Nigeria’s advertising sector is growing, and Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has research to prove it.
In a statement, Director-General, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, pushed back against Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN)’s claim its reforms have triggered a decline in advertising spend and caused firms to exit the Nigeria.
The regulator said industry expansion, debt resolution, job creation, and improved contributions to GDP prove the claims to be false.
ARCON commissioned a research in collaboration with Heads of Advertising Sectoral Group engaging PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global services firms, to do a study of advertising industry spend and its contribution to GDP.
The report reflects an industry in growth mode. “Rather than decline, the industry has witnessed growth and investments,” it said. ARCON challenged ADVAN to publish a counter-report, or stop its unsupported claims to the public.
ARCON outlined three transformative outcomes, each of which it says benefits the economy. First, the directive requiring that all advertisements targeting Nigerian market use local talent and be produced locally has redirected revenue lost overseas to the economy.
Prior to the policy, many advertisers were using foreign models, foreign voice-over artists, and producing content outside the country, depriving Nigerian creatives, models, production companies, and technical crew of income that was rightfully theirs.
“ARCON has championed use of Nigerians in advertising and marketing communications targeting Nigerian market,” it said.”ARCON has promoted use of Nigerian firms in advertisement production and created jobs for Nigerians.”
Second, enforcement of a 45-day payment cycle, a global industry practice and recommended by Advertising Industry Standards of Practice Committee, has addressed ”one of Nigerian advertising most chronic and well-documented problems: media debt.
Lastly, the disengagement protocol, which requires advertisers to settle financial obligations with agencies before moving accounts has curbed unethical practice that had plagued the industry and contributed to the debt spiral. ARCON said this has “built a stronger industry with improved contributions to GDP.”
ADVAN’s open letter to the President alleged that ARCON’s reforms had not only dampened advertising investment but had driven companies to exit Nigeria entirely. ARCON treated this claim with unmistakable scepticism and challenged ADVAN to name names. “ADVAN is challenged to provide verified data on the alleged decline in advertising spend, as well as publish the names of organisations that have exited Nigeria because of the industry reforms,” the statement read.
The regulator questioned the very logic of the allegation. Why would a responsible organisation leave a country simply because it was asked to cast Nigerians in advertisements? Why would one exit the market because it was required to pay its media obligations on time? ARCON argued that these questions answer themselves, and that the absence of any named companies or verified data in ADVAN’s letter speaks to the weakness of the claim.
ARCON also highlighted the role of the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT) as one of the reform mechanisms that has contributed to a healthier, more ethical industry environment. Despite being the subject of sustained attacks by the ADVAN President through media interviews, the Tribunal has recently had its constitutionality and legality validated by recent court judgments.
ARCON noted that the advertising industry is not exceptional in having a sector-specific tribunal. Similar bodies exist across the Nigerian economy, including the Investment and Securities Tribunal, the Tax Tribunal, and the Consumer Protection and Competition Tribunal. The Advertising Offences Tribunal, ARCON said, “has been one of the mechanisms that has helped in sanitising the advertising industry, as well as improving ethical conduct and compliance.”
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