The new advertising regulation law, which transformed the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has been applauded by some practitioners in the country as one of the best initiatives by the government to the advertising industry in Nigeria.

Buchi Johnson, Chief Ideas Officer Lilvera Group

One of the leading practitioners in the industry and chief executive officer of Lilvera Group, Mr. Buchi Johnson in a recent chat with the media stated that the new law setting up ARCON has prevented a capital flight to the tune of N120 billion.

According to him, “The law provides that, with effect from January 1, 2023, advertisers must use a cumulative 75% of local content in all ads and marketing directed at the Nigerian market. This is exciting because the country has been losing about ₦120 billion annually due to capital flight in the sector where ads targeted at Nigerians were produced externally creating jobs in other economies but not in the targeted economy, Nigeria.”

Mr. Johnson said, this law is expected to create over 500,000 jobs annually. So, this will lead to more multinational brands using Nigerian talents, agencies, and producers in commercials targeted at the Nigerian market.

“On a personal note, I look forward to Lilvera playing a key part in ensuring that the quality that these multinational brands get from local agencies is at par if not even higher than the quality they would get elsewhere,” he said.

Speaking on Lilvera’s audacious moves to make a giant stride in the industry, the CEO of Lilvera mentioned that the agency has designed an effective tool to aid its execution and implementation of clients’ briefs. The tool is tagged 5Rs which simply represents responsiveness, relevance, receptivity, recognition and relationship.

On the potency of this tool, Mr. Johnson said “Our focus is to continue to deliver on the 5Rs that drive Integrated Marketing Communications such as Responsiveness: ensuring rapid and high-quality response to clients’ needs, Relevance: keeping our client communications highly targeted and relevant, and Receptivity: maintaining open communication lines with clients”.

He further stated that “Recognition is about prioritizing brand building and distinction to keep Lilvera the preferred brand for integrated marketing communication in the Nigerian market for multinational and local businesses and Relationship: we are nothing without the key relationships we have with our team, vendors, and clients so this is a vital area of focus for us in 2023 and beyond.”

Highlighting some landmark accomplishments of the agency, he said perfection eludes humankind yet we strive for it and will accept nothing less than the perfection that is within our reach at Lilvera. “So, we deploy every resource within our capacity to ensure the very best outcomes for our clients and our business.

“Our achievements in the last year are testament to the hard work and creativity of our team, the trust of our clients, and, of course, God’s grace and favour.

“We acknowledge Him as our helper and source for everything, even the inspiration that we receive to deliver a great experience to clients.”

He stated that “One area where we definitely need to keep growing is customer relationship management. We have built great client relationships in the past years of our business that we must continue to deepen, and we look forward to building new relationships that we will nurture, grow, and blossom.

Our clients are at the heart of our business so we will continue to focus on this area to ensure the very best experience for them as they continue to choose us for their integrated marketing communication projects,” he added.

The integrated marketing communications industry particularly, the agencies take pride in the awards they have won or the recognition given to them during the course of doing business for their clients. Johnson believes that Lilvera deserves every bit of the accolade showered on it and its minders.

According to him, “It does feel great to be recognised by notable organisations both locally and internationally. Some of the awards we received in 2022 are the Most Client Focused Marketing Agency of the Year – Africa by Global Business Awards; the Industry Influencer Award for Experiential Marketing at the Industry Summit Awards 3.0; and the African Prize for Leadership Excellence under the Experiential Marketing Personality Leadership Prize Category

“We are grateful for these awards and see them as propellers for our business because they challenge us to keep setting the pace, raising the bar, and bringing value to the industry. For us, the way we project ourselves is important to our productivity which is why we take first impressions seriously as this sets the tone of the relationship that follows.

Our team of highly trained professionals understand this too. So, we showcase our intelligence, professionalism, and confidence in how we handle businesses from the first meeting, earning your trust. As you know, trust is the new gold. Then, beyond that first meeting, our strong commitment to building value for our clients ensures that we maintain a high standard of excellence and professionalism in every aspect of the services we render.”

Buchi Johnson however said that his personal goal is to support and nurture startups around the world or globally by using or managing IMC to build profit.

Though the election has come and gone, Mr. Johnson who spoke about the impact of Central Bank of Nigeria cash swap policy and the general election on imc industry said that “We understand that the policy is designed to move the country forward in terms of managing inflation, reducing fraud, and stabilizing the economy. To this end, we support the move and enjoin the government to ensure a smooth transition to the new cashless society that we are building.”

Data plays some key roles in taking marketing decisions and according to Johnson, data is so vital to the IMC industry.

He said, “I see its impact being far reaching in how stakeholders plan and execute campaigns” adding that “Without the right data companies would be unable to take full advantage of the existing opportunities. Furthermore, IMC campaigns would struggle to deliver the most relevant content and offers across all channels to the right target audiences.”

Data plays an important role in IMC because it influences how businesses allocate budgets, how agencies target consumers, and the effectiveness of campaigns. Any player in this space that seeks to win in 2023 and beyond must pay attention to key insights presented by data trends, he enthused.

Predicting 2023 for the industry, CEO of Lilvera revealed that there will be post-pandemic growth and the new ARCON law will help retain at least 75% talents in the industry.

“I see exciting times ahead with the post-pandemic growth continuing as well as the new law requiring businesses to produce at least 75% of their marketing content locally.

“My advice to players in this space would be to position for growth, build capacity to deliver excellent services across the board, and maintain a high standard of quality in team management, service delivery, and customer relationship management,” he said.