The entry and spread of coronavirus in Nigeria has upended business as many of them are adjusting and adapting to new changes to survive, including cutting of budgets.
Already, businesses, prior to this time were hard hit by the tough economic environment which also necessitated adjustments in business actions.
The entire advertising industry was not left out from the knocks as operators were owed payments by clients for several months in addition to cutting of budgets with some regulation stifling the industry.
Experts have therefore predicted that with low oil price sales at $30 per barrel below $57 projections, adjustment in 2020 budget downwards which will affect capital expenditure across ministries, sluggish growth of the country’s economy at 2.27% compared to 6% in 2014, slow diversification of the economy from oil will all combine to lead to economic slowdown.
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Prior to coronavirus in Nigeria, practitioners in out of home business who are under heavy operational burden had met to seek solutions to survival and jolt the industry in the face of difficult economy.
Among the solutions was to establish Standard Operating Procedure, SOP for the smooth conduct of out-of –home advertising business in Nigeria. Implications of the twin effects of coronavirus on business and expected economic difficulties have therefore made any recommendations and their implementations for the survival of the industry more relevant.
Sharing the context of Nigeria’s present reality with the practitioners at outdoor stakeholders’ meeting recently, Onyekachi Onubogu, CEO, Frutta Juice and Services told the OAAN members to protect their stake if they consider themselves as stakeholders in the industry. “As stakeholders, we all have a single interest in ensuring that the industry not only survives, but thrives”.
He agrees that the marketing and advertising sector in Nigeria is struggling and “that is why we are concerned about the declining revenue and the problem is if it keeps declining, then we are in trouble”.
To deal with certain challenges confronting the industry, especially delayed payment, patronage of non-registered practitioners by clients and regulation, Onubogu sees cooperation among the OAAN practitioners as solution. “Unless we cooperate in the industry, nobody will win and there is no winner when the industry is sick”, he said.
Onubogu who wondered why agencies have not taken clients to court for breach of contract, advised them that until they can blacklist clients, “you won’t wield powers. But the only way to do it is if you work together as stakeholders in the industry to create and drive value not just for the clients but for your businesses”.
To deal with non-registered members, he said OAAN must create platform and procedures of engagement with clients with spelt out sanctions and that APCON should maintain a list of members that clients must abide for engagement.
Speaking at the forum, Joe-Eugene Onuorah, Deputy Director/Head of Registration and Professional Development at APCON said sometimes OOH may execute jobs haphazardly due to lack of funds thereby distorting the strategy of the campaign and the desired value delivered.
“With all the complications engendered by the absence of sustainable terms of engagement, committed to by the parties involved, everyone—-the advertiser, buying agency, the OOH operator, and the regulator—-loses revenue and value, one way or the other”.
He said rather than push the blame for consequential loses, it pays the stakeholders to come together to agree on guiding principles for an out-of-home advertising contract and commit to jointly enforcing the terms of the contract on any defaulting stakeholders.
Emmanuel Ajufor, president of the Outdoor Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, (OAAN) said standard operating procedure becomes necessary in order to standardise how the business is being run and to adopt global best practices in the business.
