Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG) endorse new advertising industry practice guidelines

The Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG) have endorsed the full implementation of the new Advertising Industry Standards of Practice (AISOP) guidelines.

The endorsement was conveyed via a press statement signed by the President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Steve Babaeko; President, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Femi Adelusi; President, Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Emmanuel Ajufo and President, Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), Tunji Adeyinka.

According to the release, the effective date for the implementation of the AISOP is 6 October, the date of its pronouncement by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

The group stated that the guidelines will not affect contracts signed before the effective implementation date, but explained that new contracts between advertising agencies, media houses and advertisers will be based on the new guidelines.

On pitch fee implementation, the HASG stated the new guidelines gives advertisers the freedom to start the agency selection process with a large number of agencies and gives the advertiser the liberty to carry this out in stages. They explained that payment of the pitch fee will apply from the final strategy stage of the selection process and limited to a few agencies depending on the advertisers’ capacity to pay.

“The main rationale for this is to protect the agencies, which invest significant resources into pitches and many times have complained that the ideas and strategies are used by many clients without reward,” HASG said in the release.

The new guidelines also recommend that media establishments should engage stakeholders before any rate increase, taking into account that advertisers and agencies have numerous options of media channels. In the event of a post-engagement rate increase, the guidelines recommend the communication of a 30-day notice to clients/advertisers before implementation.

The new guidelines equally recommend that payment to media establishments, agencies, content producers, third party suppliers and service providers in the marketing communications industry should not exceed 45 days after campaign and must be on presentation of valid invoices to advertisers/agencies.

While noting that objections to the new guidelines were raised, notably by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) despite being represented on the committee that worked on the AISOP document, the statement disclosed that APCON’s Registrar/CEO has called for a meeting to discuss ADVAN’s objections with a view to getting reactions from other sectoral heads and share its own position as the regulator.

The new guidelines, stated the HASG, are in the industry’s best interest and he urged continuous engagement with ADVAN to gain its alignment and understanding of the need to support the industry and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which constitute the bulk of the media houses, agencies and third-party suppliers/vendors.