How to lift advertising industry, by Abioye

IN spite of the increasing number of agencies within Nigeria's advertising landscape, the industry appears to be losing its grip on professionalism. Instead, it was making billing the major driver for inspiration, innovation and great ideas.Speaking in a media chat on the state of the industry, the CEO of Fuel Communications Limited, Tunji Abioye, said rather than professionalism driving the industry and the source of inspiration, there was a flip as the industry suddenly began looking elsewhere for inspiration.He argued, 'The whole focus and the argument now is what is your billing. That construction about billing has become the popular expression in the industry'.He stated that the knowledge advantage agencies previously had in the beginning was now lost, stating, 'In the 60s, 70s and 80s, agencies were known to be knowledge houses, libraries of knowledge on brands and on branding. What clients did at that time was to pass on the marketing function to advertising agencies that did the planning, the strategic work and the execution. Clients relied on agencies to lead the game. But it appears that we are losing all that.'According to him, the urge for substance instead of ideas has crept into the industry and has led to the growth of agencies to about 300, some not even members of AAAN.He noted that agency previously ensured that clients got value for a penny spent because it was driven by a quote in a Harvard Business Review, which states: 'With increasing competition from the world's emerging economies, supply often will exceed demand and to sustain profitable growth in any market, it is only brands that do things differently will be able to grow and sustain it'.He summed up by saying, 'What we want to create is not necessarily an advertising agency that tries to sell regular prescription. We are in the market to champion very unpopular ideas, to create shocking but effective brand solutions to be noticed in the crowded market. The campaigns that look extraordinary are the ones that people remember.'The question for us is not to be big but the size of the value we create for the clients and size of balance sheet'.
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