Experts: FG’s Economic Policies Will Attract Investment to Marketing Industry in 2025

Raheem Akingbolu

A former Chairman of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, (ARCON), Mr. Udeme Ufot, has said there are signs that some of the economic measures being implemented by the federal government are positively impacting the economy.

Speaking with THISDAY on the Marketing Communications industry prospect in 2025, Ufot though admitted that the various economic measures being implemented by the President Bola Tinubu administration is still in their early days, he nonetheless expressed the view that the positive signals of the measures should offer encouragement to forward looking business operators and investors.

He said, “In 2025, we can begin to see more investment in the economy, including marketing activities. Key brands will want to maintain and even improve upon their market positions. New entrants will need to invest in brand building activities in order to secure a foothold in the market and entrench themselves in the minds of consumers. Ownership of some brands in the market changed hands last year while some others worked on restructuring their businesses for greater efficiency.”

According to Udeme, who is also the Co-Founder and Group Managing Director of SO&U Limited, the new business executives, new owners, as well as the restructured businesses will be keen to retain the confidence of consumers through increased marketing activities in 2025.

“Some confidence will generally return to the market and the advertising industry will certainly benefit from these improvements.

It will also be up to agencies to position themselves to optimally benefit from these developments. This will not be a time for marketers to take undue risks with untested agencies. Agencies also need to work on winning and retaining the confidence of the market as to their capabilities,” he added.

Also speaking on the same subject matter, the President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), who also doubles as Chairman, Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG), Lanre Adisa, said the general sentiment in the marketing communications industry is the expectation that the year 2025 would be better than last year based  on certain macroeconomic indicators with regards to some of the policies adopted by the Federal Government in 2024.

“We can see some stability in the forex regime as well as the investments in infrastructure and a further reduction in the cost of energy. We expect these developments to create some ease for businesses. When our clients’ businesses improve, our industry will benefit from these changes. When our clients experience any economic discomfort or suffer any negative impact from some policies or the economy generally, the marketing industry feels it as well. The last one year has been challenging for everybody. A lot of businesses have had to do a lot of price increases along the way. They have had back-to-back losses, quarter-to-quarter board losses and other challenges. But again, it’s the human spirit of trying to survive, the human spirit of not giving up,” Adisa stated.