President of Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), Mr. Kehinde Salami, has described the activities of street urchins, popularly known as area boys, as a major challenge to experiential marketing business in the country, despite the growth recorded in the sector, in the past few years.

The EXMAN boss, in a chat with journalists noted that such activities had become so worrisome that practitioners in the sector, desirous of making a living from the business must find a way to surmount the menace, or be completely shut out of business.

“As a practitioner, you need to know some of these boys, especially those areas you may likely run into them, during activations. You must also devise your strategy of handling them to ensure that they do not debar you from carrying out your activities. Actions of the street urchins have become a major challenge to advertising business generally in Lagos,” he lamented.

He noted that the  business had actually grown into a mega-billion one in the past few years, as a result of the association’s conscious efforts of repositioning the business and ensuring that practitioners gain significant trust with the client.

Salami said one of the ways the association plans to ensure standards in the industry is by ensuring that only competent and qualified practitioners are given its membership.

He however expressed the commitment of the newly-elected executive council of the association to reach out to government and plead  with it on the need to patronise its members, as a way of giving support to the association.