Like the public sector with stories of unfinished projects several years after, what will cause the Advertising Academy conceptualised 26 years ago by the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN to be on the pipeline even after the tenure of 13 presidents of the creative body.
Lack of funding is usually recognized as an impediment to noncompletion of ideas and projects but in this case, it is beyond that reason. Many factors are at play, said some advertisers who spoke to Businessday.
The academy was an effort by the about 80-member association, to provide and equip individuals in the advertising profession on creative delivery, and meeting communication needs of clients, especially in the ever evolving environment. What this means is to give hope to clients who are thirsty for more high quality creative work.
It is also designed to be a “first class advertising education and leadership development institute- a one stop center for skills acquisition and a citadel of learning that will guarantee academic and professional excellence, through continuous sharing of knowledge and ensuring integrity in the conduct of business while building strong leaders and a steady pool of first class advertising professionals.”
The applauded academy initiated during the tenure of the Chairman of Troyka Group, Biodun Shobanjo as President of AAAN in 1995 was earlier planned to be a brick and mortar college with physical classes. At that time, the advertising industry was planning for the future as it wanted to enlarge the talent pool where players can draw talents from to serve clients effectively.
The idea may have also been informed by the gradual but steady dwindling in the level of education occasioned by poor funding of the education sector, poor quality of teachers and poor teaching facilities. But more importantly, many colleges and universities were not teaching creative advertising courses suit for the industry hence the need to establish advertising academy.
The establishment of the academy has also faced structural challenges, as there have been debates since then whether the academy will be jointly owned with other institutions. The thinking behind this idea was to give the academy’s certificate the necessary recognition and enable funding.
But in the last 26 years, AAAN with some members who are struggling to survive the turbulent operating environment and advertising budget cuts by clients, has attempted to shoulder the funding responsibility alone. In the last two years, the advertising industry may have lost upto 40% revenue due to economic difficulties including lockdown informed by Covid-19.
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The realization of the academy may have also suffered from different opinions as the last 13 past presidents in the last 26 years and other respected stakeholders would have likely suggested perspectives to the structure and the existence of the much desired academy. This may have questioned the commonality of the ideas, the consistency and coherency in the plan, says an operator.
Inconsistency in the structure, planning and cost implications at different periods may have assisted to slow the take- off of the school, the operator said. According to him, the strategy behind the formation of the academy must be consistent and coherent.
Another operator who understands the importance of establishment of such academy linked the challenge to the take-off of the college to the case with a ‘goat owned by the public which usually goes hungry”.
According to him, the Nigerian advertising body needs to find a way to push for the establishment of the school. He cited the AAA School of Advertising of South Africa established 30 years ago by the Association of Advertising Agencies (AAA) to train young talent into the advertising industry. The school has been known as the official higher education institution for the South African Advertising Industry ever since.
After the conceptualisation of the idea of the academy by Shobanjo led government in AAAN in 1995-1997 period, it has followed promises for its establishment. Subsequent AAAN presidents after Shobanjo were Steve Omojafor -1997-1999; Udeme Ufot -1999-2001; Bola Thomas- 2001-2003; Kolawale Ayawale 2003-2005; Enyi Odigbo -2005-2007; Lolu Akinwunmi -2007-2009; Funmi Onabolu- 20092011; Rufai Ladipo -2011-2012; Bunmi Oke 2012-2014; Kelechi Nwosu -2014-2016; Kayode Oluwasona – 2016-2018; Ikechi Odigbo -20182020 and incumbent president, Steve Babaeko -2020 –till date.
Each president made different effort to continue where Shobanjo stopped. For instance, Rufai Ladipo who served for one term in 2011 had in that year said that the business plan of the academy had been completed, discussed and agreed by the Advertising Academy’s Board.
“We have also engaged a consultant to facilitate the commencement of the academy. The registration has been completed and we are awaiting the Academy’s certificate and other relevant documents from the Corporate Affairs Commission”.
After Ladipo tenure, then entered Bunmi Oke, the former ED of 141Worldwide who fought hard in the industry dominated by men. When Kelechi Nwosu, the CEO of TBWA stepped in as president, he equally promised that all the loose ends had been tightened as he picked March 2016 to launch the long awaited academy. He made frantic efforts to ensure this but it never materialized perhaps due to various circumstances and the identified lack of proper structures.
In May 2016, Kayode Oluwasona, the erstwhile Managing Partner/ CEO of Harmonee Concepts Limited replaced Nwosu as president at the association’s 43rd Annual General Meeting held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Kayode commenced a comprehensive review of the Academy’s structure and operational strategy in order to address identified lapses, which were threatening its functioning and sustainability.
Ikechi Odigbo, who is the CEO of DDB Lagos, who took over from Kayode equally made the academy his cardinal objective promising to ensure take off of the Advertising Academy during his tenure.
He said that professional training programmes will be reviewed to further align with requirements for APCON certification and bridge gaps in the quality of content and delivery.
In addition, Odigbo said the body will initiate and pursue collaborative relationship with relevant educational institutions such as O2 Academy, universities and reputable organisations like Miami Ad School, Google as well as Facebook to ensure greater subscription to the training programmes of the association and deliver up-to-the-moment, beyond advertising trainings.
Last year, Steve Babaeko, CEO of X3M Ideas emerged as president of the AAAN. Again, he has focused on seeing the realisation of the academy. Just like past presidents, Babaeko told Businessday recently that the academy “will kick- off soon and we will let you know. We may be running our first programme perhaps in the second quarter”.
Recognising the academy as crucial to the survival of the advertising sector, AAAN in February, announced a partnership with Henley Business School, Africa towards launching the academy.
But it is not really clear whether this arrangement is on a permanent basis for the academy or it is to be run like a conference/seminar in a physical manner or through technology due to the pandemic.
Agency existence without such academy
It is a life of poaching, internal training and retraining. The retainership of a staff after training is not guaranteed as other companies are waiting to poach him/her. According to experts, “without such academy and massive training, agencies steal staff from themselves. Though, this could be normal, but it amounts to recycling.”
Some other agencies have their internal staff training programmes. For instance, Insight Communications, foremost creative agency; C & F, an operator on the PR side of marketing communication industry and some other agencies have relied on their talent strategy blueprint.
Chini Productions in collaboration with APCON has also linked up with International Advertising Festival, Cannes in two categories. These are the Roger Hatchuel and the Lions, where they organize competitions internally to raise creative standards in the universities. This is a good step but not massive enough like the upcoming AAAN academy to serve the entire industry.
Client- agency relationship without academy
Clients are always in search of fresh thinking, innovative and great ideas. Ordinarily and more than ever before, this is the time for deep communication requirements in the industry and the marketing communication practitioners are always tasked to meet the increasing demands.
Sometimes, clients teleguide agencies on the belief that some of the agencies are not rooted enough on creativity and innovative skills. The industry also witnesses regular movement of accounts as clients continuously search for agencies with greater value.
“Agencies cannot be respected unless they are creating value to their clients”, The CEO of SO &U, Udeme Ufot said in 2015 at the launch of Nigeria PR report.
There are also situations when clients engage foreign agencies to work on their brands from abroad. Lanre Adisa, the CEO of Noah’s Ark, strongly believed that in spite of APCON reform, which puts huddles on foreign agency participation in the Nigerian marketing communication market, foreign agencies are playing in Nigeria in disguise. Instead of clients going abroad in search for creative works, in spite of the reform, Lanre advocated that the advertising industry needs to shift conversation from the fear of foreign invasion to foreign collaboration.
The review of the reform would also create a more competitive industry, provide grounds to train the next generation through exposure and confidence building, and reregister Nigeria on the global map.
The expected tonic in AAAN academy
When the AAAN academy comes on stream, it is expected not only to lift the standard of the Nigerian advertising industry on the global scene, but also equip professionals with local and international experiences needed to execute their jobs.
It is also expected that there will be good quality creative individuals available, and the agencies will have an opportunity to recruit the best graduates from the academy instead of poaching here and there.
Clients today want innovations and it is expected that the academy would serve as a manufacturer of creators of this innovation.
When this happens, clients will allow their accounts to domicile long time in an agency because they are getting what they want. There will also be less reliance on foreign agencies handling local jobs. It is also expected that the academy as first class advertising education and leadership development institute- a one stop center for skills acquisition and a citadel of learning that will guarantee academic and professional excellence, would further generate the necessary clients’ confidence in the industry on value creation.
