Members of Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) have been tasked on the imperative of embracing technology, innovation and adaptation to change if their businesses are to remain in perpetuity.
Speaking recently at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association, the guest speaker, Mr Emeka Okeke who spoke on the theme “Building an Enduring Organization in a Fast Changing World” said media agencies would need more than mother luck to continue to thrive in this challenging time that is bringing the world and most businesses to their knees.
Okeke, who is the Group CEO, Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Nigeria noted that perception is key for business to stay afloat as it determines the choice to settle for out of the many difficult choices available.
He said: “As far as the issue we are looking at is concerned, the one answer, among so many answers, is ‘Perception’; because the way we see things are different and change is the answer to the question. If change is what makes the difference it therefore becomes imperative that businesses have difficult choices to choose from. I am saying there are too difficult choices because it is not easy to adapt, it is not easy to stay ahead of the curve and also it not easy to predict in other to stay ahead but it takes a lots of discipline and stepping out of your comfort zone to adapt but we must, because the consequences of sticking to old ways will mean disruption for any agencies or networks. ”
He averred that companies that are not amenable to adaption are at greater risk, as prominent firms in the past that failed to embrace technology, innovation and change went moribund later.
In his words, “80% 0f fortune 500 firms that existed in 1955 are gone or they have been acquired, merged or they found themselves as weaker partners and couldn’t meet up with the new trends. Examples of such firms are Kodak, Nokia, TopsRus and Blockbuster as they fail to identify the power of technology, innovation and adapt to change in time.”
Continuing, he said, “There are major changes that we are seeing in our space, we have witnessed top disruptive events shaping our world today and some of them are COVID-19, digital and technology acceleration, climate change, social movement and so on.”
He added that clients and consumers no longer care about the reach and frequency, what they want is user experience and user interface.
He then advised media planners/buyers to be concerned about how to be solution providers and not just be satisfied with planning and buying as big agencies like Publicis, Dentsu International and GroupM are restructuring and acquiring smaller agencies in response to the changes.
He concluded that Nigerian marketing and communication agencies would need to offer different services as that is the only way they can remain relevant in the world of work.
