The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) held its 44th Annual General Meeting/Congress at the Golden Tulip Hotel Festac, Lagos from July 6 to July 8 with “Fresh Thinking” as its theme. The event was kicked off with the pre-AGM Industry night. While the congress which had in attendance many dignitaries and government officials took place on Friday, July 7. The esteemed guests were warmly welcome by Mr. Kayode Oluwasona, President of AAAN, who enthused appreciation for the presence of the esteemed guests.
The Executive Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode who was duly represented by the Honorable Commission for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde during the official opening of the congress observed that the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria has come a long way in contributing to the growth of the Nigerian economy and providing job opportunities for various categories of people in Nigeria. Governor Ambode further noted that the 44th AGM/Congress will therefore provide yet another opportunity for the association to assess the emerging challenges and opportunities that are currently defining growth within the industry and the larger economy.
The Governor observed that it was rather a coincidence that the association is holding its AGM/Congress in Lagos at the same time that the state is celebrating golden anniversary which without doubt is the hub of advertising in Nigeria, in the spirit of the shared celebration, Governor Ambode said he looked forward to improved cordial relationship between the State government and the association, he however enjoined all advertising practitioners to evolve new strategies to serve the needs of their clients. He urged them to put emphasis on ethical standards in the development of advert concepts and as well consider the impact of culture in the development of advert campaigns.
The Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler who was the chairman of the occasion while delivering the keynote address said he wished that at the end of the congress, the association will bring in new ideas, fresh thinking and different means that can promote and encourage people to learn more about tax administration.
The APCON Registrar, Alhaji Garba Bello while reading his goodwill message said he is delighted to be one of the guests at the AAAN 44th AGM/Congress. In spite of the economic challenges in Nigeria during the last two years, Alhaji Garba said he is glad that the AAAN and its members have remained vibrant and focused.
He however appealed to the association and all practitioners in all sectors of the advertising industry that have taken advantage of the prolonged suspension of APCON council to indulge in practices that negate the growth and development of advertising profession to turn away from the act and conduct their practice according to the dictates of the law.
The Chief Transformation Executive- MTN Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Adekanmbi shared his thoughts and perspectives of critical shift in the industry in his lecture which he titled ‘Shared Values Business Model’. He put the audience through on what he called the philosophy of shared values and he said this philosophy is based on the fact that there is a drop of knowledge, insights and wisdom in every man and except a system that brings this pockets of insight together into a central pool, it might be difficult to get the best out of what we are doing and looking for.
He further said that any idea as small as it may seem is not resident in the so called experts and as such there should be a system where it will be recognized that there is a scattered knowledge which must be aggregated altogether to build a collective intelligent system that will benefit everyone. It is therefore a collaboration, it is a process, it is very active and most importantly it is very social. Moving further in the lecture, Mr Adekanmbi explained that the system of integrating common knowledge for the common benefit of all speaks to the broad idea of shared value or shared value creation. If these values can be brought together, then it is possible that a larger pool that will be beneficial to all and sundry will be built. In conclusion, Mr Adekanmbi said ‘We just need to get better at what we do and also lash on the shared values to reposition ourselves. We need to democratize our knowledge as well as our skills’.
At the end of the day’s event, the vice president of AAAN, Mr. Ikechi Odigbo thanked everyone who found time to attend the event despite their busy schedules.
Juliet Ekwebelam
