There is no doubt that the Advertising profession in Nigeria has come of age. Since the conferment of the status of a profession on Advertising by Act number 55 of 1988, it has grown in leaps and bounds during the last thirty-four years. A clear evidence of that growth is the establishment, consolidation and active operations of various advertising sectoral associations, beginning with AAAN and followed subsequently by OAAN, BON, NPAN, MIPAN, ADVAN and EXMAN, all of which are now statutorily represented on the governing Council of Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria – ARCON. Many other sectoral groups have evolved with strong interfacing associations.
These include EMCOAN, AVOA, ITPAN, etc.
Through the self-regulatory efforts of these sectoral associations and the statutory-regulatory interventions of ARCON, Advertising has earned a recognition and reputation as a leading profession in Nigeria. In line with the practice among other reputable professions, the professional conference for Advertising practitioners, appropriately named the National Advertising Conference was initiated and debuted in 2019.
In continuation of that tradition, the 2022 National Advertising Conference has been unveiled. With the theme: ‘Marketing Communications Industry in Nigeria: Trends, Challenges and Prospects’ the conference is scheduled to hold on November 29 through December 1, 2022, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Marketing Communications professionals and scholars from the various sectors and specializations of the marketing communications industry will converge to share ideas, knowledge and perspectives on the new trends and challenges that shape the profession and business of marketing communications across the world. They will also proffer solutions and point the way to a healthy growth of the industry to the benefit of all stakeholders.
Highlights of the conference are Keynote and panel discussions on the state of the Nigeria and global economy; size and prospects of the Nigeria marketing communications industry; advertising industry regulation and the new ARCON Law; understanding the new consumer-from Gen Z to Alpha; diversity and inclusion … closing the gender gap in the markcom industry and new trends in media planning and buying.
There is also included in the conference package masterclasses on New trends and funding in academic research; entrenching the culture of creativity in marketing communications; branding opportunities in the Nigeria movie industry; responsible and impactful political advertising and destination marketing.
The conference will be rounded off with a destination tour of Abuja and a grand gala night.
Dignitaries from government, public and private sector organisations, practitioners and clients from across Nigeria and parts of the world are expected to grace the conference as speakers, special guests and participants.
Because of the huge and diverse offerings of the conference, it promises to be the largest gathering of marketing communications and allied professionals in Africa.