By Alphonsus E.W
The 8th edition of the Lagos Advertising Ideas Festival Awards (LAIF) which was a culminative event with the 40th year anniversary of AAAN was held over the weekend at the Grand African Ballroom of the prestigious Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The event which was tagged ‘It’s a Gr8 LAIF’ is an awards ceremony designed to recognize and reward creative excellence in the advertising industry.
The event kicked off in earnest at 5pm with the arrival of the guests, the red carpet and the cocktail evening. As the evening wore on the guests were ushered into the hall. Thereafter, the amiable and delectable President of AAAN, Mrs. Bunmi Oke delivered the welcome address. It was immediately followed by goodwill messages from the new CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Wilsher and APCON Chairman, Mr. Lolu Akinwumi.
The awards were arranged into five main categories; Special Category, Outdoor, TV, Radio and Press and the biggest winners on the night were Insight Communications as they went home with a whooping 9 awards.
BrandPower caught up with some of the guests at the event to get their views. Mrs. Bunmi Oke, AAAN President was elated at the success of this year’s event. She was of the opinion that award events of this nature would go a long way in developing the advertising sector of the economy.
Steve Babaeko, CEO of X3M Ideas believed that events like the LAIF Awards afforded the industry people the opportunity to interact, build relationships and foster camaraderie. When asked how he felt having his agency cart home a number of awards on the night, he said more was yet to come from the agency because considering the fact that his agency had just four months to work for the year the awards were considered, it was a remarkable feat.
Ikechi Odigbo, MD/CEO of DDB believed that although the industry had made giant strides in the last 40 years, the biggest obstacle to the industry was that of adequately trained personnel. He was of the opinion that once that obstacle was surmounted, the industry had the capability to compete with the best in the world, a view shared by Chima Okenimkpe, Creative Head, Insight Communicatios and Kanmi da Silva, Production Director, Insight Communications.
Other high points of the evening featured the cutting of the AAAN 40th anniversary cake, a toast to the growth of the industry for the next 40 years and the buffet dinner while the music band serenaded the invited guests. The ceremony was rounded off with a vote of thanks by the Chairman of the LAIF Awards committee, Mr. Abraham Charles.
