In line with its mandate of creating value for marketing, the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) stunned the marketing communications ecosystem in Nigeria with a novel engagement package that created a symbiotic convergence of brand owners and brand partners.

Called ADVAN Partners Innovation Day, the unique full-day event held at Bungalow Hall, Adekunle Fajuyi Way, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos South West Nigeria on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 provided opportunities for brand custodians, media organizations, marketing services agencies and marketing support providers to network and showcase their ideas and technologies.

The activities-filled event was marked by exhibitions, presentations, speeches and the launch of ADVAN X, an online platform which, in the words of Mr. Maurice Igugu, the chief marketing officer of Sterling Bank is “a dynamic year-round virtual hub connecting marketing and marketing service providers, from brand support agencies to advertisers in Nigeria.”

Exhibitions

Kick-starting the day was exhibitions by local and multinational brands across the spectrum of marketing which began as early as 10 am and lasted throughout the day. Exhibitors included Retinaad Limited, Accret Experience, Mobile Classrooms, Franny’s, Three Crowns Milk, Nutrify, Addmie, Peak Milk, Terra,

Retinaad - Redefining OOH tracking and monitoring

Retinaad Limited, a data-driven and value-driven international ad tech platform focusing on finding solutions to the challenges of digital out-of-home and static out-of-home advertising, made a presentation, showcasing its services.

Speaking, the chairman, Abiodun Iderawunmi, said Retinaad was borne out of the need to solve major challenges that advertisers have faced over the years.

He mentioned these challenges to include pilferage, low compliance and absence of monitoring control mechanism, costing inefficiencies, inadequate monitoring and reporting as evidenced by low returns in out of home advertising spend.

He revealed that nobody as at date knew the value they get for media – whether it is broadcast media, whether it is OOH, whether it is BTL activation - and Retinaad had come to address this challenge.

With their proprietary tools – Retitrak AMC for tracking and compliance and Retimetrix which is the audience measurement data platform – Retinaad is poised to redefine the out-of-home audit and audience measurement in Nigeria, thus solving the hydra-headed challenges that faced the ecosystem, he explained.

“Our solution addresses audience measurement and compliance, AMC, that is, audit, monitoring and compliance, not only for out-of-home, for broadcast media, for other media, for BTL activation, for retail sales as well as out-of-home assets,” he said.

Presenting stats to back up his assertions, Iderawunmi, a fellow of the advertising profession, said “less that 25% of billboard assets, whether digital or static are audited. And, as at today, advertisers lose almost 10 – 15% of the budget by not engaging in audit.”

The chairman, who stood in for the managing director who was out of the country, revealed that Retinaad has different solutions for both the digital out-of-home and static out-of-home advertising.

“Regarding performance, what do we do when it comes to DOOH audit is very simple. We collaborate with OOH asset owners and upload our software remotely and it starts monitoring your ad 24/7, real time.

“For OOH Retitrak for static billboard, we have field agents across Nigeria who take the photographs and videos for us to assess the data. With the data, we have parameters to assess whether the billboard is okay or not okay,” he pointed out.

On what the advertiser stands to gain from using Retinaad services, hear him: “You recover your spend. You save money. You are more definite in decision making. There is increased transparency, competitive advantage, and of course fraud detection and prevention; regulatory compliance and reputation protection.

“What is more we are not giving you just impression, we are giving you reach. Because from this data, you can have your check-in analysis, how many people looked at your billboard. It is not only OTS, we give you Reach. OTS is Opportunity To See, how people pass through a particular campaign. But Reach is who actually look at your campaign. We show to you how many people look at you campaign. We tell you for how long each person look at your campaign. This is legitimized data because we are registered with Data Protection Council of Nigeria and partner with many companies.”

Noting that the current mechanisms or solutions auditing, measurement and compliance are not transparent enough, being manual or semi-manual, he stated that Retinaad solutions are fully automated and are AI-driven because “Retinaad is data-driven and is value-driven.”

Launch of ADVAN X

The major highlight of the event was the launch of ADVAN’s online platform, ADVAN Exchange code-named ADVAN X.

Heralding the launch, Maurice Igugu, who led the team that coordinated the project, said the project was to solve the challenge stakeholders encounter when searching for critical answers.

“ADVAN X is a dynamic year-round virtual hub connecting marketing and marketing service providers, from brand support agencies to advertisers in Nigeria.”

Describing a basic scenario where everyone worked in silos, he espoused: “We have a situation now where it looks like all of us are working in silos - creative agencies, media agencies brand owners - and one actually doesn’t know who to talk to. I have to make a couple of calls to get to someone who has a solution. Meanwhile the solution may be sitting just next to me, somebody I probably don’t even know.”

He revealed that the platform is meant to address that challenge. ADVAN X is one platform “where everyone can have a 360 degree view as to what goes on in the industry at every point in time. And also be able to network, find solutions that affect you personally and the business that you do and also make some money from the connections that you find there.”

The Sterling Bank CMO mentioned the unique propositions of ADVAN X to include continuous engagement 360 degrees, 27/7 always available. “We also plan to eventually have a hybrid system in which it can be virtual and physical as well. But, overall, it is completely online. You have opportunity to engage at any point in time.

“You can upload your profile at any time, as an individual, as an organization, for people to see what you do, know what you do, get the exposure, 24/7. You can upload video, you can upload blogposts, whatever it is that you can upload and get continuous exposure.”

He mentioned other features to include lead generation forms that anybody interested in any platform can fill and it will be sent, as well as content and insight hub where one can demonstrate knowledge, what one knows and what people are looking for.

Igugu further explained that the platform is an entire ecosystem where organizations and individuals can showcase what they have.

The CMO also revealed that there would be analytical dashboard which means for everything that happens there “you have the opportunity to see how it fared and see automatic return on investment. It’s almost like what you have on facebook on the dashboard, what you have on twitter, on X handle.”

Corroborating Igugu, Victor Ojeakhena, director at Accret Experience Limited, explained that the platform will be AI automated such that one can go anywhere in the platform, search whatever data or whatever information and be able to also use AI to generate content for brands.

“In the analytics dashboard we have a feature where you can get the number of people that view your platform, view which content and which data, what services are people thinking of the most within the dashboard. So it is an interactive feature within the platform.”

He further said “a key feature ADVAN X is that everybody can link up with anybody, send a private message, have a private chat with anybody within the system, rather than going through a third party. Above all, data are protected; personal data are not released in any way.”

Also at the launch the managing director and chief executive officer of ADVAN, Mrs. Ediri Ose Ediale said it was a historic moment ADVAN as the mandate and mantle given from executive council to executive council was being fulfilled.

“We’re not just the pockets, we’re the brains. We’re the brains of the industry to move this industry where it needs to go. The information and the insight and the support that you need, we are here to offer. And ADVAN X is just one of the platforms we are using to do that.”

Kantar blueprint for brand growth

Another major highlight at the event was the presentation by Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business research company, on brand growth.

Delivering his presentation, Akin Afere, associate director, Kantar noting that the state of the Nigerian business terrain was not new to anyone described it as a time of flux.

He averred that consumer confidence has continued to go down and consumers are reacting to the current state of things in one or more of these ways: rationalizing purchasing and frequency of use because resource are scarce; prioritizing goods and services and spend the scarce resources they have to make sure that the priority gives them some extra to deal with other things; or switching to cheaper alternatives.

The above, he said, led to the question: how can businesses/brands conduct businesses especially in inflationary times? And the answers to that question is what Kantar calls “The Blueprint for Brand Growth,” he said.

Giving a background to the study and data collated within a 10-year period globally, the Kantar director revealed that the findings led to the assertion that brands grow by being meaningfully different to more people.

He revealed that the study showed that brands that are meaningfully different commands 10 times more penetration in real advantage and over the next two years when compared to other brands.

So, for a brand to grow, it must first think of penetration and then be meaningfully different, he said.

He mentioned three growth accelerators. “You need to predispose more people. you need to be present in the little white new space; and you must be connected totally and optimize the processes.”

Explaining the meaning of being meaningfully different to more people, the research expert said a brand is meaningful when it meets the needs of its consumers and stands out of the crowd in its category.

According to him, to build a brand that is meaningfully different, a brand custodian has to consider five things: “Factor difference into brand positioning and strategy. Then, use meaningful difference to convince the key decision makers to continue to invest in the brand. And measure and optimize sources and degree of difference.”

He went on to further explain that if a brand must be meaningfully different, it must predispose meaningfully.

Five parameters should also be used for the brand to be disposed more meaningfully. These include “understand and build predisposition; create a scale for future growth and manifest brand meaningful difference.” The other two are “master the words and ways of quality creative and then create a real value between customer expectation and customer experience,” he said.

The second growth accelerator, he stated, was more presence. For this accelerator, five things need consideration: The brand must be present where the decisions are being made; have a consumer centric arrangement; be visible; get the price right especially in inflationary times; and make it easy to complete the sale, he narrated.

The final growth accelerator, according to the researcher, is to find new space. “What this means is that brand managers and custodians you must find the most incremental space in the consumer innovation, it may be consumer occasions, it may be new categories, it may be support services,” Afere explained.

He further said that to find new space, the business must challenge and redefine its category to see where the new spaces are.

“Finding new space strategy also depends partly on brand style. The size of the brand determines to a large extent the kind of strategy deployed. The small brand cannot play like the big brand. The strategy is different.”

He advised that the brand must ensure that whatever stretch opportunity pursued is both appropriate for the brand and authentic for the brand as well.

The researcher reminded brands that want to grow not to forget that innovation is fundamental into new space and take an inside-out approach. “Inside means looking through the business itself, outside means taking the consumer into consideration,” he explained.

Other presentations were made by Mobile Classrooms, Accret Experience, Dochase, Addmie, Nutrify, Indomie, and others participants at the event.

Earlier in the day, while welcoming participants, the president of ADVAN, Mr. Osamede Uwubanmwen, said the ADVAN Partners Innovation Day was a day that everybody looked forward to. “It is a day that would transform this industry, a platform or something that enables you to reach as many clients as possible.”

He also spoke on ADVAN X. “ADVAN Xchange is just something that we need to have; it’s mind-blowing. So if you have a concept, you have anything you can then use this platform to share it. It is really mind-blowing.”

The event brought together the who is who in the marketing and marketing communication ecosystem in Nigeria.