Nigerians Not Getting Enough Marketing Support, Services —Expert

A seasoned marketing practitioner and President & Co-CEO, OPAY, Mr. Olu Akanmu has charged Nigerian marketers on the need to change their traditional practice of only providing services to markets deemed profitable, noting that such practice has continued to deny many Nigerians of marketing services.

Akanmu stated this at the 11th edition of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Africa Marketing Excellence Awards, held in Lagos recently.

He noted that if such marketing strategies continued to be deployed, practitioners would only succeed in leaving out a significant number of Nigerians, living in abject poverty.

The former Executive Director, Retail Banking, FCMB, therefore charged practitioners on the need to responsibly find innovative ways to solve the large social and commercial exclusion, and unlock the potential of the excluded markets with innovative service and business models that could make them profitable.

He argued that the nation’s marketers cannot really lay claim to practising responsible marketing in Nigeria, if their services are not relevant to over half of the population, below the poverty line.

“Can we truly say we are doing responsible marketing in a country like Nigeria if most of us despite our awards tonight are not relevant to 50% of the Nigerian population?” he queried.

Akanmu therefore stressed the need for marketers in developing countries to unlock the potential of such excluded markets, noting that doing so would go a long way in doubling the size of its addressable markets, and making them more socially relevant.

In his remarks at the event, the President of ADVAN, Osamede Uwubanmwen identified innovation as key to ensuring practitioners’ effectiveness, adding that the association had put in place an executive council that would make it a force to be reckoned with in the industry.

The 11th ADVAN Africa Awards witnessed a number of brands winning top categories.