Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) is poised to scale up its goal of growing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria with the introduction and expansion of some categories of this year’s ADVAN marketing excellence awards.
President of the group, David Okeme explained that the decision to open the elite platform to SMEs was informed by lessons learnt during the World Federation of Advertisers global conference in Malaysia where bodies like ADVAN were enjoined to open a second tier membership to accommodate small scale businesses.
Okeme believes that relating with existing ADVAN members would be of immense benefits to SMEs as they would be interacting with seasoned analysts and experts who can conveniently dissect key marketing issues, insights and emerging consumer engagement trends. Okeme also believes that SMEs are veritable tools that can help Nigeria move out of her current recession.
On why the group decided the incorporate SMEs, Emmanuel Young, a member of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and keen commentator on Marketing issues said 2016 ADVAN Awards developed interest in the category in order to stimulate growth in the sector which is expected to drive diversification of the ailing economy.
He said categories like Experiential Marketing, Innovation,Digital/Social Media Marketing and Future Leader of Marketing Awards can equally throw up SMEs that can demonstrate verifiable success in total marketing if they are bold enough to submit entries.
Young further explained that although global corporations tend to dominate the business pages, a healthy small business sector is essential to a prosperous economy, saying “SMEs play increasingly important roles in ensuring that economic growth is sustainable. The small business sector makes a huge contribution on multiple fronts: from employing a diverse workforce and engaging with their local communities, through to bringing jobs to employment black-spots. It is highly commendable that ADVAN is trying to motivate growth in this segment. It is equally commendation that successful ADVAN Award entries by SMEs this year can give them a direct chance to become ADVAN Member with all the concomitant benefits”
This year’s Awards nite, which is its sixth edition, will be held at the MUSON centre, Onikan, Lagos on October 29, 2016.
