Let me welcome you into this great year and wish you a very prosperous and successful 2016.
I sincerely thank you for the enormous support in 2015 and the past years, despite the acute pressures that many of us are constantly under. I truly appreciate your committed efforts at pushing the boundaries of ADVAN’s relevance.
2015 was very significant for us being an Election year both for the Nation and the Association, it was a time for all to embrace ‘Change’ and chart new courses for progress. Specifically for marketers 2015 was unique because,”Doing more with less” became the holy grail, with increased pressure on marketing budgets, advertisers had to become very creative in their marketing strategies . ADVAN remained resolute in its stance against unjustifiable attempts at price increment by media owners, which in turn translated into enormous value for advertisers. I am happy to report that this stand led to cancellations and postponements of planned rate increases by media houses and ensured significant savings for ADVAN members on media spend. We also received strong commitments from these media owners to always engage ADVAN in proposed price increases and ensure that tangible value to advertisers serve as the pillars of such increments justifications.
One of our key learning’s from 2015, were clear demonstrations of the importance of collective knowledge in tackling challenges in the market place and enhancing practitioners’ global marketing knowledge. Global questions are being raised daily requiring answers that are best delivered via collective knowledge sharing.
This most probably explains why smart Marketers now better understand the value of making decisions informed by proven collective insight and may have driven the significant increase in ADVAN members’ requests for more ‘members knowledge sharing platforms’. To meet this demand in 2016, we have developed a robust line-up of Peer-to-peer learning Platforms, Seminars, and Members’ Evening that will disseminate unique insights as well as assemble thought leaders in marketing for extensive knowledge sharing.
To kick start these knowledge dissemination programs ADVAN will be hosting in February a CMO roundtable, this event which is exclusive to CEOs and CMOs will provide an opportunity for CMOs to thrash out issues of common interest as well meet with top regulatory officials in the Marketing Communications industry in order to influence policies and programs that will ultimately affect the business environment.
We also plan to host various parleys with Government, Media, and Agencies to provide collective meeting points between advertisers and stakeholders. This will help tackle bolster the organization’s image and profile in addition to providing platforms to discuss salient industry issues and create better working relations with diverse government and related regulatory stakeholders.
This year with the support of other relevant stakeholders ADVAN will be initiating various relevant data compilation researches; this is to ensure that advertisers are armed with accurate information for the planning and implementation of its marketing activities. We have already received commitment from reputable research firms towards the actualization of this project.
I would like to use this opportunity to call for your ideas, contribution and suggestions, on how the association can serve you and the industry better. Understand that Nigeria is a peculiar nation, and more than ever before it is if utmost importance that we stand together as a strong voice to ensure that the business environment is conducive for us.
Once again, I thank you for your enormous support in 2015 and look forward to your continued commitment to ADVAN, even as we march forward in our avowed commitment to deliver value to ADVAN members through stakeholder engagements, extensive knowledge sharing and deliberate advocacy.
