Riding on the tremendous success of the first Advertising Colloquium held in 2023, the Advertising regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), in collaboration with stakeholders from the gown and town segments of the ecosystem has revealed plans for a more robust 2024 edition of the event, tagged Advertising Industry Colloquium 2.0. The event will also birth the maiden edition of the ARCON Journal of Advertising and Marketing Communication.

These revelations were made in a media chat held on Friday, July 21, 2024 at Protea Hotel, Assibifi Road, Alausa, Ikeja, South West Nigeria.

With the theme: “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Professional Excellence in Nigeria”, the event is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2024 at the Sheba Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, South West Nigeria.

In his opening remarks, the Director General of ARCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, said in today’s ever-changing and dynamic world, any industry that does not breach the gap between the town and gown, will run into crisis.

He explained that the purpose of the colloquium was to ensure that both academics and professionals were on the same pedestal.

Acknowledging the disruption going on in the ecosystem caused by ever-changing technology and emergence of new tools, he said we needed to harness these technology and tools to fit with our culture and perculiarities.

The ARCON boss decried the dearth of research materials within local context while those that are available are not easily accessible. “Researches are done by academics year in year out and sometimes these researches are not published; sometimes literature that are meant to contribute to the body of knowledge that we call advertising are not accessible by the people who are supposed to make maximum use of it,” he said.

In view of this, Dr. Fadolapo revealed that a journal would be unveiled at the Colloquium. “The Advertising Industry Journal is a collection of research in different areas of advertising that has been done,” he explained.

Corroborating the ARCON boss, the Chairman of the Planning Committee for the Colloquium, Professor Rotimi Olatunji, said “ARCON Journal of Advertising and Marketing Communications (AJAMC) is both an academic and professional publication of the ARCON. The goal of AJAMC is to provide an avenue for the advancement of integrated marketing communications scholarship and profession in all ramifications.”

He explained that Advertising Industry Colloquium and Journal Committee was established to plan, organize and implement the first Annual Advertising Colloquium for Academics and Professionals in the Marketing Communications industry; plan, edit and publish an annual academic journal for the Advertising profession in Nigeria; and market and raise funds through grants, sponsorships, exhibitions and fees.

He said the event offers unique opportunities for the fusion of town and gown to critically explore issues and strategies for harnessing emerging technologies for sustainable advertising education and professional excellence in Nigeria.

According to him, the objectives of AIC 2.0 are to “provide a platform for interaction between Town and Gown for the examination of emerging technologies for sustainable advertising education and professional excellence in Nigeria; sensitize academics and students of Communication and Media studies to key requirements for career success in different areas of marketing communication in the face of emerging global communication and media technologies;” and “discuss contemporary trends in creative advertising/marketing communication planning and execution; media campaigns and execution; digital marketing processes and advertising regulation.

He mentioned other objectives to include “provide opportunity for students in the field of Communication and media to showcase their creative knowledge and skills in advertising/marketing communication campaign planning and execution; and sensitize participants to the required knowledge and skills for maximizing the potentials of emerging technologies for the scholarship and professionalism in advertising and marketing technologies.”

Prof. Olatunji who was the immediate past Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos revealed that major highlights of the event include a keynote address, panel discussion on diverse areas of impact of emerging technologies on advertising and marketing communications professions and scholarship, public presentation of the maiden Edition of ARCON Journal of Advertising and Marketing Communications (AJAMC), creative advertising pitch competition involving eight tertiary institutions drawn from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, and job fair.

He said the keynote speaker at the event would be Dr. Bayo Adekanmbi, Founder, Data Science Nigeria. He would present the lead paper on “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Professional Excellence in Nigeria,” while discussants are Prof. Abigail N. Ogwezzy - Dept. of Mass Communications, University of Lagos; Engr. Dozie Mbanefo - Managing Director, New Crystal Communications; Mr. John Ugbe - MD/CEO, Multichoice Nigeria; Mr. Yinka Adebayo - Head, Procurement, Omnicom Media Group, West & Central Africa; Mr. Kelechi Nwosu - MD, TBWA\Concept; and Mr. Tunji Adeyinka - GMD, Republicom Group.

According to the academic egghead, ARC. Sonny S. T. Echono, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund), would chair the event while the Guest of Honour is Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa - Chairman/CEO, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Professor Tahir Mamman - Hon. Minister of Education is the Special Guest of Honour.

The Hon. Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris would be the chief host while Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director General of ARCON would host the colloquium.