By Raheem Akingbolu
The thirty seven members of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), have been enjoined to see innovation and capacity development as key factors to grow the industry in the coming years.
Speaking at the inaugural EXMAN awards while completing his tenure as the Association President, Dr Rotimi Olaniyan said that, innovation, capacity development and solidarity among members of the Association will aid the speedy growth that is anticipated by the industry players and practitioners.
He said: “Innovation is key and we must build on it to distinguish ourselves from illegal practitioners,†adding that “knowledge is important and that comes through training and retraining of personnel as it will be witnessed tonight.â€
The immediate past president then advised members to maintain a united front to end the clients’ unnecessary bickering among agencies.
Olaniyan said: “There is need for us to understand that as agency practitioners, we should show solidarity to one another.†Before now, he stated, “clients used to knock the heads of agencies and fundamentally have reduced the game to commodity pricing.â€
“We must not allow that to continue, because the Mackenzie of this world will not lift a finger until a fee has been agreed. They don’t operate on the basis of commodity pricing, they operate on the basis of the fact that they are good and they should pay for it,†he enthused.
The Association annual general meeting/congress, which climaxed with the awards at the Federal Palace Hotel last week, saw the emergence 22 winners out of 62 entries in the 11categories. The Exman Life time achievement award that went to Chris Parkes, founder of Chris Parkes Marketing Services witnessed glitz and glamour.
Keskese won the Grand Prix for its strategic interpretation of client’s brief, innovative experiential idea and seamless execution of the first-of-its-kind Noiseless Party for one of its clients – MTN Nigeria, tagged “The MTN Music+ Noiseless Partyâ€.
At the event, Kehinde Salami of Ideas House was sworn in as the association’s new president, with four others to work with him.
The new President, Salami in his maiden address said it is a new order that calls for new strategic ideas and execution proficiency in running efficient experiential agencies. He promised to put in structures that will among others: enhance professionalism, earn for the practitioners respect of the clients and work toward harmonising interest rates which have put the practitioners’ businesses in jeopardy.
