By Alphonsus E.W
It was a gathering of those that matter in the advertising sphere in Nigeria at the ADVAN Marketing Award For Excellence 2013. The event which took place at the prestigious Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos was to reward outstanding marketing professionals and corporate organizations who had distinguished themselves in their respective niches within the industry.
The event opened at 5pm with the cocktail and red carpet. Thereafter the invited guests were ushered in to the main hall at about 6.43pm where the event was declared open by the melodious rendition of the National Anthem.
The welcome address was delivered by the President of ADVAN, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi. The host and hostess for the evening were Katchy and Katherine respectively. Katchy regularly left the audience in stitches as he spiced the interludes with copious doses of rib-cracking jokes.
The maiden edition of the association’s magazine was unveiled in a colourful way as most of the past presidents were invited to the podium to witness the epoch-making occasion as a member of the Board of Trustees and first President of ADVAN, Mr. Niyi Babatunde, cut the tape to officially launch the magazine.
The respective award categories and their winners include:
- Experiential Marketing- Guinness
- Consumer Promotion- Maltina
- Innovation- Snapp
- Digital And Social Media Marketing- Loya
- Corporate Social Responsibility- MTN
The two biggest awards of the evening, which incidentally were the highlight of the occasion, were;
- Campaign Of The Year- Guinness
- Brand Of The Year- Close-Up
Brand Manager of Close-Up, Mr. Dexter Adeola and the Brand Building Director, Unilever, Mr. David Okeme were on hand to receive the award from the ADVAN President, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi.
BrandPower Magazine spoke with Mr. Okeme and Mr. Adeola to find out what it meant to them carting home the most prestigious awards of the night. For Mr. Okeme, it all boiled down to insight. Without insight, he said, there would not be innovation which would engender excellence and value creation.
For Mr. Adeola, it was a reward for the hard work he and his team had put in over-time trying to principally satisfy them. He affirmed that since 1975 when Close-Up announced its arrival into the Nigerian Market, the company had consistently striven to deliver value to the populace in the form of good oral health.
The event was rounded off with a buffet dinner and music.
