Expert Calls for Dialogue to Save Nigeria’s Advertising Industry

Raheem Akingbolu

A veteran Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) lawyer and Managing Partner of Gee Law Firm, Mr. Nosakhare Uwadiae, has urged stakeholders displeased with the new Advertising Industry Standard of Practice (AISOP) document to embrace dialogue in the interest of bringing sanity to the industry.

He also warned IMC agencies to be careful with the document they sign with brands as most of those contracts fall within the regime of unconscionable contracts.

Nosakhare, who spoke on, “Advertising, Impartiality and Regulation,” at the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) 9th Annual General Meeting/Conference held in Lagos faulted the nature of most contracts entered with Nigerian agencies by multinationals and pointed out their elements of unequal bargaining powers. The main theme of the conference is; “Media Management in Difficult Times”.

He said, “From experience, it is observed that most contracts between clients and agencies are bereft of equity. More often, the contracts are more to the advantage of clients (one-sided) and the agencies’ bargaining power is weak because of desperation to get business from the client. Most of the contracts clients sign with agencies fall within the regime of unconscionable contracts,” he stated.

Speaking on AISOP, Uwadiae stated: “I would recommend that Advertising Stakeholders in Nigeria should take another look at the AISOP and come up with balanced recommendations. A short, medium and long-term assessment of the recommendations should be candidly reviewed to make recommendations that will be far-reaching in the interest of all parties. There should also be an agreement amongst stakeholders for review of the AISOP every five years to plug gaps and adjust to current realities.

This should be part of the AISOP. More engagement should be encouraged and all stakeholders should shun grandstanding. We must work together for the collective interests of the industry.”

Noteworthy, according to APCON, AISOP is a business framework that seeks to improve mutual respect, eradicate unfair advantage, unethical competition, and inequitable engagement terms between stakeholders in the Advertising and Marketing Communication sector of the Nigerian economy which took effect from the 6th of October 2021.

The AISOP code captures engagement policy, how stakeholders engage agencies, payment terms, and commission, remuneration, disengagement protocol, returns on advertising investment and measurement, peaceful resolution, and other related protocols. However, the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) rejected the AISOP code, stating that it infringes on the rights of private entities to determine their contractual terms.

Stating the benefit of self-regulations like AISOP, the IMC legal expert said: “Marketers benefit from self-regulation because responsible advertising helps build consumer trust in brands, which in turn builds brand loyalty and increases sale.”

On another note, Nosakhare said AISOP should have taken cognisance of the fact that some agencies do not live up to the service-level agreement (SLAs) and do not act as strategic business partners to clients and even when clients pay, some agencies and media independents do not pay third parties
“If not properly handled, it could worsen the present situation of payments. There is a need to have more engagements with ADVAN so that realistic timelines can be agreed upon based on SLAs and KPIs,” he stated.

Earlier in his welcome address, immediate past Chairman of BJAN, AfolabiIdowu said the association picked the theme and subtheme to address salient topical issues in the industry and help members get a firm grasp of the issues so as to be able to provide the sound analysis and reportage that Nigerians and other stakeholders need for better understanding of the subject matter.