Experts task brands, marketers on responsible advertising at OOH Webinar Series

At the fourth edition of the OOH Academy’s Boardroom Webinar Series tagged the ‘Valentine edition’, marketing communication experts focused discussions on responsible and ethical advertising and marketing.

Speaking on theme of the series, ‘Responsible Marketing in OOH Advertising,’ Adenike Adebola, Marketing and Innovation director of Guinness Nigeria, explained that advertising shapes culture and that is why the topic on responsible advertising, marketing is so important.

“Advertising shapes culture. Whatever culture is in terms of belief systems, what is acceptable and what is not and how it evolves, advertising is often a big part of that. The responsibility of advertisers is critical in terms of creating a society where everybody feels comfortable, respected in terms of simple basic things in terms of human rights.”

Adebola was also vocal in reminding brands that they have a duty to use their brand voice ethically and responsibly as “responsible marketing for is activism-using your voice in advertising to do good and to create a better society for all. As an advertiser, what you do, how you do it and being an inspiration to others and in been conscious of your impact socially because of the advertising you put out.”

Ijedi Iyoha, director, regulations, monitoring and enforcement for the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, (APCON), also lent her voice to the subject of discourse from the point of industry regulation: “From the regulatory side, we look for communications that are legal, decent, honest, truthful, respectful and mindful of cultural values,” she said.

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The one-time acting Registrar of APCON added that responsible advertising in a multicultural country like Nigeria entails taking into consideration the cultural, social and religious nuances of the nation: “in Nigeria as we do not have the same cultural values. what is operational in the south may not be acceptable in the North. You have to put into consideration all those constitutional tenets and guidelines with relevant lawful enactments. If all these are put in place when communicating your campaigns, we consider such as responsible marketing.”

Yetunde Adegbite, Cluster managing director, Posterscope, Vizeum, Iprospect (Mediafuse Dentsu International) also opined that beyond what the client does and what regulations stipulate, agencies play a very critical role as middlemen and as those who deploy campaigns in promoting responsible advertising.

The webinar series which was well moderated by Felix Ehikhuemen, chairman, Projects and Monitoring Committee for the Outdoor Association of Nigeria (OAAN), had marketing communications professionals and other stakeholders in the Outdoor industry in attendance.

Speaking on the success of the fourth series, Kingsley Onwukaeme, coordinator of The Boardroom Webinar Series, said that the quality of discussion came to the fore with the kind of facilitators who have brought their knowledge and experience to the topic of discussion.

Nothing that it is a monthly exercise aimed at growing the outdoor industry, he added, “with the Boadroom Webinar Series, we are always looking to grow outdoor advertising in Nigeria beyond the now. This topic is specially chosen to help practitioners understand the nuances of responsibility that comes with advertising in the OOH space.