The journey that began early last year with the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) presenting a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to the advertising industry through the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) at a well publicized and attended event, which held at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja has culminated after the statutory regulatory body of Advertising, APCON expanded the scope by setting up the Advertising Industry Standard of Practice (AISOP) in early 2021.
It is on this premise that APCON instituted the much needed Advertising Industry Standard of Practice (AISOP) which took effect from 6th of October, 2021 following a public presentation of AISOP at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the APCON Registrar, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, AISOP is the new guideline for all advertising practitioners. He added that the Committee that drew up the framework was chaired by Mr Funmi Onabolu, fellow of Advertising and a former member of the APCON Governing Council. The committee also had representative from Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Broadcasters Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) and Experiential Marketing Association of Nigeria (EXMAN).
In his address, Dr. Fadolapo stated that APCON decided to set up an all-inclusive stakeholders committee made up of all sectoral groups in advertising industry to produce a suitable framework that defines a minimum standard, in order to have equal and fairly represented opinions that will form the guidelines of the Nigerian advertising ecosystem. He added, “It is expected that with the implementation of this guideline, Nigeria will be placed among the most progressive advertising and marketing communications industry across the globe”.
He further said that, “Stakeholders and industry players are implored to support this guideline and to ensure the success of this effort. We trust that the faithful application of the Advertising Industry Reform in Nigeria will not only grow the business of advertising and marketing communications but will also create well over 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly in the next 12 months.”
In addition, Dr. Fadolapo mentioned thus; “AISOP was specifically set up to provide the regulatory framework in all critical areas of concern for the stakeholders in areas such as Engagement policy, Payment terms and conditions, numeration model, media rates and commissions, disengagement protocols, credit policy, return of advertisement and measurement, peaceful resolution and other regulatory industry protocols. It is expected that with the implementation of this guideline, the Council will be placed among the most progressive advertising and marketing communications industries across the globe.”
He added that other guidelines that must be adhered to include terms of engagement. “All contracts of advertisement must be formally declared between the parties involved, in writing before appealing to APCON for intervention. He emphasized that the approved credit days for payment on advertising contracts is for a maximum of 45 days and will attract CBN’s interest rate if exceeded.
The AISOP committee Chairman, Funmi Onabolu on his part stated that there have never been a single codified rule of engagement among advertising practitioners, so AISOP serves as that instrument of self-regulation. He added that AISOP is in line with global best practices and has input from all the advertising industry sectoral bodies and other stakeholders.
