By Princewill Ekwujuru

The Leadership of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) led by Charles Chijide has once again failed in its bid to truncate the Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) initiative by Billboard World Magazine to the Out-of-Home (OOH) industry tagged, ‘Brand As King’ award.

The award which took place last week with captains of the advertising industry in attendance, saw governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief. Godswill Akpabio represented by Mr. Godwin Afahdide, Chief of staff of the State received the Best Performing Governor Award.

Other dignitaries in attendance were the speaker House of Assembly Akwa Ibom State, Hon. Samuel Ikon, former president of OAAN and member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Ahmed Ipoola Omisore, and Commissioner for Women Affairs, AKS, Mrs. Eunice Thomas, CEO, Integrated Troops, Mr. Demola Adedoyin, Francis Dadzie from Ghana, Kate Henshaw-Nuttall, John Okafor and Julius Agwu.

In a bold move to stop the award from holding, OAAN through its publicity secretary, Mr. Emma Ajufo dispatched letter via electronic mail to over 92 members of OAAN three days to the event asking them not to attend.

In the letter sent to individual members, Ajufo, who is also CEO of Opportunity To See, an outdoor firm said “members would have received invitation from Executive Options Media Limited to their Brand As King Business Dinner and Nite of Honours, scheduled to hold on  August 21, 2011, in which our president is expected to be guest of honour. We have also been reliably informed that some awards in our areas of business.”

He further said, “apart from the fact that our president was not informed before using his name, we also do not know how the various awards and the recipients emerged. Therefore, it is based on the above, that our Association is dis-associating itself from this function.’

But despite OAAN’s warning, some members of the association showed support by turning up and also picking up their awards. Some of the OAAN members who defiled the belated order of the association include Luzomedia, Grapro, Triple A, NAS and even Global Outdoor Limited, a South African out-of-home firm based in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the maiden edition of this initiative from Billboard World magazine, a sister company to Executive Options Limited was Christine ‘Big Ad award’. However threatened by the success of the award in its first edition, OAAN moved against it to protect the association’s “Poster Award’ which couldn’t fly, hence the name changed from Big Ad Award to ‘Brand As King’ two years ago.

Information at rift had it that when the Association knew the first effort was futile,  the association therefore requested its publicity secretary to send email to every OAAN member not to attend the award.

OAAN in its letter had questioned the rationale with which the organisers arrived at the various awards and the recipients, and therefore should have sought   permission of the body.

One would tend to ask, Is OAAN a regulatory body.? Second the award is not organised by Executive Options Limited, an OAAN member, but its sister’s company-Billboard World magazine. Billboard World magazine is a partner with Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), not OAAN.

Some industry practitioners who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “ OAAN is fighting a lost battle, this attitude of some OAAN members was responsible for the demise of Posters Award, which was the advertising standard award during Ahmed Omisore’s tenure as OAAN president.”

According to Omisore, who was the chairman at the Brand as King award nite on said, “Outdoor advertising industry in Nigeria does not have a recognizable reward platform anymore and it behooves on the practitioners to work hard and ensure that the only noticeable reward platform in the industry-Brand As King must not again varnish like the Posters Award.”

Gboyega Akosile, an integrated marketing communications practitioners while reacting to the impending faceoff between OAAN and the award organisers said, “OAAN should be glad that someone within the association is trying to promote their dwindling image and reputation.

Secondly, OAAN is not a regulatory body but trade association hence no powers whatever to regulate the activities of media house.”

When questioned, Mrs. Maureen Umanah, CEO of the magazine, said Billboard World magazine, organisers of the award is not an OAAN member, saying “it is like asking M2 to go and take permission from either Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) or Public Relations Consultant Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) before rendering its quota to the industry it is operating in .”

Speaking at the event, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine stated that “Every year, Billboard World magazine celebrates ingenuity and high fliers within the advertising and brand community, especially in out-of-home media and other associated media services.

She said, ‘Brand As King’ award is an annual event organised by the publication, as a corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSRI) aimed at encouraging and motivating key industry players that have contributed immensely to the development and growth of outdoor advertising business in Nigeria.

“It is our own way of giving back to the society and people who have impacted positively to the economic viability and sustainability of the outdoor media practice,” she said.