I will like to talk briefly on some of these challenges
• Poor Reproduction/Transmission of Advertisements: Poor reproduction or transmission of quality ads has always been an issue in the Nigeria media.The print media, especially thenewspapers are known for poor reproduction of advertisements. With some newspapers there’s never a case of trying to improve on the quality of the material from the agency but always a case of poor quality reproduction. Sometimes,the ad is smudged or over linked, sometimes, it is so faint that it’s hardly readable. With the TV medium, you sometimes have pictures without sound or the other way round.
• Frequent increases in advertisement rates: Personally I feel that’s a major challenge, yes change is a constant thing, including the increment of ad rates, but it wouldn’t be bad if it stays stable for a long period of time. In other countries, advertisement rates are increased only when there is an improvement in the coverage or reach of a medium. And that improvement iscertified by the joint industry. However,here, increases are based on inflation and it therefore increases ad rates like twice or thrice in a year. The frequency of advertisement rate increases has, however, diminished of late because of the emergence ADVAN.
• Clients who cannot write briefs: This challenge is however from clients or advertisers who cannot write briefs, some clients in Nigeria could care less about how to brief their agencies. They just expect agencies to understand their communication problems or messages without the assistance of a brief;whether written or oral.
• Low level creativity: Yes, our level of creativity in advertising is still low. Not saying this because we have never won an international creative award like CANNES, CLIO or AD AGE but because I see adverts from other international countries and say “wow these are quality adverts!Why can we do adverts like this in Nigeria?”. Nevertheless I still give kudos to some advertising agencies for creative advertisements like the Pepsi, Mtn, Etisalat,Honeywell wheat meal adverts and etc.
• Poor infrastructure: This is a general challenge facing all Nigerians and advertising industry isn’t excluded.Bad roads, communication facilities including telephone, e-mail services, the internet and the post office, electricity, the under developed level of our infrastructural facilities etc. all these are huge challenges to Nigerian advertising because it prevents agencies from reaching out to advertisers and media owners as often as they would like to do. It also prevents them from assessing or sending necessary information through the internet. And it prevents them from not being as proactive as they would like to be to mention a few.
• Ethnic groups & cultures: This has been an issue for a very long time because of the many and different ethnic groups and cultures in Nigeria. With over 250 languages and cultures, it is always a problem when it comes to what content or messages to feature in the advert. What face to depict or mode of dressing.You must at least feature representatives of the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Ibo & Yoruba). And you must always be careful not to insult or judge other peoples beliefs or religion. Or belittle any type of gender. I will like to give a typical example of an advert some years ago, the MTN “mama na boy” advert that caused controversial issues on gender. You want your ad to be non-controversial and for your target audience to identify with the characters in the advert.
• Changes in technology: There have several changes over the past several years, changes that have resulted from shifts in consumer behaviors, such as increased smartphone and tablet usage, as well as changes that have resulted from advances in business technologies, such as ad exchanges and programmatic buying etc. These changes create both the need and the opportunity for marketers to flip the traditional model of advertising on its head. While I consider this a magnificent change, some bodies in the Nigeria advertising industry are still finding it difficult to keep up.
The challenges facing Nigeria advertising are large, but I believe that there are good solutions available to overcome them if joint effort and proper caution are put in place.
If you are thinking of advertising in Nigeria, please contact PoiseMedia Communications at www.poisemedianigeria.com or check our contact at the bottom of this blog. We can help you identify your market and reach them. We apply both BTL and ATL strategies to project our clients’ brands to the right audience. We can do same for you at very affordable price.
LilianIzuorah
Business Development Officer
PoiseMedia Communications Ltd
