RULES and principles are meant to help man maintain sanity and ensure civil behaviour. This is made very important because behavioural scientists posit that without order  human beings, the animal called man becomes bestial, in fact, nothing short of a real beast. Look at the simple example of dressing. Human beings dress for the public not for individual selves or even the family.

The Bible account of the origin of man has it that Adam was without clothing and had no shame, even in the company of his wife, Eve. God only made clothes for them when they fell from grace.

So, what is the place of this in marketing or in other areas of human endeavours? People who dress properly are admired while those who dress indecently are abhorred. The larger segment of the society tows this line. Often, when the culprits of indecent dressing or exposure are encountered, their defence is that they are only ‘marketing’ themselves.

If you’ve got it flaunt it, some dare say! At product level , every marketer knows the importance of packaging in earning “mind share” and consequently, “pocket share”. Consumers are naturally attracted to products in tune with the level of packaging. This explains the great pains taken by marketers to package their products attractively in a way that has formed an integral part of the branding process of leading companies today. What laws or codes govern dressing, packaging or branding?

Nation states are not rigid on dressing, as it remains without written codes, except the few that do this for religious reasons. Other countries refrain from imposing rigid codes on citizens because dressing is considered a basic human right. But that can scarcely be said of product packaging as they are made for public consumption. The marketplace is also a place of competition, and must be made healthy by regulation or control. Otherwise, players might take on one another unfairly in a manner that can breed confusion and anarchy.

Manufacturers must understand that packaging and marketing must be done fairly, so as not to dupe consumers by deception or defraud competitors by pass-offs and pirate marketing.

This is probably why every aspect of marketing has a regulator to moderate the war between competitors. Sadly in marketing, as in many other human endeavours, written laws are never sufficient as there is always a way for smart marketers to outwit the regulators in the promotion of selfish business interests.

I have to lay emphasis on the fact that without regulations or laws, human beings are likely to degenerate to beastly behaviours. Nigeria with her abundant human and natural resources has numerous regulators to ensure that packaging and marketing (dressing of products and brands) are done decently. So when blatant pass-offs show up in the marketplace, it propels the same ill-feelings as an individual violating the decent dressing code, though it might not have been enshrined in existing regulations! It is always written in the minds of the public.

That marketers are desperate to sell their goods, commodities or brands is not in doubt, but should this lead to unethical things? And if they do, should the authorities condone them? I admit that what constitutes ethical and unethical vary from person to person or even scenario to scenario.

However, it must be noted that safety is one of the primary roles of nation states and countries able to provide security for individual and corporate bodies make faster progress on the path of economic growth. International investors are always weighing up domestic investment climate before reaching investment decisions.

This is probably why Nigeria has set up an investment promotion council to try to convince investors that things will be done right and their investments adequately protected. To what extent are investments being protected in Nigeria? Maybe an example will drive the point home clearly.

I have noticed that Guinness Nigeria Plc, probably motivated by patriotic zeal or desire to support a good cause entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) but that enviable right which must have cost a fortune (going by what other private companies like Globacom, which is equally a sponsor of the NFF but which may not be subject to disclosure requirements applicable to listed companies like Guinness Nigeria have disclosed in the media) is now being increasingly encroached upon by a competitor, which has latched on perceived yawning gaps in marketing and advertising regulations in Nigeria to usurp this marketing space while those saddled with the duty of protecting legal marketing efforts, turn a blind eye.

I have waited this long in vain for those saddled with the responsibility of regulating the marketing (advertising in particular) in Nigeria to speak up against an anomaly that has seen one company engage professionally with the NFF in the sponsorship of the Super Eagles while a direct competitor violates this contractual arrangement.

Is it that the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has taken notice of this. Probably nobody at APCON has seen the advert which has been everywhere on billboards, radio and television.

In fact, it turned out to be the stand out advert and connection point for football fans in Nigeria while the 2014 FIFA World Cup lasted.Does it mean nothing to my fellow countrymen and women that a company raises the Nigerian flag in marketing communications messages in a way that suggests that it has written permission to do so?

I cannot recall seeing the flags of other countries and their sports icons being this brazen in championing commercial causes in complete disregard of national interest. Nigeria must be a peculiar country!Part of my concerns, now is that the only reason The competitor could resort to this violation is because of perceived weakness in regulatory structures and institutions in Nigeria.

This is a tale of how lax regulation, weak institutional framework and undue smart marketing confuse consumers.Given that there is an existing agreement between Guinness Nigeria and NFF, a commercial showing a football game involving Nigeria and the overwhelming joy that comes with Nigeria scoring, together with a former captain of the Super Eagles raising Nigeria’s flag in celebration is deceptive to say the least.

By Sopuru Uwadiegwu writes from Ikeja, Lagos