a major loss.
I think this is more of a task for
OOAN to resolve, than it is for
19 Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
APCON. OAAN needs to be bold
enough to shout. It needs to meet
with media agencies and other
stakeholders. Just to let the public
know about the problem on hand.
It is OAAN that should take the first
step. There has to be that
determination and commitment on
the part of OAAN as a group to do
something about it.
I think the code that APCON
i n t r o d u c e d u n d e r M r. L o l u
Akinwunmi, as Chairman, came a
little bit late. It came towards the end
of the tenure of the initiator as
chairman. The code is fantastic. We
needed it, but he brought it too close
to the end of his tenure and right now
there is no Council Chairman to pilot
the implementation of the code.
One of the conditions of the code is
that you should be a registered
practitioner; and that your company
should also be registered. I think he
modified the definition of a
practitioner. An individual and
company practicing advertising
should be registered. I love it
because it is another way of getting
the practice on a more sure footing,
much more than it is for getting more
funds for APCON. If we are going to
gain our independence from
government, we need to be able to
stabilize and to have enough funds.
By the new arrangement, every
company in this industry should be a
registered practitioner. So, Media
Link, for instance, should not
practice illegally. The company
should also be licenced to practice
and then pay the prescribed annual
license fees which is very good.
And another thing is the way it is
done. For you to be licenced, there
are conditions. You have to be a
Nigerian company; and there is a
clear definition of what a Nigerian
The APCON Code of Practice:
company means. If you come in
from a foreign country and you want
to practice here, you can't own more
than 25 per cent. That enables
Nigerians to be part of your
company. It is good. No company
from Nigeria for instance can go to
any other country, say, South Africa
to practice, without meeting the
requirements. So why is it so easy
for them to come here with their
briefcases and start practicing?
Thus, the code is very good. But
unfortunately, Lolu brought it too
close to the end of his tenure. He was
courageous to have done what he
did. If we can effect it, it is going to
help us.
I was the media director at Grant
Advertising, and Mr Ademulegun
was also there. It happened at a time
when many people were leaving, I
think, it was in 1979.
Mr Biodun Shobanjo had left to
form Insight Communications.
Shortly after he left, everybody was
l e a v i n g a n d o n e d a y, M r
Ademulegun came into my office
and he told me we could come
together to form a company. He was
thinking of us forming Media
Advertising Gift, and I said it was a
great idea, more so he was the first
person to come to me and I
appreciate it. But I suggested that
instead of doing Advertising Gift
alone, we should also consider
outdoor advertising which had
caught my fancy by then.
So we agreed and I think we were
both careful, because we had heard
stories of people coming together
only to split within some couple of
months. But we wanted to get it
right, so we then decided to discuss
further on the kind of business we
The Success Story:Media Link
were going to have: one that would
stand the test of time, on all fronts.
Kole (Mr Ademulegun) was my best
friend. I don't know how to make
friends easily, because I easily get
hurt. I don't know how to keep some
things, but within a week of his
joining Grant Advertising, we
became friends, to the extent that
when some weeks later, I was to get
married, Kole did most of the
a r r a n g e m e n t f o r m e . H e
recommended a hall, the band that
was to play, the cake maker, the
programme maker. All the ones he
recommended I accepted. So I
wasn't surprised. That was how we
became very good friends, and that
was in January 1980. He came in at
the end of 1979 and I got married
February 9, 1980. So I was not
surprised when he came to me in
1983 because that bond had been
there.
We decided to set up the company
but from day one, we decided to
make it 50/50 share holding.
But we didn't have money, even
though we had an idea. We went to
several banks. We wrote a feasibility
study and a number of banks that
didn't believe in us, threw us out. We
even went as far as meeting the
director of a bank and he listened
carefully, after which he said our
proposal was nice but wanted to
know what we were going to give in
return for the money (a form of
collateral). We wanted N200,000.
We said we had nothing. He said
“just leave my office.”
So we went to another bank and the
manager listened to what we had to
say and he said “Sorry, you have
nothing to give me in return, no
collateral”. He told us the bank
couldn't help us. So we left. Later
that day or the following day, we got
a phone call from Kole's uncle,
informing us that somebody was so
20Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
impressed about our proposal,
presentation and determination and
had paid N10,000 into our account.
That was it!
The then Lagos State governor,
Alhaji Lateef Jakande, announced
he was going to set up ferry services.
So I ran there and met the general
manager. I told him to give us
exclusive advertising right. He
agreed and we paid, I think it was
N3,500 then. This we took from the
N10,000 we had in account.
The next thing was how to install the
billboards. Kole and I went to meet
Mr Shoaga, and told him we liked
his billboard design and that we
wanted to copy it.
After we had installed it, Lintas
bought and paid and within a period
of two months, we had collected
about N46,000. We paid back the
N10,000 and rented a duplex in
Ilupeju, and furnished it. We spent
all the money. We bought furniture,
made the place real beautiful and
then we announced Media Link to
the Nigerian advertising market.
So Media Link was born, and today,
by the grace and mercy of God, we
have done 30 years. Now, we should
be looking at pulling back for a new
generation and we are very fortunate
that today we have two of our
children here. We have Ladi
Akinbobola as marketing manager
a n d Wo n u A b o d e r i n ( n e e
A d e m u l e g u n ) a s b u s i n e s s
development manager. Wonu and
Ladi are doing very well. And I am
so confident that they will do greater
than we have been privileged to do.
Ladi and Wonu are better educated,
much more exposed and they are
young. I am sure they will take the
Media Link dream to higher heights
by His grace.
The Breakthrough:
A t M e d i a L i n k ,
P a r t n e r s h i p i s
Working:
In our case, we have
divine intervention. But
I t h i n k t h e r e a r e
ingredients you have to
look out for, and if they
are in place, partnership
in business will work.
One is sincerity of
purpose. Some people
set out to “use”, (take
undue advantage of) the
other. Two, each partner
must come to the table
with something the
other person doesn't have.
Like I discovered that where my
partner is strong is where I'm weak
and where I'm strong is where he is
weak. You find that the company will
benefit in such an association and the
other thing is, you must trust your
partner. At least let him fail first. A lot
of people do not trust people. They
don't even want to give him a chance.
If God is blessing your union, He
may also bless you in return and you
must share the same goal for the
company.
For instance, if I have an idea, I
discuss it with Kole, because he has
the killer punch and he will execute
the idea immediately. Left alone, I
will just be thinking of the idea but
Kole has the killer punch, he will
take the decision, and run with the
idea with the swiftness that it
requires.
There are many ways I have also
contributed to the partnership too.
If you are able to get the right partner,
chances are that you most probably
will succeed. It is better to have 10
per cent of a successful company
than to have 100 per cent of a
company that is not doing well.
Another thing that has helped us is,
we didn't allow our wives to interfere
in the business. We are friends
outside the office and our wives are
friends. But when it comes to Media
Link business, there are only two
partners not four partners. But then,
it is by God's grace.
Initially, our plan was not to involve
our children. Our plan was to run a
company that at any point in time,
when Mr Ademulegun and I have to
disengage, the company will still
continue. When things were even
hard, we did not sack people. But the
unfor tuna te th ing we have
discovered overtime is that anytime
we decided to promote somebody to
a very high level and get him
involved in management, they
always resign. But now, and by
Divine arrangement we have our
children Wonu and Ladi, who have
willingly joined us. They are
catching up very fast and I have no
doubt that they will take over from us
and do better than we have been able
to do.
I think the objectives for which the
Succession plan:
OAAN has come a long way:
22 Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
association was set up are being met,
because it was set up to protect the
interest of members, and also to
project outdoor advertising as a
viable advertising medium in
Nigeria.
The only problem is that the level to
which it has met these various
objectives varies from president to
president. For some presidents, they
focus on some aspects effectively.
For others, they have shifted to other
aspects, and we had a few that were
able to cut across evenly.
In view of the fact that we are getting
reports that outdoor advertising is
falling in terms of revenue in
comparison with other
media groups, what we
would have expected is
that OAAN would be
focusing seriously on
research, if only to
prove that outdoor
advertising is very
effective. That is not
there at the moment and
it is really unfortunate.
The last research we
did, I championed it. I
was president from
1994 to 1998. But we've
a l s o h a d s o m e
presidents that were
handicapped by crises
they met on ground. We
had presidents that spent almost
their four years managing all forms
of crises. In spite of all this, the
existence of OAAN has helped to
maintain the integrity of outdoor
advertising practice in this country.
If we didn't have OAAN, imagine
what could have happened. The fact
that OAAN is there has been a
blessing for us. But I would want to
see us taking care of the welfare of
members, and at the same time,
projecting the medium; making sure
that the medium is not relegated to
the background.
In the past, some things were put in
place to ensure this was done. We
created things like Poster Award. We
did research, and we introduced
quarterly luncheon so that things
affecting the members and the
industry would be discussed every
three months, such that we didn't
have to wait until the OAAN annual
general meeting (AGM) to sort out
issues that could be resolved before
the AGM.
Some of these structures that were
put in place in the past are no more
there. Even the Poster Award is done
maybe once in four years now. It
used to be, and it really should be, an
annual thing.
By the Grace of God, when I created
it in 1997, I had done two years
already; the idea crossed my mind
and I discussed with the late Walter
Egbueze, and he gave me some
papers. I wrote a paper on Poster
Award, took it to my council and it
was approved. We did the first one
that year, and the second one in my
last year in office as president.
We need to do more of such things.
We need to carry out extensive
23 Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
research. There are so many things
we could research about.
I believe in terms of quality, it will
continue to increase. We will get
more professionals and I hope that
we will have the kind of leadership
that will save us from losing the kind
of money we are losing now.
I see that something is happening
that was not there before .
Governments do their own outdoor
advertising these days, even
campaigns including presidential
campaigns. Can you imagine?
Q u a c k s , i n c l u d i n g
government officials who
now handle most of these
campaigns know next to
nothing. Most of them are not
registered practitioners. So
they are quacks. They are
practicing illegally. But I do
hope that in the next 10 years,
we would have succeeded in
e n s u r i n g t h a t e v e n
government would respect its
own law that stipulates
clearly that you have to be a
registered practitioner to
h a n d l e g o v e r n m e n t
advertising.
My advice is to encourage them to
believe that advertising is a beautiful
and glamorous profession, and that
the best way to keep it so is for us to
be professional. We should not be
too much in a haste to win an
account, to the extent that we
jettison professionalism and
embrace unethical practices.
The new generation of practitioners
should relax and do their profession
quite professionally. They should
not be too much in a hurry.
The advertising industry in the
next 10 years:
Advice for advertising
practitioners:
B&V
- Chief Babu Akinbobola Photo: BV
News
It does not appear that the issue
of a successor to Lolu
Akinwunmi as Chairman of
the Governing Council of the
Advertising Practitioners Council
of Nigeria would be resolved any
moment now. This is largely for the
r e a s o n t h a t t h e F e d e r a l
Government is yet to appoint a
popular candidate.
The tenure of Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi th
the 5 Chairman of Council expired
on September 27, 2013. However,
he still attends industry related
functions and reluctantly performs
the role of the Council Chairman,
as no acceptable substantive
chairman has been appointed by
government to take over from him.
The law that established APCON
vests the power to appoint the
council chairman in the President
and Commander-In-Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, upon the
recommendation of the minister of
information. The chairman could
be appointed from among the
relevant sub-sectors of the
advertising industry bin Nigeria,
notably: AAAN (the Association of
Advertising Agencies in Nigeria);
OAAN (the Outdoor Advertising
Association of Nigeria; BON (the
Broadcasting Organisations of
N ige r i a ) , and NPAN ( the
N e w s p a p e r s P r o p r i e t o r s
Association of Nigeria). One major
criterion that the successful
applicant must possess is the
fellowship of the advertising
practice in Nigeria.
There are currently up to 100
fellows (FRPA) of the practice. Out
of this number, only five (including
Akinwunmi) have been appointed
chairmen. Others include Mr.
S y l v e s t e r I f e a y i n c h u k w u
Moemeke, the pioneer Council
Chairman and Chief Olu Falomo,
who took over from him.
Falomo handed over to Mr.
Christopher Awusa Doghudje who
passed the baton to the late May
Nzeribe. Akinwunmi took over
from Nzeribe. The question on the
lips of all practitioners in Nigeria
today is: Who takes over from
Lolu Akinwunmi?
Information available to Brand
Visibility has it that six names
were forwarded to the former
minister of information, and the
supervising minister of APCON,
Mr. Labaran Maku, from which the
government is expected to pick
one, as chairman.
It was revealed however that the
most seemingly eligible of the
applicants did not convincingly
meet the laid down criteria. While
the relevant sub-sectors from
which a chairman could emerge are
now seriously searching for their
best hands to push forward.
Akinwunmi, who wishes more
than anything else to go back to the
waiting arms of his colleagues at
Prima Garnet, still has the task of
having to answer “Mr. Chairman
Sir” at all APCON functions.
One serious worry, however, is that
the statutory functions of APCON
may be put on hold as it takes a
Council, presided over by a
Chairman, for it to properly
function.
Another worry, a more serious one,
is the recent attempt in certain
government quarters to give the job
to a politician who has never had
anything to do with the industry.
Some concerned industry watchers
b e l i e v e t h i s w a s a n o t h e r
demonstration of politicking, when
there are so many “loyalists to be
s e t t l e d w i t h p o l i t i c a l
appointments”. And, the trouble is,
in their concern, should this error
stand the industry would be the
worst for it.
But a school of thought argues that
there are more than 90 eligible
Fellows of the industry to choose
from, and that, as such, the
Honourable Minister, working
through the various relevant
sectors should not have any
p r o b l e m f i n d i n g a n d
r e c o m m e n d i n g a s u i t a b l e
practitioner for the job to the
President and Commander-in-
Chief. In any case, the industry may
not have to wait for too long!
Brand Visibility hopes so, too. BV
APCON TO BE WITHOUT A CHAIR FOR NOW
24 Brand Visibility
Director General Oyo State Signage and
Advertisement Agency (OYSAA).
In this interview with Ibrahim Olalekan, he speaks on
how he is changing the face of Outdoor Advertising
Practice in Oyo State to meet world standards and the
Agency's fight against indiscriminate erection of
billboards. He insists:
“We are not ready
to joke with the emerging
beauty; we are not ready
to sacrifice it and we are
not going to compromise it
for anything.”
Prince Yinka Adepoju, frpa
INTERVIEW
25 Brand Visibility
Brand Visibility
Brand Visibility
: We congratulate you
on your return as the Director
General of the Oyo State Signage &
Advertisement Agency. What would
you say was the secret?
God is my secret, as far as I'm
concerned. God has been faithful and
good to me over the years. So, if you
see me achieving or making any
remarkable achievement in life, I will
ascribe it to God. God has been so good
to me. Sometimes if you want to give it
to any human, you can say hard work,
integrity and prayer. Yes, as humans
we have paid our dues as far as the
advertising industry is concerned in
this country. We have done a bit of it;
we have been around for a while. Let
me just say it is God. For me to be away
for a while and for me to return, it is
God. God made it possible.
: We will like you to
take us through the history of the Oyo
State Signage & Advertisement
Agency
I think I can trace it back to
2011. I was privileged to be among the
team of the 30 wise men that was put
together when the incumbent
governor, His Excellency, Senator
Abiola Ajimobi, was elected into
office. It was a transition committee
put in place to midwife the take-off of
the new administration. Senator Abiola
Ajimobi, had set up a transition
committee of 30 men, and I was
privileged to be one of them. Our
mandate was to look at the records and
make recommendations to the
governor-elect then on how to move.
And all of this we did in about one and
half months – about 45 days. We came
together as transition committee
members and in the course of that, we
presented a proposal that as part of
moving Oyo State forward, there will
be need for the state to create an
Adepoju:
Adepoju:
INTERVIEW
26 Brand Visibility
Outdoor advertisement regulatory
agency, and that proposal was
looked into and a bill was sent to the
House of Assembly, because
without an enactment of the law, it
might be difficult as had been
experienced in other places. So, a
bill was sent to the House for close
to seven or eight months. The bill
was properly looked into and
eventually the House of Assembly,
having been convinced that it was
good for the state, and one of the
things that could help move the state
forward, the bill was passed into
law, and that made it possible for the
agency to be created. Today, we
have what is called the Oyo State
Signage and Advertisement Agency
(OYSAA), created by law in 2012.
Of course, having created the
agency, the agency needed someone
to pilot it and I think Governor
Ajimobi, in his wisdom, thought it
appropriate to appoint Yinka
Adepoju to be the pioneer Director
General. That was how it came into
being and that was how I became the
first Director General of the Oyo
State Signage and Advertisement
Agency (OYSAA). We are two
years old. I was appointed April
2012, and I resumed work May
2012. So the agency is two years old
now. You can see that the agency is
pretty young, but we thank God for
the achievement so far. God has
been good to us.
: Before the
creation of OYSAA, a court ruling
had pronounced the then
OSOAMAG as illegal. How would
you explain the creation of OYSAA
against the backdrop of this
ruling?
The OSOAMAG of that
time had no legal backing and it
Brand Visibility
Adepoju:
might also interest you to know that
I was on the other side then. I was
one of the plaintiffs then, because I
led the Outdoor Advertising
Association of Nigeria (OAAN), in
the first fight against OSOAMAG in
Oyo State. I was the General
Secretary of the Association then. I
had a president, but the two of us
were always in the witness box for
18 months. We were coming all the
way from Lagos, but all we said then
was that the OSOAMAG of that
time was not properly constituted.
And again, the helmsman then was
arbitrary in nature. All of the
advances OAAN made to make him
see reason with us to do things in a
way that people would not be badly
affected, he rebuffed all. And so,
OAAN didn't have a choice then
than to go to court and the court
settled it.
On the point of law, OSOAMAG
was not legally constituted and that
is the difference. You can see the
difference yourself. I just told you
that a bill went to the Oyo State
House of Assembly and for seven to
eight months, the lawmakers
scrutinized the bill. They either
removed or added and at the end of
the day the bill became a law which
we now know as the OYSAA Law
2012. So you can see that for
OYSAA, we have a solid and legal
foundation. OYSAA was created on
a solid rock. OYSAA was properly
created as against OSOAMAG.
They are two different institutions.
And thank God for the Governor of
Oyo State, His Excellency, Senator
Abiola Ajimobi, who knew his
onions and who made sure that
everything he dealt his hands in is
properly done.
: There is this claim
that the control of outdoor
advertising and collection of
revenue therefrom should reside
with the local government. Now, a
number of states have also passed
laws that have legally constituted
signage agencies in their respective
states. Do we now say that the law
of the state is superior to the
prov i s ion of the Niger ian
c o n s t i t u t i o n ? O r h a s t h e
constitution also allowed that states
should make laws that may
supersede the provisions of the
constitution?
Brand Visibility
An example of how it used to be in Oyo State before OYSAA
27 Brand Visibility
Adepoju: Yes you are right by
saying the constitution makes
provision that advertising control
and revenue should be in the
purview of local government. But
don't also forget that we run a three
tier system – local, state and federal
– and that the state is superior to the
local government. So, local
governments are under the state.
And in a situation where the state
feels, depending on who is in charge
or who is in control, that if we do it
this way, it will benefit
b o t h t h e l o c a l
government and the
citizens, the state has a
right to call the local
gove rnmen t s and
c o m e i n t o a n
agreement which is
exact ly what has
happened here and the
state is not doing it
unilaterally. The state
did it by bringing the
local government
chairmen in their
capacity as heads of
t h e i r l o c a l
governments, brought
them together and
advanced reasons why
it should be done the
way it is now. The state
did not stop at that. It
went to the House of Assembly,
which determines what should
happen in the state and by so doing,
for Oyo State, as well as other states
that are into this, they secured the
c o n f i d e n c e o f t h e i r l o c a l
government chairmen.
I still remember vividly that I led the
OAAN team to Ogun State some
years back to pursue this same
course and surprisingly, the local
government chairmen in one voice,
represented by the state ALGON
Chairman, said that, “It is what our
governor wants. We have seen that
the governor meant well and we
have released whatever power we
had to the governor.” So I could have
as well said that even here in Oyo
State, the local governments were
not left out of it. They were brought
into it and they saw the vision and
the mission of the governor as
something that would benefit the
greater majority of the people of the
state, as well as visitors to the state.
And they succumbed. And by so
doing, the state is now benefiting;
the local government councils are
also benefitting. So, there is no crisis
about that. It was mutually agreed
and that is how we are moving on.
There is no crisis, no opposition to
the OYSAA project. The way we
have done it, both the state and the
local government councils, and the
people of the state are beneficiaries.
In terms of landscape, everybody is
enjoying what we have now,
because it is better managed, well
controlled and well regulated
because the people we have that are
managing it are professionals.
Brand Visibility
Brand Visibility
: Practitioners in
outdoor advertising are groaning
as a result of fees being charged by
the signage agencies. How do you
think this can be addressed?
Well, I think we need to be
very explicit when we talk about
fees being charged by the signage
agencies. What and what are we
looking at? Are we looking at fees
being charged now to what it used to
be? If we are looking at fees being
charged now and fees charged in the
days when the controlling power
was with the local government, they
are not at par, because a lot of things
have gone into it now. But when you
look at what the different signage
agencies are charging, as far as I
know here in Oyo State, our fees are
quite affordable and they are also
quite good. Whatever rate we are
charging in Oyo State, they are very
affordable and reasonable. We still
give room for negotiation; listening
to OAAN and meeting ourselves at a
mid-point and that has been a lot of
encouragement, especially on the
side of our stakeholders. We are not
rigid. We listen and when we listen
we take decisions together;
decisions that will move both the
industry and the State forward.
: In a recent
publication by MediaReach OMD,
one of the leading Media
Independents in Nigeria, the cause
of the dwindling fortunes and
relevance of OOH media are
directly traceable to the activities of
the signage agencies. How do you
react to this?
That experience will soon
be over and I must tell you that we
are advancing by the day. So, even at
the signage agencies, we are not just
sitting down. We have also observed
Adepoju:
Adepoju:
INTERVIEW
Yinka Adepoju
29 Brand Visibility
the decline in patronage on the side
of our stakeholders. Take, for
example in my state now, there are
billboards that are vacant, a good
number of them, and we know that
something must be responsible. It is
either the budget of outdoor is
getting reduced by the day or
something. We are also concerned.
We are not just interested in taking
money from our practitioners or
stakeholders; we are also concerned
that their business must continue to
move forward and grow. So we have
also looked at it from that point of
view and we are asking questions
about what could be responsible.
And in view of this, we are trying to
come together as signage agencies,
maybe perhaps form a body, a group
or an association whereby we can
look at some of these challenges,
and by so doing we may be able to
speak with one voice. So, soon and
very soon, you may find out that
rates being charged by signage
agencies may not be too different
from one another. Although the
issue of how busy, how important
roads are, you cannot rule that out. If
you look at the OYSAA rates, you
will find that they are not the same
as what you have in Lagos, because
we have our factors in place and we
look at all of these. So I won't say
because Lagos is charging X
amount then I must charge the same
in Oyo. Even though I know Oyo is
not a second class rated state, not
even with what we are doing in
t e r m s o f u r b a n r e n e w a l
p r o g r a m m e s . O y o i s f a s t
developing, infrastructures are
changing ; roads a re be ing
constructed, the peace we enjoy in
Oyo is fantastic and everybody is
moving to Oyo now because things
have really changed. Things are
rea l ly ge t t ing be t te r. Tha t
notwithstanding, we are so careful
a n d v e r y
accommodating
that we still want
practitioners to
c o m e a n d
develop our state
f o r u s b y s t
br ing ing 21
century outdoor
structures, so
that we also can
be at par with the
developed world
and I tell you, it's
happening.
In the last two
years, we have
changed the face
of Oyo State. Two years ago, there
was no single electronic board.
Today, we have about eight standing
and we are expecting more to come
in the next couple of months,
because we have assigned and
allocated sites to those who will
develop such sites. The way we do it
here is that we have a level playing
ground. If you come and you tell us
where you are able to identify by
yourself, fine, we look at it and if it
goes with our guidelines we give to
you. All you need do is to pay the
required fees. And, if also you say
where can I put this thing? We have
mapped out some locations that we
will give out because we are more
interested in our landscape. We want
our landscape to be beautified.
However, with all of this in plan and
in the making, outdoor practitioners
will soon begin to enjoy or begin to
see that rates are reduced. Then for
Oyo State, I tell you that it is not as if
the revenue is not important to us,
but we are more particular about the
environment. We want a saner, safer,
more beautiful and an attractive
environment, because we know that
when the environment is good, the
money will come.
INTERVIEW
Some years back,
some advertisers
didn't want to come
t o O y o S t a t e
because of the way
billboards were
arranged. They
w e r e b a d l y
arranged, clustered
all over. But today,
it is like I must be in
Ibadan, I must have
my presence in
Oyo State. In as
much as we are
i n t e r e s t e d i n
g e n e r a t i n g
revenue, we like to
b e a u t i f y a n d
improve our environment first;
make sure that the environment
looks good. And so far, so good.
There have been commendations
here and there, but we are not yet
there. There are rooms for
improvement. Roads are being
constructed, they are being
dualized. Roundabouts are being
created, existing ones are being
refurbished on daily basis and you
find out that infrastructures are
being improved upon on daily basis.
Everywhere is opening up so that is
more important to us than the
revenue. But for all of these, I will
say that the rates that are being
charged in Oyo State are reasonable,
appropriate and affordable.
: You have a
reputation for being a leading light
in the industry prior to your
appointment. In what ways do you
plan to make your assignment bear
pos i t i ve l y on the ou tdoor
advertising industry?
: By the grace of God, with
the cooperation of the practitioners,
I can say it without mincing words
Brand Visibility
Adepoju
INTERVIEW
Brands & Visibility
that the period of two years that I
have spent on this seat has been
beneficial to both the state and the
practitioners. The practitioners are
coming in good number. They have
supported Oyo State in developing
the state by bringing all the
sophisticated, all the ultra-modern st21 century innovative billboards.
They have come with them and we
have also supported them by making
sure we have a place for them. I want
to say that we want to continue this
k i n d o f r e l a t i o n s h i p . T h e
relationship is very good, very
cordial and of course don't expect
that we will not have one or two
instances where we have to look at
each other in the eyes and all of that.
If you have your billboards in the
state enjoying exposure or visibility
all over the place, then the onus is
also on you to pay for such service.
And if you have reasons to put up
billboards on our highways, the
onus is also on you to ensure the
boards are well maintained. We
have some boards around that are
not tagged, and when they are not
tagged, there is no way you can trace
them to the owners.
We must be able to identify these
boards with their owners so that
they can have their bills and settle
such bills. So I must say that because
we have been in the profession for
this number of years, we know what
we should give back to the
practitioners and we know what
they should also give back to the
state. And because we understand all
of this, we expect we will be able to
coexist without any serious issue.
But let me appeal to the practitioners
that they should meet up with their
obligations to the state, because
when they don't do this, we may not
have any alternative than to also
clampdown or use the big stick. We
don't like using it, but when the
stakeholders are not doing what they
are supposed to do, we will not have
any choice than to do that.
Having said that, we put the
experience that we have acquired
over the years to bear, and it will
help to move both the industry and
the state forward.
What do you think
of the proposed Association of
S i g n a g e & A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Regulatory Agencies being
spearheaded by LASAA? Don't you
think such would be taking the
signage agencies off the course of
their primary purpose?
No. Some of us who are
there are professionals and we will
not deviate or derail, so to say. Some
of the things the association is likely
to be looking at, are issues that
concern the practitioners majorly.
We have noticed the decline and by
the grace of God, it will be one of the
things to be addressed. And how do
we address such issues? By the time
we begin to meet and come together,
we are also going to look at the
challenges our practitioners are
facing, and then there will be a way
out. We will be able to push some of
these, especially in the area of rates.
If it is a problem of rate, what stops
us from saying because of this, you
have this rate discounted and all of
that. So by the time we come
together, every member will be able
to bring his or her own experience to
the table. And when we bring such
experience to the table, we marry
them together and we find a way of
solving these challenges.
So, I see the association of
regulatory agencies to have a
positive effect. It is going to have a
positive effect on the industry and
the business we do. The merits are
going to be more than the demerits.
In fact, I see it having a lot of
benefits and merits. You will all
Brand Visibility:
Adepoju:
30 Brand Visibility
INTERVIEW
stand to gain from it and don't forget
there will be interactions. It is not
going to be a master-servant
relationship. We are going to look at
it as business partners; partners in
progress. With that, we have
meetings together, we would relate
together, share exper ience,
common interest and challenges
together. And we will be able to
meet ourselves midway. So that is
what I see that is going to happen.
So nobody should worry; nothing to
fear, nothing to worry about. I'm
assuring you that the interest of all
stakeholders will be adequately
taken care of.
The environment
in Oyo State is getting better and
gradually, the state capital is
wearing the look of a megacity. The
credit goes to the administration of
His Excellency, Abiola Ajimobi.
But how do you intend to prevent
illegal operators in outdoor
advertising from indiscriminate
erection of billboards, which
eventually would badly affect the
emerging beauty of the city?
We are not ready to joke
with the emerging beauty. We are
not ready to sacrifice it and we are
not going to compromise it for
anything. It is costing this
government a lot to put the
environment right, to put it in good
shape, to beautify and allow the
aesthetics to come up. It is costing
the government huge sums in terms
of money, manpower, and all of that.
So, no government would do all of
that and at the same time allow
ind i s c r imina t e e r ec t i on o f
billboards to scatter whatever
arrangement we have made. So, I
can assure you that with this
administration in power, and by the
Grace of God, this administration
will continue to be in power.
Brand Visibility:
Adepoju:
31 Brand Visibility
Whatever we have done, we must be
able to also consolidate. It has taken
us time to put all of these things
together, and we will not for any
reason allow derogation to come
into it.
At this point all I need to plead for is
cooperation on the part of
practitioners. You can be sure that
we will not allow quacks to come
and deface or abuse the beauty that
God has given us the vision to
create. For God to have allowed us
get to this level, we would also
jealously ensure that we guard it and
not allow any infiltration or
anybody to just come and debase
whatever we have put together. And
what that tells you is that OYSAA is
going to be on its toes to ensure that
billboards and signage are well
regulated in Oyo State. So
regulations will come into it. It is
going to be well regulated and well
controlled and well managed. So,
for no reason whatsoever, we will
not allow the standard to fall.
Rather, we should be looking
forward.
: How do you see
the future of outdoor advertising
practice in Nigeria?
Very bright. And why did I
say so? Number one, you discover
that more people are coming into
this regulatory thing. We must face
the reality, facts must be told. The
more regulatory agencies we have in
this country, the better for the
industry. But there is a caveat, and
that caveat is, as the regulatory
agencies are being established,
those who are responsible for the
establishment must ensure that they
are putting the right people to
manage them. It should be a case of
a round peg in a round hole. You are
Brand Visibility
Adepoju:
establishing an agency, don't look at
it from the point of view of revenue.
Look at it from the point of view of
management of billboards and
signage in the state. That is, look at it
from the point of view of regulation.
That takes me to the next statement,
that is, put the people who have the
know-how, somebody who has the
experience, the techniques, what it
takes to head the agency. In a couple
of months, he would transform and
change the face of whatever outdoor
looks like in that state.
Take the case of Oyo State, for
example. Without being immodest,
in less than six months, we have
changed the face of outdoor in Oyo
State. And like I said, we are still not
there yet; it is a continuous exercise.
Whatever we have done so far, we
have received commendation even
from our colleagues. It doesn't come
easy for professionals or people to
say you guys have done well.
What we are clamouring for, here in
Oyo State, is that we need the
cooperation of the practitioners, the
stakeholders so to say. We are not
only concerned with the third party.
We have first party signage all over
the place and they are also part of
what will make the city look good. If
they are not well managed and well
positioned, they will also devalue
the outdoor life of the state.We
intend to manage them well and if
this is happening all over Nigeria,
then the industry will be better for it.
: As a veteran in the
practice, a fellow of the Advertising
Practitioners Council of Nigeria,
and a former first vice president of
t h e O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g
Association of Nigeria (OAAN),
you are a source from which
current and future practitioners
should draw knowledge and
Brand Visibility
wisdom. In what areas would you
advise that the practice of
advertising be improved upon?
Very simple: people
should keep to standards. People
should operate on guidelines,
whether in the outdoor or in the
general advertising. What we are
saying is that people should put
professionalism into it because it is
the only way. Then the regulatory
body, which is the Advertising
Practitioners Council of Nigeria
(APCON), and of course the
sectoral groups. They must all be
a l e r t a n d a l i v e t o t h e i r
responsibilities. APCON must
ensure that advertising is practised
according to the rules; the rules of
the game must be put into it. Then,
all the sectoral bodies too must
ensure that they apply the rules. We
must be able to curb our members
and where they fail in their
obligations, we must sanction them.
These are ways through which
advertising can be moved forward
in this country.
We must discourage a situation
whereby quackery is put into this
business. Quacks must not be
allowed. Whatever it is going to
take, APCON as the parent body
and the sectoral associations must
ensure that in their different groups,
only registered practitioners are
allowed to practise and operate.
And for me and our colleagues, all I
need to say is that money is good
and important, but we should not
allow money to rule us; we should
be in control of money. And if we
can put all of that into place, then
this issue of undercutting here and
there, short-changing, trying to play
smart, will not come in.
So, to my colleagues in the
advertising industry, either in
OAAN or in BON, ADVAN or
Adepoju:
INTERVIEW
N I G E R I A
Maxima Des gns & Prints i
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33 Brand Visibility
AAAN, I am saying that they should
play by the rules and they should
bring discipline into whatever they
are doing, because it is indiscipline
of the highest order when people
beg in to shor t -change and
sometimes they will even run down
their colleagues and fellow
agencies, just because you want to
take a job from a client. No, it does
not work that way. So, let us apply
the rules and let us operate as
professionals.
Please let us have
your profile. We know but a little
about you. Now tell us about Prince
Yinka Adepoju!
Yinka Adepoju is an
advertising practitioner. I came into
the industry in the year 1986, having
just finished my Youth Service then.
I read Mass Communication. I'm a
Mass Communicator by profession.
I have my stint in broadcasting, I
have done a bit in print, but today, by
the Grace of God, I am in advertising
and I've been in advertising since
1988.
In 1986, I was in the broadcast
Brand Visibility:
Adepoju:
medium. I worked briefly at NTA
Akure, and I also worked briefly at
NTA 7, Tejuosho, after which I
moved to Vanguard newspaper,
where I have the print experience
and then all of a sudden, I left for
advertising in 1988.
I worked with an advertising agency
called St. Georges Publicity Limited
of those days. From there, I moved
to Media Link limited. That was
where I caught my teeth as an
outdoor advertising practitioner. I
went in there as senior client service
executive. I became the commercial
manager and rose to become the first
general manager in 1992. I resigned
my appointment in 1994, and
established my own company called
Royal Communications Limited. I
was the MD/CEO of Royal
Communications Limited until
2010 when I stepped aside to do
other things.
In 2011, I was here in Oyo State to
put in my own contribution as a
member of the transition committee,
and by 2012, I was appointed
pioneer director general of the
newly created Oyo State Signage
and Adver t i sement Agency
INTERVIEW
(OYSAA). I started it by the Grace
of God. So, along the line, of all of
these years, I played my role very
well in my own professional body. I
became the first vice president of
OAAN, which I vacated in 2011.
Even at the apex body level which is
the Advertising Practitioners
Council of Nigeria (APCON), I
have served on so many committees.
I served in the Tribunal and
Privileges Committee; ASP (the
Advertising Standards Panel), I
served under the late Sesan Ogunro.
I was a representative of OAAN on
APCON Council. I have made my
own modest contribution to the
development of advertising in
Nigeria, and to the Glory of God, I
will still continue to. So, I thank God
for everything. I have paid my dues,
and I have played my roles. I am not
tired yet. In any role, whichever
way they still want me to, I am
willing and I am ready to make
further contributions to the success
and the forward movement of the
advertising industry in general.
Finally, how Brand Visibility:
Emerging aesthetically fulfilling city of Ibadan
INTERVIEW
34 Brand Visibility
would you want posterity to
remember you, especially in your
sojourn in the industry in which
you have spent the greater part of
your life?
: The good thing about
life is you want to be remembered
for whatever little or modest
contribution you have made. For
example, I have over 30
certificates which I can present to
you of doing or serving in one
committee or attending one
p r o g r a m m e , s e m i n a r o r
workshop. There are also awards
i n r e c o g n i t i o n a n d i n
commendation of what I have
been privileged to do. Last year, I
got two awards. I received the
Best Out Of Home Media
Regulator of the Year Award in
Nigeria 2013, and the Platinum
A c h i e v e m e n t Aw a r d o f
Exce l l ence , p re sen ted to
O Y S A A , o r g a n i z e d b y
International Brand.
We have a catalogue of this in
terms of awards, plaques, medals
and all of that.
And like I said, we are not tired
yet, so we still have a long way to
go. We are still in the mainstream
of it so whatever God gives us the
enablement to do, we will still do.
Human beings too love to be
remembered. I like to be
remembered for all of those
things.
Adepoju
I want to be remembered for
coming here, playing my role,
participating well, making my
l i t t le contribution to the
development of the advertising
industry and the growth of Oyo
State.
BV
Da n g o t e
C e m e n t
P l c . ,
Nigeria's leading
c e m e n t
manufacturers with
growing presence on
t h e A f r i c a n
c o n t i n e n t , h a s
e m b a r k e d o n a
nationwide branding
exercise that is
a i m e d a t
consolidating its No.
1 position in the
count ry ' s economy. The
company is currently installing
a uniquely-designed directional
signage in all its depots across
the country. The exercise is
coming in the wake of the
company's engagement of
billboards in major cities
including Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan,
Kaduna and Kano to announce
the birth of its extra strength
42.5 grade brand, appropriately
named Big Boss.
This exercise is seen by industry
watchers as an effort by Dangote
Cement to properly position the
brand as the clear market leader in
line with its current market
expansion activities. And with the
introduction of its 42.5 grade of
cement to meet international
standards, the company is now
Dangote Cement Brands Depots,
news
NEWS BRIFE
35 Brand Visibility
clearly ahead of its local peers. And
so, to cope with the high demand
for its product across the country,
the company is currently adding to
the existing depots and regional
salesOffices in the country. Sales
offices are also being established
across the country, to make it easier
for existing and prospective
customers to get the product. The
Depots, Regional Offices as well as
the Sales offices now wear the
Dangote unique blue colour, and
also adorn its logo (the watchful
eagle with its firm hold on the
Crescent).
Many of the company's depots
across the country currently wear
the new look. The branding
exercise has also been extended to
distributors' warehouses, to make
for easy access for customers. This
is making branding purposeful and
result oriented.
But much more importantly,
Dangote Cement is painting the
country blue. As a result, the
brand's image is soaring higher,
like the eagle the brand has on its
logo. BV
Customer Warehouses, Sales Offices & Regional Offices
technology
Practitioners in the out-of-home
industry are redefining their
mode of visual display,
especially now that there is an influx of
LED boards in the major cities. Many of
these LED boards which can be seen
along major highways not only beautify
the environment, but they also add to the
glamour the products projected on them
enjoy.
It is simply obvious that the era of the
archaic outdoor advertising platforms is
gradually coming to an end, as digital
and electronic platforms are now the
vogue in industry. Indeed, the landscape
is changing, and more and more
advertisers are switching to LED
platforms. operators in the outdoor
industry.
Though some are yet to key into the new
trend of technological innovation, yet
many have taken advantage of this to
win more clients to their side and enjoy
patronage from buyers.
Expectedly, manufacturers of LED are
also making inroads into the Nigerian
market. One of such manufacturers is
the China-based Liantronics. The
company is targeting the Nigerian
outdoor market both with the outdoor
LED and its indoor electronic display
platform named eTotem.
The Liatronics’ eTotem is a super-sized
LED digital signage, and it is a
combination of hi-tech and artistic
creat ion which a lso combines
information transmission, artistic
expression and time connotation all
rolled into one highly innovative and
captivating platform. eTotem is
designed to be durable and to enjoy high
grade protection from vandalisation.
The eTotem board is designed to access
for WiFi/3G wireless and wired
network. It is embedded with a video
monitor and ammeter and a 4.1 sound
Liatronics's LED Births in Nigeria ... eTotem Coming Soon
inbuilt centralized cluster network and
remote control system to monitor and
manage the status of the LED screen. Its
hot backup system and double backup
power supply are of the required
international standards and help define
electronic communication in digital
terms.
The eTotem boards, suitable for indoor
display, can be perfectly placed at
airports, subway stations, train stations,
large shopping malls, star grade hotels,
book stores, pavilions, conference
centres, cinemas, banks, offices, etc. Its
system components include LED
display, that is, eTotem, and control
system with contro computer, LED
display controller, distributor and the
control system software.
When displayed, the front face features
include LED module x 40 pcs, tempered
glass and metallic painted base, which is
located at the bottom of the board. Fan
and access panel are the two main
features designed for the back face of
eTotem LED board.
David Zhu, Liantronics’ Marketing
Manager was recently in Nigeria, and
visited a couple of leading outdoor firms,
including KOK Visibility Edge and also
spoke with Brand Visibility. He said
that users of the eTotem board can test
each part without connecting with LED
control system. He also said that it
supports pixel level brightness/colour
calibration. The eTotem board according
to David is designed to allow users enjoy
the Nova LCT-Mars control system,
used to configure and control LED
display through PC in graphics user
interface.
Analysing its power distribution system,
David is confident that practitioners
using the eTotem board will find it more
advanced in terms of its air switch,
leakage protection switch, fuses, and AC
contactors.
The system he insisted has protection
from overvoltage, overcurrent, under
voltage, short circuit, open circuit and
leakage. The main switches in the power
distribution cabinet he said, are made of
the Schneider devices to meet
consumers demand and all other
accessories, while the wire has CCC
certification.
David is so sure that the latest
technological devices in the Liantronics
e To t e m b o a r d m e e t r e q u i r e d
international standards, and that users,
most especially practitioners in the out-
of-home industry, will find it cost
effective and highly profitable. BV
37 Brand Visibility
David Zhu
e Totem Platform
NIGERIAN BREWRIES PLC:
WINNING WITH
NIGERIA
Nigerian Breweries Plc, the p ionee r and l a rges t brewing company in
Nigeria, was incorporated in 1946. The company recorded a landmark when the first bottle of lager beer rolled off the bottling lines of its Lagos Brewery in June, 1949. The company has undergone several optimization processes and as at today boasts of one of the most modern breweries in the country.The company now has other breweries across the nation. They include Aba Brewery, established in 1957; Kaduna Brewery, in 1963 and Ibadan Brewery, in 1982. In 1993, the company acquired its fifth brewery in Enugu. In October, 2003, a sixth brewery, sited at Ameke Ngwo in Enugu State, was commissioned and christened
The latter is, today, one of the biggest and most modern breweries in Africa. Operations in the old Enugu Brewery were however discontinued in 2004, while the company acquired a malting plant in Aba in 2008.In October 2011, Nigerian Breweries acquired majority equity in teres ts in Sona Sys tems Associates Business Management Limited (Sona Systems) and Life Breweries Limited from Heineken N.V. This followed Heineken's acquisition of controlling interests in five breweries in Nigeria from Sona Group in January, 2011. Sona Systems' two breweries in Ota and Kaduna, and Life Breweries in Onitsha have now become part of Nigerian Breweries Plc, together
Star
Ama Brewery.
Special Report
38 Brand Visibility
39 Brand Visibility
with these three brands: Goldberg Lager, Malta Gold and Life Continental Lager.
Nigerian Breweries Plc. has a rich portfolio of high quality brands. Star Lager Beer, the first in its portfolio and the flagship, was launched in 1949. This was followed by Gulder Lager Beer in 1970. Maltina, the nourishing malt drink, was introduced in 1976, followed by Legend Extra Stout in 1992. Amstel Malta was launched in 1994, while Heineken, the international premium Lager Beer, was re-launched into the Nigerian market in 1998.Maltina Sip-it, packaged in Tetrapaks, was launched in 2005, while Fayrouz was launched in 2006. In 2007, the company introduced Star, Heineken and Amstel Malta in cans. In 2013, the company sold a total of 30 stock keeping units (SKU's), including Gulder can, L e g e n d c a n , H e i n e k e n Magnum, Maltina can & PET, Fayrouz cans, Fayrouz PET, Climax energy drink, as well as Goldberg Lager, Malta Gold and Life Continental Lager, which became part of the family in October 2011. Two brand extensions – Star Lite and Fayrouz Exo t i c – were introduced in the first quarter of 2014.
As a brewing concern, the company encourages and sus ta ins many anc i l l a ry
Brand portfolio
Ancillary industries
businesses locally. Several of these o rgan iza t ions and individuals depend largely on the company for their means of livelihood. These include manufacturers of bottles, cans, PET resins, crown corks, labels, cartons, plastic crates and such s e r v i c e p r o v i d e r s a s hotels/clubs, distributors, transporters, event managers, advertising, PR and marketing communications agencies, etc.
Nigerian Breweries is a socially r e s p o n s i b l e c o r p o r a t e organization with good track record of corporate social initiatives in identified and strategic areas.
Over the years, Nigerian Breweries has been very active in supporting the country's development aspirations in line with our commitment of
We have continued to identify and respond to major challenges confronting our nation through o u r c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l investments, especially in the a reas o f educa t ion , the e n v i r o n m e n t , t a l e n t development and sports , amongst others. T h e c o m p a n y i n 1 9 9 4 established The Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund with a take-off grant of N100 million to take a more active part in the funding of educational and research activities in Nigeria.
C o r p o r a t e s o c i a l responsibility
“Winning with Nigeria”.
This is in addition to its secondary and university e d u c a t i o n s c h o l a r s h i p programmes for children of its employees. The company is a l s o i n v o l v e d i n t h e development of leadership, musical and movie talents, through various programmes.
Nigerian Breweries has a significant presence in Nigeria with seven breweries, two malting plants and distribution centres strategically located across the country. Some of the impacts of the company's operations on the Nigerian economy are as follows:In 2011, the company's operations represented 12 per cent of Nigerian manufacturing in terms of value added. In that same year, Nigerian Breweries generated N245 billion revenue and N345 billion consumption of its products.Nigerian Breweries operations have a value added impact of N243 billion on Nigeria's economy, which represents 0.65 per cent of Nigeria's GDP.In 2011, N87 billion was paid directly and indirectly as taxes, which represented 4.02 per cent of Nigeria's non-oil tax revenue. Nigerian Breweries has a high value direct work force of 3,200 employees, and the company's operations support indirectly 586,000 jobs, which represents 0.64 per cent of the total labour force, of which 54,000 are within the Sorghum value chain.
Our socio-economic impact
Special Report
It is no longer news that operators in the out-of-home industry in Nigeria now
grapple with dwindling revenue, consequent upon the activities of
Advertisement and Signage Regulatory Agencies across the country. Today, the
subsector has come under the life-threatening yoke of the various agencies dubiously
code-named as outdoor advertising regulatory agencies.
The harrowing journey commenced with the establishment of the Lagos State
Signage & Advertisement Agency (LASAA) in 2006, via the instrument of a Lagos
State Law. Primary among its functions, the LASAA law requires that the agency
should ensure that the environment is beautiful and that the installation of billboards
be controlled to prevent the chaotic situation that outdoor contraptions had been
before then. However, good as government's intentions were, the reality today is that
the signage agencies have become the task masters for operators in the industry.
Prior to the establishment of signage agencies across the country, cities were littered
with all sizes and shapes of billboards that were more of environmental nuisance.
Badly positioned banners and posters made various cities look ugly and, in some
cases, had caused fatal road accidents.
The intervention of the state governments through the establishment of the various
regulatory agencies like LASAA, OGSAA, OYSAA, OSSAA, KWASAA, and
others like them, was therefore initially welcomed by all stakeholders. As in the case
of Lagos, there was sanity. The intervention thereafter truly contributed to the
aesthetics and beautification of the states.
In the course of time, however, it became apparent that what is of paramount
importance to the signage agencies is more of pecuniary consideration than the
environment. It is now obvious that they are assessed by their principals (the
governors) for what they contribute to the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the
states. For most of them, revenue generation is now more important than the
environment. Virtually all the agencies are under targets of hundreds of millions, (in
some, like Lagos, billions) by the respective state governments that now see outdoor
advertisements as veritable means of boosting their IGR.
Not too long ago, Grorge Noah, the managing director of LASAA, was named the
Lagos State Man of the Year. It is not clear if the award was popularly on account of his
achievements on the environment. But in a television interview sometime after his
investiture, he touted his agency as the one that generated the highest income into the
coffers of the state in 2013. The LASAA example has become a model for other states.
And so today, we have advertisement and signage agencies in almost all the states. It
is worthy of note that this is about the only institution that cuts across the political
divide in Nigeria. Even though it was first launched in an APC controlled state, states
being controlled by other parties have also set up similar agencies.
Constitutionally, the regulation of outdoor advertising is under the purview of
local governments. But in an effort to justify the creation of these otherwise
illegal agencies, local governments have been in a manner of speaking, arm-
twisted, and presented as lacking in technical and manpower by the various state
governments.
Thus, by some political manipulations, states have forced local governments into
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING IN NIGERIA: HOW ADVERTISEMENT AND SIGNAGE REGULATORY AGENCIES TRUNCATE GROWTH
s ign ing memoranda o f
understanding with them,
allowing the signage and
advertisement agencies to
handle the job on their behalf.
Realising that this is not
enough to give the agencies
the needed legal status, state
Houses of Assembly have
been made to pass laws that
have legalized the otherwise
unconstitutional action.Industry watchers, however, b e l i e v e t h a t s t a t e governments may not be in a hurry to call these regulatory agencies to order on the issue of illegality, for as long as the agencies continue to bring in huge revenues for them.
It is worthy to add here that
h e a d s o f t h e v a r i o u s
regulatory agencies are
political appointees, and no
effort has ever been made to
ensure they have any
professional certification
that qualifies them to occupy
such position
Mr. Yinka Adepoju, director
general of Oyo State Signage
and Advertisement Agency
(OYSAA), a thorough bred
professional and one time
vice president of the Outdoor
Advertising Association of
Nigeria (OAAN), is the only
exception here.
Little wonder, therefore, that
the best the various signage
agencies can do has been to
concentrate on how to
40 Brand Visibility
cover story
increase the IGR they deliver, not
minding the effect of their activities
on the industry. The experience
today is such that can be safely
likened to a situation where
butchers are made to carry out
surgical operations. This is more so,
because most of those who preside
over the agencies have never
operated any serious business. Thus,
they do not really know more than to
concentrate on revenue generation,
even if that would mean that the
industry they regulate is stifled to
death.
The regime of pioneer managing director of LASAA, Mr. Makanjuola Alabi , was reputed to have embarked on massive destruction of billboards worth several billions of naira, with impunity. Many companies that could not meet the demands of LASAA then were forced out of business. Even those who remained in business did so for the reason that they had hoped the insanity would abate with time. Businesses suffered and hundreds of thousands of the employees of the affected outdoor companies lost their jobs and means of livelihood, all because the government had suddenly discovered a new source of increase in IGR in outdoor advertising.
T h e o n s l a u g h t o n o u t d o o r advertising did not start with LASAA, the forerunner of signage agencies. And it is not true that there has never been organized resistance against such onslaught by the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN).
It is on record that OAAN successfully c h a l l e n g e d t h e O y o S t a t e government over its attempt to regulate and control outdoor advertising in the state through an agency then popularly called OSOAMAG(Oyo State Outdoor
Advertising Monitory and Advisory Group). That was many years before the establishment of LASAA. In a suit filed by the association in the Oyo State High Court, presided over by Honourable Justice M.O Bolaji-Yusuf, the court decided as follows:
1. That the control and regulation of outdoor advertising by the government of Oyo State through the agency of Oyo State Outdoor Advertising Monitoring and Advisory Group (OSOAMAG) or any other agent, consultants or whatsoever was illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and ultra vires the power of the Oyo State Government.
2. That the activities of OSOAMAG, in so far as it involved the control and regulations of outdoor advertising in the state and collection of levies, taxes or any form of revenue there from on behalf of the government of Oyo State, was illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.
3. That the removal and destruction of billboards erected by the st ndplaintiffs, by the 1 and 2 Defendants, purporting to act on behalf of
the government of Oyo State, was illegal, unlawful and a violation of the legal and constitutional rights of the plaintiffs to their property;
4. That the control of land on federal highways is legally vested in the Federal Government and its relevant officials, and no agency of Oyo State government had the legal authority to control the use by the plaintiffs of any part of the federal highway in Oyo state. It is not known if the Government of Oyo State ever appealed the judgement
But what appears more baffling is that state agencies across the country
have not been challenged by OAAN, the relevant subsector of the economy
that is most badly hit by the illegal and largely unconstitutional activities of
these agencies.
However, in the opinion of Mr. Yinka Adepoju, OYSAA helmsman, there is a
world of difference between OSOAMAG and the new signage agencies, in the
sense that the latter are backed by law, and therefore cannot be compared to
OSOAMAG, which had no legal backing. Adepoju said it was on the basis of its
illegality and arbitrariness that OAAN went to court to challenge OSOAMAG.
And now, with the planned formation of an outdoor advertising regulatory association being spearheaded by LASAA, a disaster may be looming, and operators in that subsector may be in for tougher times ahead.
In a press statement widely circulated and published in major newspapers, LASAA helmsman, Mr. George Noah, said, “The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency is spear-heading the formation of an association, to protect the interests of outdoor advertising regulatory agencies.” He also said a number of states were already buying into the project. But, the objective is suspect. Perhaps LASAA and the other agencies are not aware that outdoor advertising practice in Nigeria is gradually going into extinction due to their activities. In a recent publication by Mediafacts, it was established that in 2012 alone, the billings of out-of-home operators went down by about N12 billion, owing to the economically unfriendly disposition of these agencies.
It is simply unclear therefore, what interest of the signage agencies are threatened and by whom. Perhaps the agencies are seeking autonomy from the state governments that set them up.
cover story
41 Brand Visibility
Or could it be that their IGR interest has been so badly affected that they now want a platform to help them prevail on advertisers to increase their outdoor budgets? OAAN cannot be a threat; at least not from the attitude of the association to readily accept whatever is hauled at the members and their practice by agencies whose leadership are at best novices in the practice of outdoor advertising. And what is more, from all indications, the association is not complaining, at least not loudly enough to register any form of displeasures.
In some states there are also consultants whose primary business is to drive as it were, help the signage agencies in the drive for IGR. With some of them, it has become so ridiculous that outdoor companies are asked to make payments into some private accounts belonging to such consultants. It is now a free for all!
There is also the African Outdoor Conference and Exhibition put together by LASAA. While it is tempting to applaud the agency for this, some industry oparators say it should take caution not to further strangulate the outdoor advertising in Nigeria.
J. C. Decaux, whose helmsman d e l i ve re d a s p e e c h at t h e conference, is said to have a very deep pocket, and is ever willing to use this to sniff life out of local operators. The company is said to have tried it in some other leading West African countries, but was vehemently resisted both by the operators and the government. It did not succeed there, but since that attempt was unsuccessful, Nigeria may simply be the next target.
The worry in certain quarters is that Nigeria may be an easier prey, given the very high level of official
impunity and reckless executive corruption in the land. The conviction is that should the company be determined to come, some officials may not blink an eyelid to sell off the entire nation, so long as it gives them enormous wealth and other opportunities, including being on the board of directors and other such pecuniary considerations.
Today, the popular fear in some quarters is that J. C. Decaux is set to take over the out-of-home industry in Nigeria, if allowed and given approval to practice in the country. “The purported promotion of creative excellence which is the theme of the conference and on which the chieftain of J.C.D is billed to make a presentation, should not be a ploy to cede out outdoor advertising practice to an investor with a deep purse”, a Nigerian practitioner had advised shortly before the conference. He warned that if such happened, it would “be calamitous for the Niger ian economy, as hundreds of people employed by the local operators would have to be out of jobs and employments, thereby worsening the already very bad economic situation in the land.”
Mr. Emmanuel Ajufo, Managing
Director of Opportunity To See, who
is also the General Secretary of
OAAN, in expressing his own
opinion, pointed out that state
r e g u l a t o r y a g e n c i e s h a v e
contributed to industry failure, to
the extent that practitioners spend
between 33 per cent and 40 per cent
of their revenue on paying tax
(otherwise known as permit fees), a
In other words, the industry seems to suspect every move of the signage agencies. The thinking that is very popular is that it is the internally generated revenue target that is really driving every move of the signage agencies, especially LASAA.
cover story
42 Brand Visibility
development he describes as
counterproductive. He believes the
high rates of the agencies are not in
any way justifiable.
He said as a result of the high rates,
small-scale advertisers have been
forced out of the market, and that
even the available big spenders are
already complaining of strangulating
rates which may also force them out
of the out-of-home media platform.
This has to be checked, otherwise the
platforms may soon be empty, and
operators forced out of business.
This, Ajufo warned, is a destructive
disaster waiting to happen.
In the opinion of Mr. Yinka Okesiji, a
seasoned practitioner, formerly of
Optimum Exposures and Promo
World, the real problem is that
“majority of the signage agencies are
run by non-professionals.” The only
exception, according to him, is the
Oyo State Signage & Advertisement
Agency (OYSAA), which is being
run by a first-class outdoor person.
He decried the practice whereby
regulatory agencies fix rates
arbitrarily from the tax point of view,
which is not even justified. He noted
that the regulatory agencies fix rates
a s d i r e c t e d b y t h e i r s t a t e
governments, and not based on the
percentage of the rates charged by
operators, or on the percentage of
their income. This he said was not
right
“They can fix a rate today, especially
in Lagos, by the time you are sending
your estimated costs, based on those
rates, to your client, say in another
one or two months, the rates have
increased, thereby making planning
very difficult,” he lamented. “It is a
major issue and until we get out of
this, the industry will not grow. It is
not like that everywhere, it is not like
that, for instance, in the United
States, the United Kingdom and even
the United Arab Emirates.” BV
Th e Departme
n t o f M a s s Communication, University of L a g o s , n o w wears a new look w i t h t h e completion and commissioning of a two-storey building donated by Mr. Biodun S h o b a n j o , Chairman of Troyka Holdings, one of the leading lights in the Marketing Communications industry in Nigeria.The department was known to be in shortage of lecture rooms. It was usually a difficulty for both students and their lecturers to attend to their lectures and other academic activities as a result. It was a common experience for studenst and lecturers to wait in the sun for hours pending the availability of rooms for their lectures. But that now belongs in the history books as a result of the building recently donated by one of the leading icons of professional advertising practice in Nigeria, Mr. Biodun Shobanjo, a fellow (frpa) of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON. The newly commissioned building has more than enough classrooms to accommodate more than five lectures at the same time. There are also offices for the lecturers.Appropriately named THE BIODUN SHOBANJO MULTI-M E D I A C E N T R E O F EXCELLENCE this contribution will enable the Department meet in physical terms the Centre of Excellence in Media Training
Biodun Shobanjo Donates Building To Mass Comm. Department, UNILAG
-LEKAN IBRAHIM
status awarded to it by UNESCO.In a chat with Dr. O l u b u n m i Ajibade, a lecturer at the department, he told Brand Visibility that the former structure t h a t w a s demolished to give way to the new building could not c a t e r f o r t h e
department's need and so the call for new classrooms became inevitable. “ T h e r e a r e s o m a n y programmes- founda t ion p r o g r a m m e , d e g r e e programme, full-time and part-time programmes, and post-graduate programmes.
43 Brand Visibility
NEWS
Mr Biodun Shobanjo, frpa
Side view of the building
We were suffering acute space shortage. Apparently, it was not good enough and we could
not expand because we did not have space within our environment. The space-constraint was enormous, and so the project was timely, a saving grace” Dr. Ajibade said.Ajibade disclosed that the construction started in 2012, and the project was completed and commissioned in 2014, adding that there was no delay whatsoever in the execution. Rather, the project was executed as scheduled and the design, just appropriate for the present day need of a university department. And Ajibade's view is that Mr. S h o b a n j o s h o u l d b e c o m m e n d e d f o r t h i s
w o n d e r f u l g i f t t o t h e Department. Brand Visibility however
observed that the building was yet to be put to use as it was yet to be equipped with the relevant furniture items and the required instructional materials to aid learning. Also, the air conditioning system, and internet facilities were yet
to be in place. Alofun Oluwatayo, a Master's Degree s tudent of the Department expressed his hope to see the building put to use soon. His words: “it's q u i t e a m o n u m e n t a l architecture but I can only hope that it will be put to active use and not left like a mere museum for tourists.” That perhaps sums up the expectations of lecturers and students alike. But intending users of the building may not have to wait for long, as, we learnt, the relevant authorities of the University Council was a l ready consider ing to approve funds for the purchase of all the necessary items to make it possible to put to effective use The Biodun Shobanjo Multi-Media Centre of Excellence, BSMCE! BV
44 Brand Visibility
News
Another view of the building
Mr Shobanjo at the presentation of the building
A close up on the inscription
Brand building has for so
long been a global trend
and has now become a
major strategy adopted for
penetrat ing, reclaiming, or
dominating a market, as it is an
effective way to connect with the
target consumers. And lately, at the
turn of this decade, the engagement
of the social media platforms has
become the darling of brand
communicators.
Over time, corporate organizations
h a v e d e p l o y e d o t h e r
communication platforms to build
their brands, giving them the
desired personality in order to
attract and sustain consumers: both
present, prospective and future.
And now the advent of social media
has added a most formidable
platform to connect and engage
millions of individuals, especially
the youths and the young at heart,
that are regularly on Facebook,
Badoo, Twitter and the rest of
them.These are now helping
marketers and their consultants to
showcase their brands and promote
a bond with the target.
With over 55, 000, 000 internet
users in Nigeria, corporate
“…the advent of social media
has added a most formidable
platform to connect and
engage the millions of
individuals, especially the
youths and the young at
heart, that are regularly on
Facebook, Badoo, Twitter
and the rest of them.”
organizations should have enough
reasons to also deploy the social
media platforms to engage with
youths, with the commercial
messages of their brands, to the end
that their overall marketing
communications objectives are
achieved.
T h e s e d a y s a n u m b e r o f
Facebook“Like” pages and
sponsored Twitter “Handles”
appear on the individual's timeline
and she has a choice to “Like” the
page or to discard it. By “Liking”a
page , “ f eeds” g e t t o t he
individual's “Timeline” and latest
updates from the organization
deploying such a platform pops up
at regular intervals. And the
individual cannot miss these
updates which most times are
How Brands Can Connect
through Social Media Platforms
Investigation
46 Brand Visibility
commercial messages about a
brand or a group of them.
Further, organizations can also
take advantage of the social media
platforms to build a strong bond
with their intended target by
engaging “online commentators”.
These are individuals with
hundreds and thousands of
“followers”, and the discerning
marketer is also “following” such
individuals to connect and engage
o t h e r “ f o l l o w e r s ” w i t h
commercial messages subtly
passed on about their brands.
The social media specialists
“tweet” the brands and products to
their followers and with a number
of “ re tweets” f rom other
followers and friends, the message
spreads across the social media
platform, exposing all followers
(now a captive audience) to the
message, and it may become one
of the ‘trending topics’’ if it
garners more retweets. And in
course of all of this, the
commercial message becomes
“viral”, becomes so popular with
the intended audiences. The
brand's image ultimately gets a
boost as intended.
However, while social media may
be seen as an effective platform to
reach out to millions of youths,
there is the critical question of
whether the message truly appeals
to the potential consumers. The
effectiveness of a social media
campaign therefore is vital in
determining the quality of
messages and resources to be
invested in it.
Opening a social media account is
not a difficult thing, but the
“Likes” and “Follow” it is likely to
get few hours after the account has
been activated, is what will
determine how internet users will
connect with the brand.
In Nigeria for instance, when a
celebrity opens a social media
account, such personality is set to
get over a thousand “Followers”
and “Likes” within an hour.
Meanwhile, brands tend to angle
for such instantaneous popularity,
and most times, have to pay to
appear as sponsored page on
internet user's timeline. If a brand
an can't get a likely hit of a
thousand “followers” hours after
the opening of a social media
account, what then is the
possibility of the brand getting the
in tended engagement and
connectivity with the internet
users who are on the social media
platform?
No doubt, most marketers desire
that their brands enjoy improved
bonding with the teeming internet
users. Most have introduced
inducements by way of offering
gifts and free tickets to watch
important events or even through
recharge cards. When these are up,
increase in followership usually
occurs, the number of “Likes”
expectedly comes up quite
significantly, and the product
becomes the subject of discussion,
perhaps for as long as the
inducement strategy is deployed.
It may even become one of the
‘trending topics’’.
However, the question to ask is,
with the promos and presentation
of gifts that happen on the social
‘While social media may be
seen as an effective platform
to reach out to millions of
youths, there is the critical
question of whether the
message truly appeals to the
potential consumers’’.
media platform, do the winners
remain connected with the brand?
Will they not switch loyalty at a
better offer or to something more
promising?
While we must appreciate the
advent of social media and the
positive impact it has had when
deployed for brand promotion
purposes, brand managers must
take cognisance of the need to
effectively and strategically use
this platform to truly connect with
the reality. Brand engagement on
social media should produce
expected result like we have for
the out-of-home advertising media
platforms. Brands should put into
use such innovative and marketing
communications strategies that
p r o m o t e e n g a g e m e n t a n d
interaction with the social media
audience, in order that their efforts
may guarantee accomplishment of
t h e s e t s o c i a l m e d i a
communication objectives, having
the desired impact, and which will
help in advancing their frontiers
and gaining more loyalists and
adherents to the side of their
brands.
It is also important that while
engaging other social media users,
messages must be made to really
appeal to online customers. Legal
traps should also be avoided and,
since many are on social media for
different reasons, brand messages
must be precise and catchy, so as to
have a more long-lasting effect on
the audience's memory. Taking
this into use will not only help in
getting customers, but will also
boost patronage and improve the
bottom line. BV
Investigation
47 Brand Visibility
The remains of the late Lady
Mbanefo, was laid to rest
recently at the Mbanefo
C o m p o u n d , O t o l o N n e w i ,
Anambra State. It was an event that
took to Nnewi virtually everyone
that had anything to do with
advertising in Nigeria. Top on the
list of advertising sectorial groups
at the event were the members of
t h e O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g
Association of Nigeria, OAAN.
Perhaps, it was one event that has,
in recent times witnessed the
largest gathering of members of
the Association. Members led by
the Association's President,
Char les Chi j ide , the Vice
President, Alhaji Danladi Yaro and
the General Secretary, Emmanuel
Ajufo were all at the event.
Most of them arrived Owerri two
days before the event and stayed to
be part of the thanksgiving service
on Sunday, before leaving for their
different destination.
It couldn't have been otherwise
anyway as one of the children,
Engineer (Sir) Dozie Mbanefo,
Managing Director New Crystal
communication, is the Publicity
Secretary of the Association.
Dozie Mbanefo Buries Mum, OAAN Floods Nnewi
48 Brand Visibility
event
Event
...and the Oparaekes gave out their daughter in holy matrimony
49 Brand Visibility
Interview
50 Brand Visibility
Brand Visibility: It is evident that
the fortunes of outdoor advertising
media operators are dwindling in
recent times. What do you think are
the reasons?
For me, we lost our share, but
I'm not in a position to tell you that
this is the value we lost, except we do
proper calculation. You would recall
that in 2012, some major spenders in
our business did not engage our
p l a t f o r m s t o e x p o s e t h e i r
advertisements until the end of the
second quarter. And when they did,
some of them only did three-month
campaigns. That itself affected our
Ajufo:
business very seriously.
Secondly, our medium suddenly
became too costly for advertisers and
so advertisers are looking at other
ways of getting their products known
to the consumers. The third one is the
issue of insecurity in the northern
part of the country. A lot of people
are no longer advertising up north for
obvious reasons. Again, you will
notice that the advertising spend is a
product of what people buy; a
function of the profitability of the
business.
The loss in 2012,
for whatever reasons , was
Brand Visibility:
monumental, and the 2013 figures
are not yet out. Do you hope that the
performance in 2014 will be any
better?
Definitely, we hope that
things will improve. But on our part,
we must also do the needful for those
things to improve. The issue of rates
in the industry is a major issue.
Before now, our business used to be
seen as the cheapest medium. Today,
it is now the costliest medium, and
people are running away. What we
need to do is to find out why we are
that costly.
We have been told that the rates in
Ajufo:
OUTDOOR PERMIT FEES OUTRAGEOUS;
NEGATIVELY AFFECTING BRANDS - AJUFO
Mr. Emmanuel Ajufo is the General Secretary of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), and MD/CEO of O p p o r t u n i t y - To - S e e Limited, an Ikeja-based Outdoor Advertis ing firm. He speaks on a number of industry related issues, including what he considers most pressing: the dwindling fortunes in the industry and the formation of West African Outdoor Advertising Association, and other relevant issues.
Interview
51 Brand Visibility
Lagos are the costliest in the world. A
research exercise is being conducted
(to ascertain the veracity of that
claim), and until the result of that
research comes out, we can only
guess.
But one thing is sure, a situation
where you spend between 33 per cent
and 40 per cent of your revenue on
paying tax is obviously not right, and
so the signage agencies are
contributing to our failure as it were.
But until we have the result of that
research exercise, we can only say
these are our issues. And once
advertisers have an opportunity to go
elsewhere onto another media
platform) and are successful in the
experiment, it becomes difficult to
come back, and so we also as
practitioners in the system must
engage the advertisers and partner
with them properly in this fight to
reduce the rates.
In specific terms,
what should the industry do to get
out of this situation?
We should partner with the
advertisers. We should engage the
regulatory agencies, and we should
also come out with the result of our
research that we can use to justify
whatever we are talking about.
Let's talk
generally on issues that affect the
industry, especially the APCON
Code of Advertising Practice?
We embrace the new code,
because we feel that it will help our
business. What the new code is
saying is that APCON will now
directly regulate our practice, either
through the association (OAAN) or
by having a direct regulatory
relationship with the operator. In
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
standing alone (operating without
belonging to any association), there
are some stringent conditions that
APCON has made known to us.
Which means that by the time you
stand alone, you would have met a lot
of stringent conditions; and once you
can do that, there is really no
problem. Otherwise, you are ready
to go through an association. And if
you decide to choose this path, it
means that you also need to abide by
the rules of the association. To that
extent, we embrace the code. What
we now plead for is that APCON
should ensure that the code is
enforced, because, today, APCON is
also licensing companies. Before
now i t was on ly l i cens ing
practitioners. We now have two types
of licenses for those who belong to
the relevant sectoral groups of which
OAAN is one. And you are also free
to be a stand-alone, to choose to
operate without being in any
association because, of course, the
constitution of Nigeria allows for the
freedom of association. So this
should help our business if we are
ready to enforce it.
The coming of
signage agencies has no doubt
translated to some huge problems
Brand Visibility:
for operators in the outdoor
advertising sub-sector. What steps
do you think should be taken to
address such problems?
The major problem is that the
permit fees they charge are too high
and outrageous. I have not seen
anywhere in the world where our
business is seen as a major IGR
(internally generated revenue)
contributor to any government at
whatever level. But that is what we
are having in Nigeria today. What we
need to do is to talk to them (signage
agencies) and engage them. We need
to talk to them about the need to soft
pedal on the issue of IGR. What I
know of government is that
government should create an
enabling environment for business to
thrive, hoping that if business
thrives, all those unemployed people
will be taken. It is not by killing the
business. What we need to do is to
engage the government and tell them
why they need to be a little bit softer
on us.
What do you
think of the proposed Association of
Regula tory Agencies be ing
spearheaded by LASAA?
For me, there
i s f r e e d o m o f
association. The only
issue will be the
reason for such an
assoc ia t ion . The
same way we have
our reason for the
a s s o c i a t i o n o f
outdoor advertising
practitioners, they
too can have their
own association. In
so far as they have
good intentions, the
f r e e d o m o f
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
Brand Visibility:
Interview
association is a constitutional right.
In your opinion,
what are the effects of the activities
of signage agencies on individual
brands?
My opinion is that the rates
(permit fees) that they are charging
are making it difficult for most
advertisers to give their brands the
required exposure through outdoor
advertising platforms. In the last 10
years they have gradually, so to
speak, killed small advertisers,
because not all the advertisers can
afford the high charges that the rates
of the signage agencies have caused.
Most of our platforms are no longer
a f fo rdab l e fo r sma l l s ca l e
advertisers. Today, what they have
succeeded in doing is that they have
only allowed the big spenders to
advertise and even then the so called
big spenders are complaining. So, all
the people who would have made the
business environment to be more
vibrant have been frustrated by the
unreasonably high rates. Also, the
practitioners themselves, a lot of
them, have been chased out of
Lagos, because if you cannot pay the
high rates you have to relocate. And
this is very sad indeed.
What in your
opinion are the best ways to change
the face of outdoor practice and
check the excessive taxes and
strangulating regulations?
We will continue to engage
the people in government, especially
those people whose activities are
having direct negative impact on our
business and practice. We will talk to
them; we will dialogue with them.
What i s
Federation of West Africa Outdoor
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Brand Vis ib i l i ty :
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
Advertising Associations?
We believe that FEPE is for
a l l associa t ions of outdoor
advertising in the world and that
charity must begin from home. That
is why we said we should bring our
brothers in the West African sub-
region together to have an
association where we can compare
notes. By the time we come together,
we will all harness and then begin to
help those who are weak and
leverage on those who are strong. We
expect that when we get running
properly, we will in partnership with
ECOWAS, help the smaller
countries to bring about a world class
kind of delivery to the various
countries so that every part of West
Africa that you go to, you will see a
kind of uniformity in standards. We
also want to handle this issue of
government and taxes, and hope that
with our various experience, we can
help one another. That is the essence
of the association. And OAAN's
president, Mr. Charles Chijide, is the
president of the Association and
yours sincerely is the general
secretary.
In a nutshell,
what is the philosophy of this
association, and what are the
primary objectives?
I believe the philosophy will
grow with time. And as for the
primary objectives, I have just stated
them. But let me summarise this
way. It is for improved and uniform
standards and conditions of practice
in the West African sub-region.
How popular
would you say the association is,
with the Nigerian audience and in
the participating countries?
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
Ajufo:
We just returned from Cote
D'voire and with the level of
government presence at the meeting
there, it seems to us that we are on the
right track, because we have a lot of
government support from Cote
D'voire. We have also been to Ghana
and we have a lot of government
support there, too. So, from the little
we have seen, I think it is an
association everybody wants to
come up and I think we are even late
in starting it.
What does it
portend for Nigeria in terms of
benefit and challenges and
responsibilities?
We are in a planning stage.
What we have done now is that we
have put in place some officers. We
have interacted with all the countries
in West Africa and we have had a few
meetings in Ghana and Cote D'voire.
We are also going to have in Togo.
We have also adopted a constitution.
So, we are still at the early stage. The
next stage we are going to now is for
people to now talk about their
challenges and then we set up the
various committees that are
supposed to handle the various
challenges. The success of Togo will
be the adoption of the constitution.
We will then have laws that are going
to guide us in our relationship.
How is the
Association funded?
It is going to be funded by the
countries that are being represented.
For instance, OAAN is representing
Nigeria, so the various associations
in each country will also fund, by the
time we agree on what we are going
to be charging. Then it will be shared
among the countries. Presently, the
secretariat is in Nigeria.
Brand Visibility:
Brands Visibility:
BV
52 Brand Visibility
Shopping
On l i n e s h o p p i n g i s
gradually but steadily
becoming a fashionable
trend in the country, and the multi
billion naira industry is now
opening job opportunities for
thousands of Nigerian youths. On
the front row of this new business
are Jumia, Konga, DealDey, and
OLX. While these ones are
expanding their frontiers and are in
some kind of neck-breaking
competition to outsmart one
another especially Jumia, which is
said to be the leading online
shopping concern in Nigeria,
has it on good
authority that some others are
warming up to join the fray.
Online shopping found its way into
the Nigerian market a few years
back. And with the large number of
youths who have access to internet
via their mobile phones and other
platforms, and whose flare for
online shopping and transaction is
on the increase, the operators may
just be in for a huge haul, as long as
they are also committed to prompt
and excellent delivery of services.
The social importance of online
s h o p p i n g c a n n o t b e o v e r
emphasised. It has opened the
f l o o d - g a t e o f b u s i n e s s
opportunities for entrepreneurs to
meet and trade their stocks. Not
only that, the advent of online
shopping has allowed young
Nigerians to promote their brands,
explore business opportunities, and
Brand Visibility
Gradually but Steadily: Online Shopping Takes Root in Nigeria
expand frontiers. For a number of
skilled young Nigerians who for
instance are into shoe making, art
and other skills, but who have
difficulty promoting their products
and skills via the traditional media
due to the high cost of advertising,
the launch of online shopping has
now provided a formidable
platform for them to connect with
the teeming online audience that
will find their products relevant to
their needs.
Another interesting aspect of online
shopping is that rather than go
through the conventional way of
physically visiting shopping malls
or the local neighbourhood markets
to source for goods or services,
these can now be found online.
With the likes of VConnect and
some other organizations whose
primary engagement is the
provision of addresses and contacts
of service providers to the people
online, all that a prospective buyer
needs to do is type the location of
choice and the type of services she
wants, and several options will pop
up.
Online shopping has also enabled
people to dispose of used wares,
goods and products on online.
Here, both used and new products
are displayed on the site for
interested buyers to contact the
seller. The site only provides the
platform for buyers and sellers to
meet at no cost and doesn't interfere
in the transaction.
While the advantages of online
shopping abound, some otherwise
prospects are yet to trust them for
quality service, especially in the
areas of prompt delivery and
quality assurance. This fear may
53 Brand Visibility
-Olawunmi Hotonu
not be unfounded, as there have
been cases where promised
deadlines were not met, products
tampered with and services not
provided as agreed, or as
expected. While some see this as
the risk that comes with business,
some agree that it is basically an
act of incompetence.
While it is obvious that most
online organizations try very hard
to meet demands, especially in
the seasons of celebration, when
orders expectedly are high,
meeting deadlines may be a little
challenging. But then, the client
is not interested in efforts. She
wants service, and she wants it
promptly delivered.
This leads to the question of the
steps being taken by the
Consumer Protection Council
(CPC), founded to protect
consumers from dissatisfied
s e r v i c e s , t o e n s u r e t h a t
organizations found wanting,
especially in the online shopping
sector are sanctioned. The
e x p e r i e n c e n o w i s t h a t
organizations are trying to
outsmart one another in the
business, and in the process, it is
not unlikely that the customer
may be taken for granted,
deceived and their rights
trampled upon. It is important
therefore that the CPC should
anticipate and be proactive.
While there are yet to be reports
of high profile fraud cases and
other criminal activities in the
industry, the CPC and all other
relevant organizations should act
fast to maintain full sanity by
checking from time to time
a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e o n l i n e
organizations and ensuring they
conform to the required standard
practice and norm. BV
Shoping
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Continue from page – 53
54 Brand Visibility
Interview
Brand Visibility:
Brand Visibility:
Please let us meet
you.
My name is Chief
Odunmoluwa Fadoju. I am the
Managing Director/Chief Executive
of DP Partnership FCB. I have been
in the industry for almost 30 years
now. I have worked with various
advertising agencies. And this is my
last halt. I am a co-founder of this
agency. It was founded about 11
years ago.
You certainly
have been around in the marketing
communications industry for so
long. How, in your opinion has
Fadoju :
the
industry fared and what future does
it have?
Odun Fadoju, Managing Director, DP Partnership FCB, recently spoke with Brand Visibility's Ibrahim Olalekan. Expectedly, he x-rayed issues relevant to the marketing communications
industry in Nigeria. His views are as captured below:
Fadoju: If there is no future, I won't
be what I am today. I have been in the
industry for close to 30 years. If I
have not seen that there is a bright
future ahead I won't still be here.
Tomorrow is still very good; it is
going to be better than what it is today
My today is better than yesterday and
I believe my tomorrow will be better
than my today. When we started
advertising, it wasn't as big as what
we now have; the technology,
exposure, training opportunities
were not there as we have them
cheaply today and I believe that
come tomorrow, it is going to be
better than we currently have. So, I
think the future will be very good.
The industry is very lucrative for
those who manage their details very
well. You don't have to be
unnecessarily loud. If you know your
onions, and you know how to
manage your agency, you will
discover that the industry can be
highly fulfilling and rewarding. But
you must be hard working.
Tell us the DP
Partnership story.
We started about 11 years
ago. But before then, I was the
managing director of Sunrise DBM
& B, and I worked there for about
eight years. I left that place to set up
my team with the other owners of
this place as the pioneer General
Manager. I later became the
Executive Director/CEO. When we
started 11 years ago it was very hard
and tough. Today, you probably will
think this is how we started, and that
it has always been this ok. No. We
did not start this way at all. We
started from ground zero. We did not
have any account or client. But when
you know that this is your vision, you
don't have any alternative. You either
die or you survive; you either sink or
you float.
When we started, some clients whom
I had worked for in my previous
agency, and who so much believed in
me gave us opportunities, especially
clients like P&G, Union Bank and
about three others. For the first three
years, that really stabilized us until
after about five years later that we
started pitching for accounts. We
then won Swift Network and
Honeywell, among others. Since
then, the story has been different.
Then fortunately, about three years
ago, we had what could be described
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
55 Brand Visibility
GOVERNMENT ERRORNEOUSLY THINKS THERE’S MASSIVE
MONEY IN OUTDOOR ADVERTISING -FADOJU
Interview
as an ear thquake , a major
breakthrough, a positive change and
turnaround. We had a big leap; we
got affiliated with FCB, which is the
second largest advertising group
globally. And for us to get affiliated
then, it was a big leap and that has
been of good help and has also
transformed us from being a small
agency to becoming a big player in
the industry. We are not yet a very
big player, but we are no longer the
small agency of yesterday you used
to know.
Now that you are
in an affiliation relationship with
one of the leading international
advertising global groups, how
would you describe the experience
and how would you advise Nigerian
agencies seeking international
affiliations?
The exper ience is
wonderful, but the key issue is that
before seeking international
relationships, you need to have
developed yourself locally. Never
depend on international affiliation
for all of your needs. If you do that,
you are on your own; anything can
happen tomorrow. If we had
depended on that from day one, we
would not be where we are today. We
first of all developed our systems
and processes locally. We got almost
six different accounts on which we
were doing very well . The
relationship with FCB has only
further stabilized us and has given us
opportunities to get better and to soar
higher. The issue is, you don't go and
set up an advertising agency because
you are thinking of affiliation, but
because you are a professional, and
you really have the passion to give it
whatever it takes to meet the
challenges. In the process of time,
you get to the level where you are
truly ready for international
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
relationships. That is how it should
be. You don't have to seek
international affiliation before you
can be successful. There are so many
agencies practising now who do not
have international affiliations and
they are doing very well.
It seems there is a
lull in advertising activities. What
would you identify as the reason for
this?
That is relative. I would not
say there is a lull because if you have
clients that you know they cannot do
without advertising, it won't be a lull
for you. If you are really practising
advertising and you have the
accounts, it shouldn't be. It might be
a case of reduced spends, or a cut
down in budgets, but you still do
your professional job. I can assure
you in another two or three months'
time, it won't be a lull. There will be
political advertising. The politicians
want to contest elections. The local
government election is coming. The
“ … b e f o r e s e e k i n g
international relationships,
you need to have developed
yourself locally. Never depend
on international affiliation for
all of your needs. If you do
that, you are on your own;
a n y t h i n g c a n h a p p e n
tomorrow.”
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
governorship election is coming and
the presidential election, too. A lot of
other stuffs are coming. So, for those
who know how to play the game,
there won't be lull at all. There won't
be any dull moment of inactivity.
The fortunes of
outdoor advertising media owners
seem to be dwindling. For instance,
in the year 2012, outdoor
advertising lost over N12 billion,
compared to the performance in
2011. What do you think accounted
for the loss?
First of all, when we talk
about outdoor, there is inconsistency
in government policy. How can you
wake up one day and you start to
demolish outdoor boards? You
should have given them at least a
grace period of six months or one
year notice. You have thrown a lot of
people into unemployment and
business collapse. So there are
inconsistencies in government
policies. There has to be an enabling
environment for the outdoor media
owners to practice. But suddenly
you just wake up and declare the
practitioners are not doing it very
well. No. You should give a period
like “in the next one or two years,
this is how I want outdoor
advertising to be practised.” So there
is inconsistency in government
policy.
Secondly, governments, especially
at the state level, erroneously think
there is massive money in outdoor.
So they want to have a taste of the
money. This is self delusion. It is as
a result of uncontrollable greed on
the part of government officials and
politicians who want to have their
hand in every business they wrongly
believe will give them a lot money.
Then there is a third reason. The
outdoor practitioners also have
themselves to blame. In the main,
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
56 Brand Visibility
Interview
they have not practiced
professionally. You see
outdoor billboards at
any available space on
every corner of a street.
In a particular spot, you
can have about five
billboards in the same
location jostling for the
same campaigns. This
does not augur well.
And that gives room for
government to intervene
in order to bring in
sanity, and, in the
process, to also exploit
the operators. If they had
s t a n d a r d i z e d
themselves and their
practice; if they had put within their
association and practices acceptable
standards, exploitative and stifling
government's intervention most
probably would not have happened.
What do you
think operators in the outdoor
sector of the advertising industry
should do to get out of the present
challenge?
What the outdoor subsector
is currently going through may one
day happen to the creative agencies.
It can happen to the agencies
someday. One has to be futuristic.
You have to plan. Anything can
happen in business. A good
b u s i n e s s m a n a l w a y s p u t s
contingency and logistics (plans) in
place. You might think a business
will continue to flourish, and then
suddenly it collapses. What did you
put in place to prevent or to absorb
the shock? So it is left for owners or
practitioners to put in place shock
absorbers. You need to spread your
tentacles of business. Some people
have been in outdoor for over 30
years and they still remain the same.
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
There have not been serious
id sposition towards innovations.
e There are oth r things you can do in
o y outdo r. Why can't ou go to mobile,
d o r fcinema an the means o outdoor
advertising? Advertising is also a
m nbusiness, apart fro bei g a
f o tpro essional job. So, to get out f he
p t rresent quagmire, practi ione s in
o uutdoor advertising sho ld think
outside of the box. They have to be
-m ninnovative, and business i ded
p tabout their rac ice.
In your opinion,
in what ways should the AAAN help
dreverse the ownward trend of
patronage in the entire industry?
N i i AAA s an associat on of
g e avoluntary a encies. Th ssociation
ais not a creation of law as we have
A ef o r A P C O N ( d v r t i s i n g
gPractitioners Council of Ni eria).
r NAnd for that eason, the AAA
cannot enforce any intervention
ausing the instrumentality of any l w,
i although t can help to make sure its
b amem ers don't che t OAAN
smember and that bills are settled as
w d and hen ue. AAAN can also help
a i iBr nd V sibil ty:
Fadoju:
to stabilize the industry. But
APCON, by law, is the one with
power to regulate and make
policies that can significantly
help not only OAAN, but the
entire industry. It is APCON
that has the legal power to
sanitize and to help. And in my
own opinion, part of what
APCON should do to bring
about the desired sanity is the
n e w p r o c l a m a t i o n o f
advertising practice. I am
referring to the new Code of
Advertising Practice. The law
now requires every company to
be registered by APCON. To be
able to practise advertising in
whatever form in Nigeria, you
have to get the APCON licence. That
will also help. Now, you cannot just
wake up someday and put up a
billboard somewhere, and claim to
be practising outdoor advertising.
That has now become illegal. So, it is
APCON that can, and should help to
stabilise the industry. And this it can
do by faithfully implementing the
new code of advertising practice.
AAAN or OAAN alone cannot do
much.
DP Partnership
no doubt is doing very well at a time
that most other creative agencies
are groaning. Please let us into the
secret.
“APCON, by law, is the one
with power to regulate and
make pol ic ies that can
significantly help not only
OAAN, but the entire industry.
It is APCON that has the legal
power to sanitize and to help.
And in my own opinion, part of
what APCON should do to
bring about the desired sanity
is the new proclamation of
advertising practice.”
Brand Visibility:
57 Brand Visibility
Interview
Fadoju:
Fadoju:
Well, I don't know about
secrets. But let me share some
thoughts that I think are necessary for
business success with you. First, you
must know the ABC of the profession
in which you operate. You also need
to prudently manage your funds very
well. Number two has to do with the
avowed passion to do excellent jobs
at all times. That is what will bring
your clients back to you and you can
only do that when you know this job
very well. It is not enough that you
just work in an agency for three
years, and the next thing is you are
going to establish your own agency. I
have spent close to 30 years. It is by
God's grace; it is not by my power.
But now I can confidently say I know
what it takes. Then, there is the
question of the quality of your
people. Advertising is all about
people. I have to manage people very
well. I have to appreciate them,
because I know without them I
cannot do much. So for me to
survive, I also need to treat them very
well.
Still on the
problems of outdoor advertising
practice in Nigeria, how do you
assess the relevance of the signage
agencies that seem to have
increased the burden of OOH
practitioners; and what suggestions
would you proffer for the
resolution?
The outdoor practitioners
have a lot of the blame, because they
gave room for the signage agencies
to come into existence in the first
place. There were sharp practices.
Most operators were not doing the
job professionally. If they had
standardized themselves in-house,
the signage agencies may not have
likely had a chance to come into
existence. Like I said earlier on, there
Brand Visibility:
was so much chaos at that time, I
mean before the signage agencies
came. Then, at every corner on every
street, you could see up to 30
billboards of various contraptions
scattered everywhere. The billboards
h a d b e c o m e , t o b e m i l d ,
environmental pollution to the
society. But today, there appears to be
some sanity. So the practitioners
invited the signage agencies. The
same way, if advertising agencies
behave like that, government will
just wake up one day and give us a
similar law. But because within the
AAAN, we are able to manage and
put ourselves together fairly well,
such may not be our lot for a long
time to come.
What do you
think of the proposed Association
o f R e g u l a t o r y A g e n c i e s
spearheaded by LASAA?
Don't forget this is politics.
All these states (championing the
establishment of such an association
in the South West) are members of a
particular political party. In my
opinion, there is politics in the
conception. They started with Lagos,
they saw that they are making profit
from it; they saw that they can
s a n i t i z e t h e i n d u s t r y a n d
environment so we can't stop it. They
are government and they are
politicians. We may not be able to
stop them from coming together. But
that is not to say there is any sense in
“…there was so much chaos at
that time, I mean, before the
signage agencies came. Then,
on every corner in every street,
you could see up to 30
b i l l b o a r d s o f v a r i o u s
c o n t r a p t i o n s s c a t t e r e d
everywhere. The billboards
had become, to be mild,
environmental pollution to the
society.”
Brand Visibility:
Fadoju:
forming any such association.
Please talk
generally on issues that affect the
industry, especially the Code of
Advertising ractice?
Well, the Code of
Advertising Practice has been
formulated, but I have not seen
APCON fighting. I have not seen
APCON taking one or two outdoor
agencies; taking radio/television
stations, taking government official
or illegal practitioners to court. I only
hope we are not just barking.
APCON needs to put a little bit of
force and also set examples like a
leader, one with power and authority.
But for now, I've not seen anything to
indicate that APCON will live up to
expectations.
And your nuggets
for individuals who are desirous of
making a career in advertising?
If you want to be in
advertising, you must learn patience,
hard work and prayer. The (Biodun)
Shobanjo you see today, if he tells
you his own story, you will be
amazed. Shobanjo did not become
what he is today without patience,
hard work and prayer. If you want to
be a success in this industry, you
need to have patience and learn the
trade very well. In everything,
especially in advertising, you must
know about client service, brand
management, creative art, copy,
media planning and research. All of
that will come together to make you
an accomplished practitioner, and a
successful CEO.
Brand Visibility:
Band Visibility:
Fadoju:
Fadoju:
“…APCON needs to put a little
bit of force and also set
example like a leader, one with
power and authority. But for
now, I've not seen anything to
indicate that APCON will live
up to expectations.”
BV
58 Brand Visibility
Brands
BRAND
MANAGEMENT:
AN EXPOSITIONBy: Chief Odun Fadoju
In every advertising discussion
and activities, efforts are
a lways gea red towards
achieving a simple but tedious task
of brand building and brand
management.
In the words of Philip Kotler, “the
art of marketing and marketing
communication is largely brand
building. If not a brand, it will be
viewed as a commodity”
So, what is a brand and what is
management? A brand evolves
from a product/commodity or
intangible products. When nurtured
and enhanced consistently through
innova t ion and aggress ive
marke t ing communica t ions
activities, such as advertising,
activations, event marketing,
promotions, corporate social-
responsibility, attractive and
unique packaging, niche type face,
font, colour scheme, icons and a
host of other variables with the sole
aim of creating a distinctive name
and uniqueness among the
customers, it will have its own
distinct personality; and this will
set it way, way apart from
competition. It will help the
product to grow into becoming a
brand, with a distinctive and unique
personality.
When a product reaches this level
of acceptance, passionate loyalty
and fanaticism, it then transforms
from being a mere product and
becomes a brand. A brand therefore
is the total sensory experience a
customer has as a result of having
c o m e i n c o n t a c t w i t h a
company/product/service. A brand
is an experience that's embedded in
the mind of every person who has
ever come into contact with a
company's service or product. The
brand then becomes an institution
within its category, with a
distinctive and unique personality,
cha rac te r, fo rm and i t i s
“unrivalled” on the promise of
service it provides to the customer.
Therefore, it is safe to say that “a
brand is a non-generic product
designed to set a product apart from
competition”. This is why a
customer will, for instance, go the
extra mile to buy Guinness Extra
Stout, the same reason is why
customers of soft drink keep on
referring to every other soft drink
as Coca-Cola. At that level, a
successful brand simply becomes
the generic name or description for
all products in its category.
The act of managing such a brand is
called Brand Management. Brand
M a n a g e m e n t i s p a r t o f
communication functions in
marketing that includes analysis
and planning on how a brand is
appropriately and effectively
positioned in the market place; how
59 Brand Visibility
to develop the unique marketing
communication strategy for the
brand and the best way to maintain
the desired reputation that has been
s k i l f u l l y , c a r e f u l l y a n d
professionally crafted for the
brand.
A brand manager within the
advertising agency or from the
client's perspective relates to the
person who is skilled in the art of
managing, understanding the
product/service offerings, the
image and character of the brand,
the consumer, the market place and
operating environment, as well as
understanding the totality of
competing brands within the
category. This art requires a
thorough and deep knowledge of
m a r k e t i n g , m a r k e t i n g
communications and human
psychology, and an all round
knowledge of all the relevant
aspects of the economy.
Developing a new product and
brand extension
One of the major challenges in
marketing planning is how to
painstakingly develop a new
Brands
product, name the product and
nurture it to a level that it
becomes a brand. By brand
extension, or product extension, it implies a new version of the existing
product/brand within the same category. This may just be:
§by adding new flavours
§reformation for enhanced performance, or new usage
§by changing the size or other features of the product
§coming up with a completely new package format
§and any other activity that seeks to extend the value of the product.
Product extension is usually a strategy deployed to leverage on the
success of the “mother” product. That is, using the already successful
product name as a platform to create, maintain and sustain an
advantage in another product category.
With intensive competition in the market place, one truism is that any
company that does not develop a new product or engage in product
extension risks so much. Such companies may find their products
falling victims of changing consumer needs, tastes occasioned by new
technologies, changing product life cycles and increased domestic and
foreign competition. This is why in every 12 months or so, consumers
are bombarded with new versions of mobile phones, new models
designs of existing products like cars and electronic gadgets.
The process:
The new product development process starts with the search for ideas
and the need for such ideas by the consumers. These ideas often come
out of:
§ Inspiration
§ Perspiration
§ Techniques
The management of a company defines the need for the new
61 Brand Visibility
Brands
product/product extension, which varies from the need for increasing cash
flow for the company, market share domination, imitating the market
leader so as to have a share of the market etc. The idea for the new product
or the line extension may come from one or a combination of the
following:
§Company's scientists (research and development)
§Customers
§Competition
§Sales representatives
§Independent researchers
Going forward, the new product development process can be filled in two
ways: acquisition or new product development in its entirety.
The acquisition route can take three forms:
§Corporate acquisition programmes involving the search for a
smaller company that has attractive product lines, as it is the case
with Nigerian Breweries acquisition of Consolidated Breweries,
the manufacturers of 33 Lager Beer. This acquisition is virtually
making Nigerian Breweries the dominant beer manufacturers in
Nigeria.
§Patent acquisition programme in which the company buys the
right to produce a new product from their patent holders. P&G's
patent acquisition of manufactures of Oral B Toothpaste, Oral B
Toothbrush in the United States is a good example here.
§License acquisition programme for manufacturing various
products.
New Product Development as a strategy:
New product development as a strategy for growth can come in about five
categories:
(i) New to the world product: These are products that create an
entirely new market
(ii) New product line: This allows a company to enter an established
market for the first time.
(iii) Addition to existing product lines: This is a new product that
supplements a company's established product lines. We may
refer to this as product existence.
(iv) Repositioning existing product: This is usually the strategy
targeted at a new market or market segment for an existing
product.
(v) Cost reduction: Here is a new product that is able to provide
similar performance at lower cost
Generally, a new product development process will involve the following
eight stages
(1) Idea generation
(2) Idea screening
(3) Concept development and testing
(4) Marketing strategy development
(5) Business analysis
(6) Product development
(7) Market testing
(8) Commercialization
Product naming
In naming a new product, there is
no hard and fast rule, but there are
basic principles to adopt. Among
these principles are:
§The name must be simple
and easily pronounceable.
The name should not be
jaw-breaking.
§The need to bear in mind
the consumers, their life
style, use of words,
psychographics of the
consumers and other
elements that will make
the market accept the
name of the new product.
§New product name should
not distant itself from the
product promise/service
itself. The new product
name may do well to
suggest to the consumer
what the product is all
about. This creates room
f o r p r o d u c t / n a m e
association that will
enable the consumer to
remember and recall the
product’s name so easily.
Taking the three essentials listed
above into consideration, the new
product name could be derived
from such situations as:
o Naming the new product
after the inventor. e.g Ford,
Mercedes Benz, Toyota.
o Naming the new product
after a notable figure or
personality within the
society or the company.
o Naming the new product
after alphabets, animals,
birds or nature.
However, whatever the name given
to a product or product extension,
62 Brand Visibility
we need to briefly note that this is not a guarantee that the product
will succeed. Then, why do new products fail? We may consider
the following.
(i) High level executives pushing a favourite idea through in
spite of negative marketing research findings.
(ii) Idea is quite good, but the market size is over-estimated.
(iii) Product not designed as well as it should be, to effectively
fill the gap identified.
(iv) Lack of adequate marketing communications support.
(v) Over-pricing of the new product.
(vi) Competitors fighting back harder than anticipated.
(vii)Fragmented market competition leading to increasingly
fragmented markets, as companies may aim new
product at a smaller market segment rather than the
mass market. This means low sales and profit for each
product.
(viii)Social and government constraints. New products need to
satisfy public criteria, consumer safety, ecological
compatibility and government requirements and
regulations.
(ix) Capital shortage. The need to raise funds needed to
research new innovation may also be a factor to the
success of new product emergence in the market.
Brand positioning and customer-based branding
In the process of brand building, it is pertinent to note as a pre-
requisite that for the exercise of brand equity building to be
successful, there is the absolute need for customer-based brand
equity and brand positioning. By customer-based brand equity, I
mean that the customers must be the focus of all activities of the
brand. These activities engender loyalty and sustain patronage of
the brand. Effective customer focus activities include the
following:
(i) Corporate social responsibilities that have direct impact
on the life and environment of the target audience.
(ii) Sponsorship of programmes/sports/events that the target
audience can identify with, that will bring expected
benefit to the target audience and the brand.
(iii) Events that will bring the brand and customer much closer,
like market storms, sales promotion to reward
customers, activation etc.
(iv) Brand/customer relationship management like Dealer's
Forum for brand/customer's feedback mechanism,
deployment and management of social media, e.g,
facebook, twitter, instagram, etc.
However, before the brand can effectively achieve the goal of a
friendly customer-based brand, the first step is to put in place a
proper positioning platform for it. Brand positioning is the image a
brand has in the customer's mind, especially in relation to
brands
63 Brand Visibility
competing brands. Brand positioning is the
decision brand owners make to create,
sustain and maintain a certain product
concept in the customer's mind. The brand
owner determines after due consideration,
the mindsets of his target audience, taking
due cognisance of such issues like, whether
the brand should be for a mass market or a
segmented market; where in the market to
operate; product benefits; environmental
issues; and competition to determine how
he wants to position the brand in the minds
of the target audience. Whatever way the
brand owner positions the brand, the
positioning cannot exist or survive in
isolation of the support of a good marketing
communication strategy, professionally
and skilfully executed. In theory and in
practice, to see a brand or position a brand
in a particular manner, brand owners must
create a unique NICHE in the mind of
consumers for the brand and differentiate
the brand within the category. The brand
owners therefore have to take such
decisions as:
§I want to position this car as rugged
– Mercedes Benz
§I want to position this car as sleek
but not premium – Honda
§I want it to be the car for everybody
– Toyota
§It has to be seen as milk for
everyone – Cowbell
§This ball food must be seen as good
as pounded yam – Honeywell
§This drink needs to be seen as a
drink for real men – Guinness
Extra Stout
§I want this canned fish to be
premium – Titus Sardines
§This drink is for elders and prayers
– Schnapps
§This car must be seen as a mark of
success – Rolls Royce or Buggati
Essentially, therefore, it is the decision of
the brand owners, influenced by a number
of factors (product research, market
research, marketing research, etc.), that
determines to a great extent the direction
the brand goes. BV
public pelations
The primary objective of every
commercial enterprise is to
satisfy the needs of its
defined target, and at a profit. But
the relationship between corporate
entities and their targets goes
beyond merely identifying and
satisfying needs profitably. It
includes creating and sustaining an
atmosphere that will enhance
mutual understanding through
effective communication.
All organizations, both profit as well
as non-profit, desire to understand
their targets, and to be understood
by them in return. This is crucial as
mutual understanding smoothens
the relationship between an
enterprise and the individuals and
groups it cannot but relate with, as it
goes about fulfilling the objectives
of its existence. This goes to stress
that a business concern, even if it
sets out to be a money-making
venture, does not exist only for
profit. And this most certainly
explains why businesses are
concerned with how to continue to
be relevant in the estimation of all
the people and groups of people
with which they relate.
How to do this effectively and
efficiently is primarily the focus of
public relations – one of the
engagements of man through which
mutually rewarding relationships
are purposely and deliberately
planned, maintained and sustained.
What is public relations?
One popular definition of Public
Relations or simply PR is the one by
PR & Corporate Governance In The Insurance Industry
’Sola Akinsiku, frpa; mnipr
the Institute of Public Relations in
Britain (IPR) it says PR is:
“The deliberate, planned and
sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding
between an organization and its
publics”
This definition emphasizes the need
for public relations programmes to
be deliberate, well-thought-out and
carefully sustained. In other words, it
is not a one-off thing. It is a
continuous exercise aimed at
achieving and sustaining a goal over
a period of time, which may not have
a terminal date.
It is also important to hear the
opinion of Bertrand R. Canfield. He
says of public relations that it is “a
social philosophy of management
expressed in policies and practices
which are communicated to the
public to secure its understanding
and goodwill.”
That is, the PR programmes of an
enterprise will involve the way it
relates to its publics through its
policies and practices – with a view
to being better understood, and
making it win a measure of
goodwill.
Contributing to the topic “Building a
Public Relations Definition” Dr. Rex
Harlow, a social scientist and public
relations practitioner, proffered the
following:
“Public Relations is a distinctive
management function which helps
establish and maintain mutual lines
of communication, understanding,
acceptance and cooperation
between an organization and its
publics; involves the management
of problems or issues; helps
management to keep informed on
and be responsive to public
opinions; defines and emphasizes
the responsibility of management
to serve the public interest; helps
management keep abreast of and
effectively use change, serving as
an early warning system to help
anticipate trends; and uses
research and sound ethical
communication techniques as its
principal tools”.
From Dr. Rex Harlow's postulation,
therefore, will emerge the following,
which may be described as the
characteristics of public relations:
i. It is a management function
that seeks to establish
and maintain mutually
rewarding relationship
b e t w e e n t h e
organization and her
publics
ii. It studies and evaluates
public attitudes and
opinions
iii. It provides an early warning
signal – about an
impending crisis.
iv. It uses certain tools –
r e s e a r c h a n d
c o m m u n i c a t i o n
t e c h n i q u e s . I t i s
obvious therefore that,
for every business
c o n c e r n , p u b l i c
relations is useful for
64 Brand Visibility
View point
corporate image-making. It makes it possible for the enterprise
to enjoy the understanding, support, cooperation, rapport,
goodwill and good opinion of its relevant publics, which will
include employees, competitors, shareholders, regulatory
agencies, the immediate community, etc.
Corporate strategy and public relations
Every business concern has its own “private interest” which is established in
terms of the “public good” and which has to be effectively communicated
because the success of the enterprise depends on how well the
organizational goal is communicated. Communicated, an enterprise's
objective is a question of the entity's “strategy”!
The question: “what is strategy?” now arises, as the following two
definitions will suffice here:
In the view of David R. Hampton , “it is a unified comprehensive and
integrated plan that relates the strategic advantages of the firm to the
challenges of the environment in such a way as to ensure that the basic
objectives of the enterprise are achieved”
The legendary Philip Kotler says it is “the managerial process of developing
and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization's goals and
capabilities and its changing marketing environment. It relies on
developing a clear company mission, supporting objectives and goals, a
sound business portfolio and coordinated functional strategies”.
But for a company to be able to realize its objectives, it has to rely on such key
publics as:
·Customers/Patrons
·Financial Institutions
·Suppliers of its goods/services
· Government/Regulatory bodies
·The relevant local and international communities
·Shareholders and stakeholders
·Labour organizations and employee unions
·Media organizations and practitioners
·Other equally important publics.
It is therefore important for an organization to put in place a strategy that will
bring about the attainment of its goal; but such an enterprise has to consider
the following factors:
·The economic factors
·Legal/political factors
·Technological factors
·Social/cultural factors
·The competition
·International development, etc.
These are environments within which an enterprise operates and which
have implications for its operations.
So, where does public relations come in? As proffered by the IPR ... “To
establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization
and its publics.” Public relations has the task of helping to position an
organization within the framework
of all the factors critical to its survival
in order to receive the highest
degree of understanding, assistance
and contributions from the relevant
publics, including those listed
above.
Some basic principles of corporate
strategy communication are:
i. Communicating a vision
ii. Articulating corporate
strategy
iii. Establishing a corporate
identity
iv. Sharing core values
v. C o n s e r v i n g a n d
enhancing/promoting
corporate values
vi. Anticipating and managing
crisis
All these will help not only to
activate corporate objectives; they
will also help to consolidate the gain
of effective corporate/strategy
planning.
Corporate strategy management
also includes a system of evaluation,
for the success of any strategy
depends to a very large extent on
what plans are in place to minimize
the possibility of future gains.
Adegboyega Ogunsanya proposes
three broad parameters for
evaluating a strategy:
I C o n f o r m i t y : T h i s i s
assessment of a strategy to
see whether it conforms with
t h e o b j e c t i v e s ,
environmental assumptions
and the desired internal
conditions.
ii. Suitability: This is the need
to determine the suitability
or otherwise of the strategy
in the context o f the
c o m p a n y ' s r e s o u r c e s ,
capabilities, focus and time
frame.
iii. Possibility: There is need to
65 Brand Visibility
View point
determine whether the
strategy is possible, and to be
able to ascertain that it will
elicit support from all publics.
The insurance industry in this
context:
Insurance is one of the sub
sectors of the service industry
of any economy. Like all
operators in the service
industry, insurance products
are not tangible. Its only
products are the policies. And
until not too long ago, not many
people liked to willingly do
business with any operator in
the insurance subsector. except
where it became mandatory for
statutory Reasons.
Operators in the industry had
earned for it the notoriety for
not being faithful to the letters
and terms of business with
policy holders.
Insurance companies were
noted for “doing business in
small prints”, with the intention
of “cheating out on policy
holders” whenever it comes to
claims settlement.
It is heartwarming to note
however, that within the past
10 years, some operators have
tried to bring innovation in the
areas of communication and
reputation management into
the industry. The result?
Improved reputation.
The question now is, what roles
for public relations in the desire
to sustain the current positive
perception in the insurance
industry?
The Canadian Public Relations
Society defines public relations
as the management function
w h i c h e v a l u a t e s p u b l i c
attitudes, identifies the policies
and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest,
and plans and executes a programme of action to earn public
understanding and acceptance. In other words, it is that part of the
management task concerned with the management of important
relationships and influencing the behaviour of groups which are parties
to those relationships. More directly stated ,PR helps in the
management, sustenance and continuity of positive public perception.
Whether in the petroleum industry or the banking sector or in insurance,
the purpose of public relations is one and the same: to help an
organization effectively interact and communicate with the key publics
and sustains mutually rewarding relationships, on a continuous basis.
PR in Insurance
The environments and publics of the insurance industry are basically
similar to those of other operators in the service industry. The key issues
to consider however include:
i. Staff motivation/employee communication
ii. Being socially responsible
iii. Thinking globally and acting (surviving) locally
iv. Fighting falsehood with credible dialogue
v. Developing a sustainable house style
vi. Crisis plan.
Staff motivation and employee communication
Employees constitute the bulk of the internal publics of any
enterprise and as such, they should be adequately motivated. This
helps to retain high quality staff that will make possible the
attainment of corporate goals over a long period of time. There is
therefore need for a broad-based and responsive manpower
development agenda, put in place by management, and such should
take into consideration:
i. the organization's corporate objectives
ii. the main tasks to accomplish the objectives
iii. matching ability of staff with the identified tasks
iv. the industry level of remuneration and motivation
v. effective employee communication
The list is indeed inexhaustive, as it will always include all steps that a
company should take in order to promote good employee relations.
For our purpose in this presentation, we shall single out Employee
Communication for further discussion, as it is one strategy of public
relations which an enterprise can use to promote a sense of
belonging among staff. Some of the tools of effective employee
communication are:
i. House journals/newsletters
ii. Anniversaries (personal/corporate)
iii. Special awards
iv. Special days and weeks
v. Staff meetings
66 Brand Visibility
View point
Social responsibility:
To be socially responsible, requires for an
organization to engage in activities that will have
positive impacts on the society where it operates.
Thus, a socially responsible operator in the
insurance industry has to “react to the total
environment (the entire society) and not merely
to markets”. In other words, an insurance
company should identify with the aspirations of
the community. For, as noted by Steiner et al in
Management Policy and Strategy:
“… it is in the enlightened self-interest of
corporations to promote the public welfare in a
positive way … indeed, the corporate interest,
broadly defined, can support involvement in
helping to solve virtually every small problem
because, people who have a good environment,
education and opportunity, make better
employees, customers and neighbours for
companies than those who are poor, ignorant
and oppressed”.
That absolutely sums both the essence and
benefits of being socially responsible, for a
discerning corporate entity. For one operating in
the insurance Industry, being socially responsible
can manifest in being involved in as many of the
activities as are listed below:
i. Community development projects
ii. Community related social-cultural
projects
iii. Environmental (sanitation) issues
iv. Sponsorship of popular events- games
and sporting activities in which the
people participate and which make them
happy.
v. Donations to charity homes
vi. National events - Independence Day;
Workers' Day; Children's Day, No
Tobacco Day, etc.
vii. Scholarships/awards for indigent
indigenes of the community.
viii. I n v e s t m e n t s i n e m p o w e r m e n t
programmes
ix. Public enlightenment programmes on
the benefit of healthy programmes.
x. Public enlightenment programmes on
the benefits of insurance.
Investing in these areas will further promote
a company's corporate image, enhance the
amount of goodwill it enjoys and consolidate
its foundation for future business.
Thinking globally
The world is now a global village, and it is
shrinking further by the day, and now
communication technology has collapsed it
into one small global reading table. ! There
doesn't seem to be any hiding place for any
one anymore and, so, the insurance company
that will continue to be profitable in the next
decade must put in place a strategy that
makes it possible to draw from the
experience in other lands, in order to survive
locally. That is saying in clear terms that there
is need for a clear understanding of global
issues which ultimately will negatively or
positively affect the local operator in the
insurance industry.
For an insurance company to profitably deploy tools of
Public Relations to achieve corporate objectives,
therefore, it would be required that the following
steps are taken:
I. Analyzing trends in the global insurance
industry in terms of identifying what
implications they have, or which they are likely
to have on the local sector
ii. Understudying industry leaders in the global
insurance market with a view to adopting their
strategies for improved local operation.
iii. Investing in information technology and in the
automation of operations – to make for
i m p rove d ef f i c i e n c y a n d h i g hte n e d
effectiveness, as these are a given in the
international market.
In the words of Ogunsanya:
“Operating locally with international orientation and
in the medium term, active involvement in effective
international marketing are important requirements
for survival and steady growth in the next decade and
beyond”.
67 Brand Visibility
...to be continued
INDUSTRY
t is often said that he who fails to plan has inadvertently signed on to a life of failure. This was no I
doubt the motivation for the leadersh ip of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), for holding an Executive Retreat for the Chief Executive Officers of its member companies. It was attended by more than 40(forty) member companies from across the country. It was a two day affair which held on Thursday and Friday 21st and 22nd November, 2013 at the prestigious Le Meridian Hotel, Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital.Sources close to the OAAN leadership disclosed that the well-attended retreat was propelled by
the jolt the industry had upon learning from Mediafacts a research based publication by Media Reach OMD Nigeria, one of the leading media specialist companies in the country, that in terms of relevance in 2012, the outdoor media subsector had lost quite significantly. In m o n e t a r y t e r m s , t h e publication had put the drop in the billings by outdoor media owners to close to N12 bn (twelve billion naira). That represented a drop of 40% of the sector’s performance in 2011. The leadership of the Association was therefore worried and decided to get to the root of the very poor
OAAN STRATEGISES FOR THE FUTURE…Goes to Uyo for Executive Retreat
showing. Thus it decided to put the retreat together.The whole idea was to provide a platform for participants to try and identify ways that would lead them out of the quagmire. To put participants in the right frame of mind, a paper was p r e s e n t e d b y P a s t o r Ay o Oluwatosin, the pioneer General Manager of Starcom Media and currently the Group Managing Director of the Rosabel Group. Aptly, titled “The OOH Playbook: Let's Rework”, the paper examined the Out-of-Home industry both locally and on the foreign scene, juxtaposing the two climes in the areas of service and delivery,
innovativene s s and so on. In Oluwatosin's submission, operators in t h e Outdoo r Adver
tising sub-sector in Nigeria should seek new ways of doing their business if they ever hoped to stem the current tide of events especially in terms of relevance in the market place.
especially in terms of relevance in the market place.Expectedly, Ayo Oluwatosin's paper which no doubt was point-blank in revealing the true picture of the way the practice and the practitioners were perceived by the buyers, became the platform for intense scrutiny by participants at the retreat. It was subjected to thorough discussions by each of the three syndicate groups set up for that purpose.Each group later presented their positions based on the aspects of the paper and on certain prevailing realities in the industry which they also considered germane, to getting
out of the dwindling fortune of owners and operators of the outdoor media platform, especially those who belong to the OAAN fold.Whether the industry gets better or
not in years to come, will significantly be influenced by what OAAN does with the issues listed in the communiqué. Suffice to say however that the Retreat succeeded at laying the much needed foundation for operators in the subsector to take more than a passing interest in the emerging d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e industry. In specific terms, operators should invest more in the areas
68 Brand Visibility
Ayo Oluwayosin delivering his paper
R - L Charles Chijide, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, and Sir Emaka Okezie, MD GraproR-L Charles Chijide, OAAN President; Maureen Umanah and Emma Ajufo
INDUSTRY
of innovation and relevant information (data).This has become all the more expedient in the face of globalization
that has made it imperative for nations to open their markets to foreign participants. The buyers and users of the local outdoor media platforms now, more than ever before, insist that standards that apply in other climes should also apply here.Thus, it is simply imperative that Outdoor Advertising operators should wake up and be more alive to the demands of the indus t ry-put differently, the demands of the buyers. For now, and forever it does seem, the days of guess work are gone and gone for good. Operators should truly operate as professionals, investing in innovations in human capital development, and in data acquisition.The OAAN Executive Retreat was not just papers and communiqué; it also offered participants the much needed opportunity to be away from the neck-breaking demands of the industry and to have some time for some other socially and intellectually enriching activities. The exercise actually started on Thursday with an excursion to s o m e h i s t o r i c a l locations in Akwa Ibom State. Such places of National h i s t o r i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e tectorates of Nigeria i n 1 9 1 4 ) - o n e hundred years ago. The visitors were shown the radio gadgets purportedly used by Lord Lugard to make that proclamation that has now grown into
69 Brand Visibility
Members at “bridge of no return”
Members in front of the house where Lugard “Lived’’
By the mass grave of the murdered women
one of the leading nations of the World.visited were in Ikot Abasi (Iko’rabasi!) where the OAAN CEOs were shown a thoroughly dilapidated structure which
the Tour Guide said was Lord Lugard's Office ( a n d w h e r e h e purportedly pronounced the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria in 1914)-one hundred years ago. The visitors were shown the radio gadgets purportedly used by Lord Lugard to make that proclamation that has now grown into one of the leading
nations of the World.It was so hard to believe that such a monument that is part of the History of our nation could be in such a very sorry state!The OAAN Team also visited the building where Lord Lugard was said to have lived. Other places visited were, the cenotaph built in memory of certain brave and courageous women who were said to have dared the colonial officers on the issue of taxes on women. The s t o r y g o e s t h u s : w o m e n , m o s t l y traders, were up in arms against the oppressive taxes imposed by the
colonial administration of the overlords at that time. The women had gathered and were protesting against the exploitative tax policy. But as it was
the usual approach of the colonial police, the women were to be subdued by the force. In the ensuring struggle, thirty of the unarmed women were reportedly killed; but not before one of them had valiantly wrestled with one of the white policemen, disarmed him and then broke his gun! The brutally murdered women were given a mass burial-and the OAAN Team visited the site of their mass grave.oppressive taxes imposed by the colonial administration of the overlords at that time. The women had gathered and were protesting against the exploitative tax policy. But as it was the usual approach of the colonial police, the women were to be subdued by the force. In the ensuring struggle, thirty of the unarmed women were reportedly killed; but not before one of them had valiantly wrestled with one
of the white policemen, disarmed him and then broke his gun! The brutally murdered women were given a mass burial-and the OAAN Team visited the site of their mass grave.So also did the Team visit the Bridge of No Return. This location, no doubt is a very sad memorial to the insanity and inhumanity of slavery. The Team was shown the dungeon where slaves were kept preparatory to their being ferried away into a life of slavery and servitude. The bridge was so appropriately named as most of those who crossed it over, never returned.To most participants on the highly memorable pre-Retreat “excursion,” it was an educative trip that had also added to knowledge gained. It was also a moment of deep excitement as the Tour Guide kept the Team alive with his rib cracking jokes... on bananas and such things!
news
r. Onyekachi Onubogu,
commercial director of MPromasidor Nigeria
Plc., has emphasised the need for
practitioners in the out-of-home
media sector to adopt innovations
and to be more creative in the
deployment of their platforms, as
this was the only way they could
continue to stay relevant to the
marketing communications needs
of advertisers.
Onubogu gave this advice while th
addressing the 29 Annual General
M e e t i n g o f t h e O u t d o o r
Advertising Association of Nigeria
(OAAN), which held recently in
Owerri, Imo State. He said
innovation had become the soul of
out-of-home communication, and
that only those operators that were
clever enough to key into the new
trend could hope to continue to do
business profitably, adding that
those who lagged might be forced
out of business in the next couple
of years. “The out-of-home media
industry should be the most
creative, dynamic and financially
rewarding advertising segment in
Nigeria,” he said, adding that
practitioners in the industry stood a
very bright chance to be the biggest
beneficiaries, if only they would
Adopt InnovationsPromasidor Boss Calls on OAAN Members
take the issue of innovation more
seriously.
He commended the investments in
the digital revolution, saying it had
enhanced the opportunity to
effectively connect with and
engage the viewing public with
market ing communicat ions
messages.
Onubogu said further that creating
and sustaining opportunities to
help marketers engage in effective
a n d e f f i c i e n t v i s u a l
communication had become
imperative, for the reason that most
customers spend more of their time
in traffic or at the airports. He
advised out-of-home media
practi t ioners to create the
necessary and relevant platforms
that would effectively engage the
attention of the intended audience,
while commuting or at the airport
waiting for their flights. Such new
trends, he said, would enhance the
aesthetics of the environment and
make clients proud of their out-of-
home media investments.
“O u t - o f - h o m e m e d i a pract i t ioners should create the necessary and relevant platforms that will effectively engage the attention of the intended a u d i e n c e w h i l e commuting or at the airport waiting for their flights. Such new trends, he said, would enhance the aesthetics of the environment and make clients proud of their Out-o f - h o m e m e d i a investments.“
Onubogu however advised that
practitioners willing to adapt
innovations must be ready to bear
the cost of the shift that is coming to
the out-of-home media segment in
the country.
“It is coming in three ways. First,
the plethora of options is
increasing,” he said. “We have
more intriguing and beautiful sites
all over the country. Companies
will start demanding a different
payment model for sites they
occupy. No longer will they be
willing to pay for long term leases,
but will demand short-term
activity-based costing model for
OoH acquisitions.” He also
advised practitioners to go back to
the drawing board to renegotiate
with regulatory bodies on how fee
for sites would be paid.
Onubogu further counselled that
practitioners should influence the
city's look positively, and through
that, create wealth for themselves.
In this view OAAN had a
formidable role to play in seeing
that everyone in the industry
adheres strictly to the codes
guiding the practice, in relation to
the environment. He also called on
the various regulatory bodies set up
by state governments to ensure that
cities are not littered with
billboards in their drive for
internally generated revenue.
He examined the present state of
regulations in the industry and
declared that what would be
witnessed in years to come would
be a more of a regulated industry,
funded by more value demanding
users in a more competitive
environment, which would also
come with a huge growth potential.
BV
70 Brand Visibility
Kachi Onubogu
71 Brand Visibility
President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of N ige r i a (OAAN) ,Mr.
Charles Chijide has advised members against running down the association, as this might hinder progress of the institution. The president gave the advice at the
thopening of the 29 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association held from July 3 to 5, 2014, in Owerri, Imo State.Chijide advised members that rather than vilify or speak negatively about the association and its leadership, they should speak well about the uniqueness of their offerings as a business. He advised against all acts of ind i sc ip l ine borne ou t o f selfishness and greed on the part of some members.Giving an account of his stewardship, he announced that the OAAN House, currently under construction, would soon be ready and that the association would partner the world body of outdoor advertising association, FEPE, to
thOAAN holds 29 AGM in Owerri
Gets landed property from Gov. Okorocha
conduct research o n a l l relevant areas to show up to date t r e n d s and the r e a l value of outdoor advertising media platform
s to businesses.Also on the in te rna t iona l engagements of OAAN, Chijide informed members that the West African Outdoor Association was waxing stronger. Educating members on the need to expand their business frontiers, Chijide advised them to invest more in current innovations that would be relevant to the viewing trends of the Nigerian audience. He also stressed the need for members to be conversant with the changing demands of media buyers, and adapt their existing billboards to meet the requirements of current trends. He counselled members to use their sites whenever not engaged to sell out-of-home offerings, as such industrial communication engagements would go a long way in helping to reposition the sub sector. He also advised members against being fraudulent in their claims. In order that members would continue to deliver quality services at all times, thereby enjoying uninterrupted loyalty and
News
patronage, Chijide advised them to regularly update their clients on the values they add to their market ing communicat ions efforts, as this would pave way for more opportunities in future. The association also used the platform to raise serious concerns on issues affecting the fortunes of members, especially in the area of permit fees, and called for tax holiday from governments at all levels, to provide room for investments for members that have been under the unbearable burden of multiple taxations.Members felt that governments should appreciate the industry for its contribution to the economic growth of the country and the value it has added to the aesthetics of the cities.Dr. T. O. E. Ekechi, Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, praised the leadership of OAAN for choosing Owerri for the AGM and expressed optimism that the association would take advantage of the gesture of the Governor by citing its regional headquarters in the city. He stated that the best way to move OAAN forward was to engage an E x e c u t i v e S e c r e t a r y ( o r Registrar/CEO) to run its affairs.High Chief Jas Kolawole Oyekan, Chairman of OAAN's Board of Trustees (BOT), who was present at the meeting, could not hide his excitement at the impressive turnout of chief executives of member companies. He praised the leadership of the association and urged it to be part of the
Rendering the national anthem
struggle to move both the associat ion and the outdoor adver t i s ing business forward.The meeting was later addressed by two leading practitioners drawn from other sectors of the advertising industry in Nigeria. They were Mr. Emeka Okeke, Managing Director/CEO Media Fuse, and Mr. Onyekachi Onubogu, Commercial Director, Promasidor Nigeria PLC. In his presentation, Okeke emphasised the fact that the Out-of-Home industry was the only one that had survived the internet storm and the oldest platform of effective communication with the people. He however called on members of the association to seek ways to make their platforms more engaging, and relevant to the viewing needs of consumers of outdoor advertising messages. Such, he said, would help them quite significantly to create more wealth from their engagements. Onubogu's presentation centred more on strategies for more profitable client engagements. He advised outdoor operators not to build their business on the basis of personal friendship with the clients, as such might not be sustainable in the long run. He advised that the industry should be driven by creativity and business quality service. In the same vein, members, he advised, should adapt new technology and diversify into relevant areas that would enhance creativity and p r o m o t e i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h consumers at lower cost. He said
they should also invest constantly in consumer behaviour research. This, he said, was the only way to making the business profitable. On government's excessive regulation of the industry, Onyekachi said the only way to manage the problem was through self-regulation by members, to be championed and enforced by the industry, using the bigger umbrella of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).He described the cost of doing business in Nigeria as very high, asserting further that the country was the most expensive market in Africa. He therefore advised members to not only present themselves as offering services to the clients, but to also be interested in seeing themselves as partners who are genuinely interested in their clients' business survival and profitability in the long run. He said this was the only way to win the hearts of clients.Alhaji Garba Bello Kankarofi, Registrar/CEO of APCON, was represented by one of the Council's Directors , Mr. Joe-Eugene Onuoha. He praised OAAN for
b e i n g h i g h l y p roac t ive and visible on the Council and as one of the most p r o m i n e n t p a r t n e r s o f APCON. He said OAAN members h a d c o m m e n d a b l y e n h a n c e d t h e aesthetics of the environment, and t h a t t h e
association had been very effective. He however called on members to strive for greater professionalism and stricter adherence to industry ethical standards.Earlier, the President and some members, including High Chief Oyekan, had taken time out to pay a courtesy call on the Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha. The OAAN P r e s i d e n t h a d u s e d t h e opportunity of the visit to appreciate the government and people of the State for making one of its leading members, Dr. T. O. E Ekechi a commissioner.The association also used the opportunity to induct the governor as one of its patros.Governor Rochas Okorocha w e l c o m e d O A A N a n d commended it for the choice of Owerri to host the meeting. He encouraged members to increase the level of their business in the state. He also announced the gift of a landed property to the association and requested that the parcel of land be used for the a s s o c i a t i o n ' s r e g i o n a l headquarters in the South East. BV
News
72 Brand Visibility
-Governor Okorocha with Chijide
News
Brand Visibility: what in your views are the issues that have had the most negative impact on the practice in Nigeria.
The issues affecting Outdoor Advertising practice in Nigeria are many and they include location, lack of infrastructural support, and the epileptic nature of electricity. Most of the LED billboards run on generators. But the honest question to ask is, how many hours will the generators run to make it profitable for the owner? So at what cost is the business running? Can we also talk about the bottom line in the face of the highly prohibit ive costs, including government permit fees being squeezed by the signage agencies? There is also
Okesiji:
OOH BUSINESS RUNNING COST PROHIBITIVE -Yinka Okesiji
the frustrating and stifling regulation, multiplicity of taxes and fees at the state and the local government levels. And there is the communal social problem of miscreants and area boys. The challenges are monumental and hydra-headed.
Then how do we get out of the quagmire?
We need to be more creative and innovative about the problems. We need to adopt more cost-effective approach in developing and deploying the OOH media platforms. We should begin to form alliances so that where you are inefficient, another outdoor company might fit in. It now depends on those who are behind the alliances. We should form partnerships and
Brand Visibility:
Okesiji:
strategic alliances. We should go into collaboration with people of like minds, and take a common pitch with one or two practitioners. That way, we will be able to begin to get out of some of our problems.
What is your opinion on signage agencies and their s t rangulat ing policies?
The real problem is that majority of the signage agencies are run by individuals who are not professionals. Apart from Mr. Yinka Adepoju, the Director General of Oyo State Signage & Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), who is a thorough-bred outdoor person, and a fellow of the advertising practice in Nigeria, I don't think any other signage agency helmsman is qualified to be given such an appointment, as they do not know how the outdoor business is run. What we have now is a set of people whose only understanding is how much revenue to generate for government. So, they look at the practice from the tax point of view. Most of these things (rates) are not realistic and they are not justifiable. They are not based on any verif iable yardsticks. Rates are arbitrarily fixed and are usually at the whims and caprices of the man in charge. They make planning difficult. It is a major issue and until we get out of it this, the industry will not grow.
Brand Visibility:
Okesiji:
BV
73 Brand Visibility
Yinka Okesiji
Tips for Branding Your Company By: Leslie Mckerns of Mckerns Development
branding tips
As the say ing goes ,
perception is everything.
The whole essence of
branding is simply to appropriately
and effectively influence the
perception of the intended
(relevant) audience in the market
place. Without any doubt, it is
important to create the most
positive image for every product or
service, to the end that the
marketing effort command the
right perception, thereby helping in
meeting the intended sales
objectives.
In this edition, we borrow some
useful tips on how to increase your
name recognition, as integral part
of effective branding effort, from
Leslie Mckerns of Mckerns
Development. We have also added
some views, before presenting
them for your consumption, not
only to help your understanding,
but to also make it easy to adopt in
the overall best interest of your
brands. The tips are indeed
pointers to follow to keep your
brand in the hearts of your
identified targets and to
constantly generate the right
perception for it. Here we go:
1 . Hire a branding
company: To bring
y o u r i m a g e a n d
message under a brand,
it is important to
develop all collateral
and image materials
(web, stationery, logo,
t a g l i n e , m i s s i o n
s t a t e m e n t , c a r d s ,
postcards, brochures,
e l e v a t o r p i t c h
newsletters, letters, project sheets, resumes, bios, firm description
etc.) to coincide with the brand and your message. It goes without
saying therefore that you need the services of highly skilled
professionals to help create, nurture and sustain the growth of your
brand. Nothing should be left to chances, and nothing should be
done haphazardly.
2. Develop a Mission Statement: Your mission statement should
show your reason for the value you provide to your customers.
Your mission statement is like your guiding philosophy. It is, in
sum, a statement of what gap you have identified and how you are
going to provide the required solution. It is important to remember
at all times that every brand has a set of values to add to the
identified target. As such, how the brand intends to achieve it must
be clearly encompassed in the mission statement. More
importantly, it must be the guiding principle, so as to give the
brand the uniqueness needed in the market place.
3. Develop a memorable tagline: This should express who you are
and what you do. Your tagline is what distinguishes your
product/brand from others that purport to offer similar solutions. It
must therefore be carefully and professionally crafted in order for
it to be unique and distinctive.
4. Make a Matrix: This is a list of all those you'd like to reach in the
next year and the potential influencers on those people. Develop a
timeline and calendar of outreach. Branding also requires
planning. You must identify those whose patronage and goodwill
74 Brand Visibility
25 Effective Ways to increase Your Name Recognition
branding tips
will be relevant to the success of your brand, and put in place a
workable plan of reaching, courting, attracting and sustaining and
retaining them. Your message and branding positioning must
effectively target such groups.
5. Regularly, write and issue press releases to the media: This
activity keeps you and your brand in the hearts of your most
relevant audience. One very effective way to gain the most
maximum publicity reward is for the brand to be the sponsor of a
regular column on issues that are germane to the life of your
audience.
6. Regularly write and post press releases to your website: As for
(5) above, this helps you to effectively connect with your critical
on-line audience. Such write ups should be on relevant and topical
issues that will get a hold on the readers, and, more importantly,
which would make them look forward to your next release.
7. Regularly write and post press releases directly on the
Internet. As for (5) and (6) above, the internet is also a veritable
platform for you, (your brand's number one ambassador) to
engage your audience on issues relevant both to them and which
will ultimately, positively impact on your brand's image.
8. Regularly write articles and do all three of the above: Yes. You
must take into account that you do not always have a second
chance to make the first impression. So, those platforms must be
professionally deployed to enhance the visibility of your company
and brand in the market place.
9. Regularly write and pitch feature story ideas to the media:
Ensure that your contributions are on issues of the moment, be
they national or international. Care must however be taken to
ensure such do not end up pitching your company against the
powers that be, especially the government. Otherwise, it could be
counterproductive.
10. Diversify all marketing, PR, and media: To reach the markets
where your clients are to be found (as opposed to marketing within
your own service industry), you should deploy all communication
opportunities and avenues to keep up the image of both your
company and your brands alive in the minds of the relevant
audiences.
11. Participate (attend, speak, host, present, and show) in at least
two national and local industry conferences: Overtime, these
avenues throw you and your company up as a sure source of
intellectual and intelligent contributions in your relevant field.
And the positive effect of this is that, in no time, you become
distinct and distinguished
as a veritable source of
useful information in your
industry.
12. Create and issue an
online or direct mail
newsletter: This helps you
to reach a wider audience
geographically. It also
gives you an edge over
c o m p e t i t o r s i n t h e
reckoning of the audience.
13. Get known for niche
expertise or specific
industry knowledge
(speak, write, present,
teach): Seek all avenues to
“show off” the stuff you
are made of in terms of the
amount and quality of
re levan t in te l l ec tua l
information that you have
acquired. The challenge
here is that this demands
that you are constantly
seeking and acquiring such
relevant information on all
aspects of your industry. It
also demands that you
constantly update your
knowledge to be ahead of
y o u r c o m p e t i t o r s
intellectually. Remember,
what was in vogue 20
years ago is now obsolete;
and what is in vogue today
was mostly unknown and
perhaps unimaginable 20
years ago. And it goes
without saying that what is
in vogue today, will most
certainly be in the dustbin
of time in another 20 years.
So, you need to constantly
update your knowledge in
order to keep pace with
current developments and
75 Brand Visibility
discoveries in and around your industry.
14. Participate in professional internship programmes: This
platform should be employed regularly to enable you share views
and rub minds with professional colleagues on relevant issues. It
should be a platform through which you must deliberately plan to
gain new knowledge, as well as to make useful contributions to
the growth of the industry in which you operate, even to the
benefit of your competitors, but not in any way to the
disadvantage of your brand.
15. Participate and sponsor local charitable efforts: Get a place
for your brand name in the programme of every charitable cause
and conspicuously get your brand mentioned in the press and the
media blitz surrounding every charity event, especially within the
locality relevant to your marketing activities. This way, you not
only contribute to the growth of your brand, you also through this
effort contribute to the growth and development of the immediate
community where you operate, for it is one way to give back to the
society at large. No doubt, this is one sure way. But, more
importantly, you and your brand get additional points as being
socially responsible and relevant to the growth of the community,
and it is one effective way to write your name on the sand of time.
In no time, with constant and continuous participation in such
worthy causes, your brand becomes “a native” of that locality.
16. Get to know the potential learning partners in your new
geographic area: Let them know your people, your areas of
expertise and potential for cross referrals. This will be mutually
rewarding and your group stands to benefit tremendously, if
properly and professionally managed. To the extent that you are
willing to help the others in your locality to grow intellectually,
you too will grow in like manner. For, others will trust and rely on
you, and will ultimately be willing to share information and
knowledge with you.
17. Develop collateral material with a regional bent: Think on
what projects, services, people or elements might be important to
this new market and capture this regional tone in all collateral
material. This strategy helps you to identify with the people in
your new environment; and it has the potency to project you as a
caring organization that can be trusted. You become a highly
valued organization, and you are treated as a reliable and
dependable corporate citizen of the locality.
18. Develop tip sheets as to how your company or brand is
different from your competitors: Do not hesitate to show why
this makes a difference to learning partners and to your end users,
that is, your potential and existing clients. Include these
differentiating tips as the basis for all your branding statements.
This helps to give all the
relevant information about
your company at a glance.
It also provides the reader
an opportunity to see the
u n i q u e n e s s i n y o u r
operations, services and
products, especially your
disposition to humanity
issues. They are instantly
able to decipher issues that
separate you from the
others.
19. Develop a calendar of
local and regional events:
This is one way to make
your company visible in
the areas most related to
your brand and your
potential clients' interest.
Such will increase and
enhance your visibility
among the locales. It helps
in strengthening the
bonding between the
people and your company;
a n d y o u r c o m p a n y
becomes named in their
hearts as an ally, a “blood
brother”, and one that
shares in the aspirations of
the people, and that also
identif ies with them
socially and culturally.
20. Post your calendar of
a p p e a r a n c e s a n d
participation on your
website: This helps to
project your company's
participation beyond the
immediate locality. Even
to people in other markets
where you operate, you are
seen as a “grassroots
indigene” of your local
markets.
21. Plan a media release
branding tips
76 Brand Visibility
before and after each event: If you are proud enough to identify
with the community, you should not be ashamed to talk about the
events even loudly. This should however be done professionally.
It should be meticulously planned and creatively executed, so as
to get the most from it.
22. Hire an industry professional to conduct a survey on your
behalf: From time to time, you need to know “how others see”
you in the market place. You should also regularly post the results
on your website. Publicise the results that are most important to
your industry. The importance of self-assessment cannot be
overemphasised. Even when the findings are not favourable, it is
an opportunity for you to seek ways to do better. But, hopefully,
when the results show that you have an edge over competition in
any area, by all means, go to town with the news. It is good news
and if you don't do it, no one will do it for you. But again, it must be
professionally crafted and creatively posted.
23. Update your website to be informational based: This makes it
easy for search engines to find you, and your clients can access in-
depth material demonstrating your expertise. Your website must
be active and provide opportunity for engagements with your
audiences, notably your current clients; just as it is a veritable
strategy to entice others who are not currently doing business with
you. Thus, you must ensure that whatever is posted is factual,
verifiable and truthful, and must be absolutely relevant and rich.
24. Add international website contents a minimum of four times
per month: This will help to broaden your “catchment area”. It is
a potent and highly effective way to take your popularity beyond
your immediate locality. This becomes all the more important if
there is a consideration that you are branching into the
international market in future.
branding tips
77
25. Establish your brand by
regularly updating the
f i n a n c i a l v a l u e o r
p o t e n t i a l v a l u e
associated with your
brand quality results
achieved: Add these
results to your brand value.
Communicate through all
methods, the value of your
brand to those associated
with it and whose positive
perception your brand
needs to continue to be
profitable. At the end of
the day, most clients are
interested in financially
solid companies. There is
also a psychological angle
to it. It gives the clients a
sense of security, trusting
that financial buoyancy is
also a guarantee for quality
service or product.
Final Notes:
Taking steps to effectively and
p rofess iona l ly b rand your
company is one very important key
to influencing a memorable
perception in the minds of your
chosen audience. It is not only the
name recognition of your firm, but
also the perceived value of both
your organization and the products
that will be positively affected. If
you could professionally capture
these 25 essential branding
elements, chances are very bright
that you would begin to cement a
positive brand image for your firm
and product or service. And, much
more importantly, you are most
certainly on your way to effectively
dominating the sub-sector of the
national economy in which you
operate. BV
Brand Visibility
Event
T h e p i o n e e r M a n a g i n g
Director/Chief Executive Officer
of Universal McCann, Rotarian
Lanre Fasehun, was recently installed
President of Rotary Club of Ikeja, at a
colourful event which took place at the
Sheraton Lagos Hotel & Towers.
Ro t a r i a n Fa s e h u n ' s i n d u c t i o n ,
e x p e c t e d l y, a t t r a c t e d l e a d i n g
practitioners in Advertising, who were
there to felicitate with one of their own,
who was being colourfully decorated to
be at the drivers' seat for the 2014/2015
Rotary Year of the Ikeja Club.
Among those present were Mr Steve
Laoye, Vice Chairman of Stb-McCann
Lagos; Mr Kole Ademulegun, MD/CEO
Media Link Limited, Hon. Tunde
Adedoyin, MD/CEO Media Views Ltd;
Ladi Sole, MD/CEO Unik Sites and Sola
Akinsiku, MD/CEO KOK Visibility Edge
and Publisher, Brand Visibility.
The Fasehun dynasty of Ondo Kingdom
was ably represented by a host of
members of the family prominently led
by Dr. Frederick Fasehun, founder of the
Oodua People's Congress (OPC), and
National Chairman of the revived Unity
Party of Nigeria, (UPN).
Also present at the memorable occasion
was Pastor Femi Adeshina, SAN.
Rotary Club of Ikeja was founded in
August 1982. It is the second club to be
established in Lagos, and the sixth in the
country.
Rotarian Fasehun took over from
Rotarian Adejuwon Akinfolurin who
decorated his successor with a charge to
build upon the accomplishment of the
immediate past administration.
The Ikeja Club has been led by some of
the leading lights in all spheres of life in
Nigeria. They include Prince Julius
Adeluyi (of Juli Pharmacy); Chief Ade Ojo
(of Elizade Motors), Chief Olusegun
Osunkeye, Chairman Lafarge Africa, and
Oba Adedapo Tejuosho. BV
Lanre Fasehun Installed 48th President of Ikeja Rotary Club
78 Brand Visibility
-Fasehun with some members of the Club
-Fasehun being Congratulated
-Fasehun being Installed
In years gone by, big names in the
retail business in Nigeria were
Kingsway Stores, Challerams,
Kewalrams and UTC Stores. They
were the places to go for shopping,
especially by the well-to-do members
of the society. Then came the
economic down turn, coupled with
mismanagement on the part of the
owners or managers. And, one after
the other, the big names fell by the way
side.
With the current turnaround in the
Nigerian economy, which is evident in
the fact that it is now the largest in thAfrica and 26 in the world, retail
business in the country is experiencing
a boom once again. The establishment
and spread of new names in the sector
is proof. The list of the current leading
players includes such big names as
Shoprite, Just Rite, SPAR, PEP and
Gamestore. And there are few others
Retail Stores In Nigeria:
Who Is Taking The Lead
?that now dot the major cities,
signalling a favourable investment
climate in that sector.
Shoprite, the South African brand, is
the undisputed leader, with outlets
strategically located in choice areas in
major cities like Abuja, Ilorin, Lagos,
Enugu, Kano and Ibadan.
The brand's number one position is
currently being threatened by SPAR,
also a major competitor. The latter has
lately been spending heavily on media
campaigns to appeal to shoppers,
hinging its offering on low prices. The
company also leverages on its
partnership with manufacturers and
marketers of computers and household
products like HP Computer, Chi, Peak
Milk and other consumer goods to woo
shoppers. SPAR also offers shoppers
opportunity to walk into any of its
stores and buy at highly discounted
prices that may not be offered by any of
its competitors.
In addition, for every product bought,
the shop offers a gift voucher to the
shopper. For example, shoppers that
buy any of the available HP laptops in
any of its retail outlets are instantly
given a N3, 000 shopping voucher. Not
only that, the retail store also gives
same amount of shopping voucher to
shoppers who flash a given mobile
number advertised in some newspaper.
If Shoprite has an answer to SPAR,
there is also the PEP challenge that is
equally formidable, for PEP is also
coming up stronger. It has chosen to
compete by facing and meeting the
desires and demands of all ages, from
infants to adults, for quality and
affordable clothes and clothing
materials.
The ability to offer a range of quality
products while maintaining the lowest
prices seems to have paved the way for
shoppers to identify with PEP, as most
people who could have opted for the
bend down select alternatives in places
like Aswani and Gatan Kowa markets
in Lagos, now have a more dignifying
mall in PEP.
Omobolanle Adetayo, a mother of two
who patronizes PEP, told Brand &
Visibility that the store affords her the
opportunity to buy quality baby wears
at very cheap prices.
“Their product is cheap; they have
good baby wears,” she says. “What
seems surprising is the fact that PEP
products are not common, yet they sell
at cheaper prices.” She said she would
continue to patronize the store, rather
than visit other malls where similar
products are sold.
Adetayo's position seems to be
reflective of those of other shoppers
who have found solace in the store. A
visit to the PEP store on Obafemi
Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos, confirms
her position.
Shopping at these stores no doubt has
given their customers some sense of
pride, confidence and perceived
comfort. These are sure ingredients of
building a brand's image as well as
enhancing and boosting the customers'
confidence, continued patronage and
unhindered loyalty. They ultimately
often result in a lifelong of repeat
patronage; just as they are also very
formidable pillars of referrals.
Among those that will gain from the
consumer outlets
80 Brand Visibility
presence of the retail stores in the
country are local manufacturers and
suppliers in the country. Some of the
stores like Shoprite buy in bulk from
local suppliers in order that customers
may also buy at cheaper prices, while
they still enjoy a world class shopping
experience.
The cheering news about Shoprite,
“Shopping at these stores no
d o u b t h a s g i v e n t h e i r
customers some sense of pride,
confidence and perceived
comfort. These are sure
ingredients of building a
brand's image as well as
enhancing and boosting the
c u s t o m e r s ' c o n f i d e n c e ,
continued patronage and
unhindered loyalty. They
ultimately often result in a
lifelong of repeat patronage;
just as they are also very
formidable pillars of referrals.”
undoubtedly the
one with the
leadership cap
of the pack of
retail shops in
Nigeria, is that it
has also joined
the league of
organisat ions
that are deeply
committed to
social responsibility engagements. For
instance, Shoprite is known for its
“Change A Life” campaign established
to enrich the lives of many under-
privileged children and youths in
Nigeria. The campaign started in
December 2010, and has assisted
various orphanages and foundations
such as the Red Cross in Nigeria and
the SOS Children's Village.
It is recommended that other leading
retail stores should strive to emulate
this by embarking on some corporate
social responsibility programmes that
will be beneficial to the society,
especially the immediate communities
where they have their outlets, and the
nation as a whole.
Expansion of the retail stores will also
add to, and boost job creation
opportunities across the country.
Perhaps this is one major reason most
states are encouraging promoters of
CONSUMER OUTLETS
81 Brand Visibility
retail shops to consider having outlets
in their major towns. In some cases,
governments at the state level are
partners with the shop owners.
However, as laudable as this
development may be, it is important
that the relevant agencies of
government take steps that will
guarantee that workers, especially
Nigerians, are not unduly exploited
and that no employer takes undue
advantage of them.
Having gained customer loyalty and
confidence and with increase in
revenue, it is expected that these stores
also contribute to the development of
their host communities.
Shoprite and SPAR, and indeed all
other retail stores, practically offer the
same product range including food and
grocery, wines and spirits, butchery
and bakery, fruits and vegetable,
electronics, IT products, mobile
phones, furniture, fashion and lifestyle
products. However, each of them
seems to have identified a niche, one
that separates it from the others,
whether in terms of pricing, delivery
strategy, or concentration of product
offerings.
Truth is, the race is on, one more time,
for retail stores in Nigeria. The focus
is, however, not necessarily which of
them eventually becomes the market
leader, but how their efforts will
ultimately affect both the Nigerian
society and the nation's economy.
“Expansion of the retail stores
will also add to, and boost job
creation opportunities across
the country. Perhaps this is one
major reason most states are
encouraging promoters of retail
shops to consider having
outlets in their major towns. In
some cases, government at the
state level are partners with the
shop owners.”
BV
Advertising has evolved from the time
when it was just a helpful suggestion
to something you might need or want,
like a pen for instance, to the giant
industry that it has now become.
But over the span of several centuries
basic human needs were met, industry
niches filled up with multiple
companies each competing for a few
seconds of your time to meet every
conceivable need you have or the
acclaimed needs of consumers by
producers. Today, there are hundreds,
and counting, adverts crying for the
viewers' attention. They all clamour
for one to buy this, try this, taste this,
change to this, and test this. But who
wins this battle? Which adverts gain
the upper hand? Is it usually the most
captivating? What influences or
impact do advertisements have on the
audience, in relation to what actions
are consequently taken?
This seems to be the major task of
creators of advertisements. They are
thrown to constantly toy with
strategies they feel convinced would
bring about the desired connectivity
between the product or brand and the
audience. Perhaps the most prominent
of these strategies is the infusion of
entertainment, music most especially,
into advertisement. Music in its own
r ights is easi ly retained and
remembered. When effectively
combined with the commercial
messages, music helps such messages
to fulfill one of its objectives of
holding the attention of the listener or
viewer. Further, music helps an
advertisement to be more appealing to
the viewer by simply making it more
memorable. And this helps to increase
the volume of attention the product or
brand is able to get.
Music does not need to manifest any
special affinity with a product, services
or business in order to play an effective
and useful function. Music serves as a
bridge of connectivity between the
audience and product or brand being
advertised. No doubt what really goes
for music is that it tends to linger in the
listeners' mind for longer than an
ordinary speech.
The success story of many products or
services can be traced to the
captivating effect of the accompanying
music which has transferred its own
attributes to the story line and to the
product and in the process creating the
desired coherence and effectively
making such connections that are not
easily achieved in words or in pictures.
In a nutshell, music interprets an
advert. Thus, the objective of the song
Investigation
platform for such a commercial has
been accomplished with honours.
Culling examples from some recent
ads of MTN involving Yoruba actor,
Afeez Oyetoro popularly called Saka;
he is an identified figure in the
entertainment industry and he also
depicted the theme of the advert which
made it easy to pass the message. Also
the infusion of dance and music no
doubt gave the advert its retentive
power in the minds of its consumers.
Children, and adults will not forget the
Honey-Well Noodles commercial:
Honeywell, noodles, bam bam la la..
bam bam la la… The entertainment
effect was almost so effective that most
times both children and adults sing
along. It’s target being children, it was
rhythmical and simple enough that
even a 2 year old remembers it easily
and all they need do is sing the chorus
to pass the message along.
The use of music in Advertisements
h a s t r e m e n d o u s l y h e l p e d
memorability of the concept just as it
has also helped the message recall.
The question however is whether
music also helps brand loyalty, and,
ultimately purchase. And that’s a
subject for someday soon.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MUSIC IN ADVERTISEMENTS
-OLUWATOSIN ADEBAYO
83 Brand Visibility
BOOK REVIEW
Kill or Get Killed: The Marketing Killer Instinct is the sum of Kolawole Oyeyemi 's 23years hard fact experience documentation of the Market as a war zone where battles are “fought, won and lost” not for a place in the market, but for “increase”in its size that the winner could grab and add to his current share. Here meekness is not a virtue. It can only provide a spot in the market, but does not guarantee ones stay. Prisoners do not even exist in this war because there is no budget for them, hence, being caught by competition is not an option, and elimination is the game. The book is filled with insights on three basic knowledge areas that must be available for a marketing battle. These are; knowing who you are fighting, knowing what you are fighting for and having an immense knowledge of the battle field.
The book i s packaged as a
philosophical and practical roadmap
for greenhorns in the marketing field,
outlining the type of mindset and
know-hows that wins the heart of
market. It also doubles as a subtle
challenge to traditional beliefs which
will no doubt leave his contemporaries
and veterans nodding in agreement.
Laced with interesting African
marketing battle case studies such as;
Sabmiller's first entry and quick exit in
Kenya, the Milk War between
Promasidor’s Cowbell and WAMCO’s
Peak Milk, the Stout War between
Nigerian Breweries and Guinness,
Etisalat vs MTN, the entrance of
Globacom in to the Niger ian
telecommunication industry, the
failure by Cadbury to be the first to
introduce Poundo Yam to Nigerians
among others. The writer leaves deep
Title:
Author:
Publishers:
Reviewer:
Kill Or Get Killed: The Marketing Killer Instinct
Kolawole Oyeyemi
TP House (2014)
Ebisemiju Toyin
insight on the flanks that are
vulnerable, how they can be reinforced
and strategies for launching attacks.
Tactically, the consumer is presented to
be the Market. She/he is the prize that
must be won – A dynamo whose ever
changing confusing preferences must
be understood with on the spot
strategic adaptation. The life of any
brand is to be nurtured and protected by
greasing the emotions, beliefs,
behaviour and culture of the consumer,
Any attempt at change should be
t i m e l y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e
conscious/unconscious changes
experienced by the consumer. A brand
that thinks its size will intimidate the
consumer, Oyeyemi insists, is as good
as dead.
He admonished that the creation of
advertising campaigns especially for
radio and television should not just
entertain but attract spend – the brand
manger is also a business manager. It
should not be developed from the
biased view of the brand manager or
marketing director, but from a
researched viewpoint of the consumer.
More importantly, execution should be
as good as strategy.
Writing on strategies for taking-on
competition, Kolawole stressed the
need to always be a challenger even as
a market leader. In other words, one
must not underestimate competition.
Hitting below the belt is allowed as
long as it guarantees submission.
Copying one’s competition, for him,
should not be seen as an aberration;
however it should be done with style
and with a difference. Also relying
solely on price reduction should not be
long-term marketing strategy because
consumer spend is not determined by
price alone. The consumer wants to be
ultimately satisfied and will most
likely settle for the best. For him speed
or being first to the market does not
guarantee success, what does is quality
coupled with swift calculated
innovation that leaves little or no space
for competition. It is also pertinent
that a brand's marketing soldiers, even
the creatives must be from diverse
academic backgrounds. This will help
enrich strategy and enhance execution.
In a nutshell, ''if you stay on top of your
game in terms of accurate consumer
insight; sound, robust and relevant
value proposition development;
excellent go-to-market strategy,
efficient route to market; adaptive and
flexible organisational agility to
exploit and ride the waves of
marketing opportunities and changes,
all effectively communicated better
than competition, you may lose some
battles, but you are in good stead to win
the war'' Oyeyemi affirms.
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