Optimism of the recovery of the economy and the expected subsequent rub off on the marketing communication industry is being studied and taken with caution as many businesses in the marketing communication industry are planning their operations with circumspect in 2021.
Though World Bank predicted that Nigeria’s economy is expected to resume growth from Q2 at 1.1 percent to 2.0 percent in 2021 from negative growth in 2020, a development expected to be facilitated by economic activity including opening of borders and improvements in the oil market but some business operators fear the quick trickle-down effect of the marginal growth.
The caution in business planning for 2021 is also informed by analysts’ view that 2021 will not be significantly different from year 2020.
Speaking recently at Organisation of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, OAAN event in Lagos, Babajide Ogunsanwo, a data consultant said following the sluggish growth of the economy in 2020 and the eventual slipping into recession in Q4, families have further limited their spending and this will continue in 2021 which will affect businesses and the economy.
According to him, families’ spending is the biggest expenditure in Nigeria’s economy. Household consumption expenditure in 2019 amounted to N40.20 trillion out of which 56.65% was spent on food, according to National Bureau of Statistics.
“If families are not spending, businesses will be affected as they will not make sales. They will also not hire which will affect employment”. Today , unemployment rate is over 27% which threatens security situation.
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The success for businesses and advertising sector depends on Nigerian families’ expenditure. “But the question is how do you make families spend more as they can’t spend what they don’t have”. This Ogunsanwo answered that it is through creation of jobs and policies favourable to enterprises.
Lanre Adisa, CEO/ Chief Creative Officer of Noah’s Ark Communications Limited agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic, #ENDSARS and economic recession are having a very big impact on business. He however told Businessday in a chat that at times like this, what agencies need to do as a business is to ensure that they stay relevant in the industry. It is a game of relevance.
“These are demanding times. As a player, you must ensure you have the right team, focus and vision for the clients to stay with you. Some clients may not call for pitches but unilaterally select agencies to work with based on previous knowledge of the agencies. Therefore, as an agency, you must stay relevant and walk the talk. And you must have results to show for it”.
Survival of some agencies, according to Adisa also depends on companies that agencies are working for. “For instance, multinationals are in a position to survive the recession as they have deep pockets, but local firms tend to freeze or shrink their marketing budgets and this may be challenging to some agencies”.
Within 2021, companies will learn to live with the challenges of Covid-19 including working from home, digital. Clients may not throw open business pitches as they will prefer to work with agencies they know.
Experiential marketing and Outdoor business may have low patronage as they will likely continue to experience the effects of Covid-19 and harsh economic environment. This means they will innovate on other ways of survival in 2021.
In his view, Akonte Ekine, CEO of Absolute PR, agreed that the year 2020 presented a very different yet unknown challenge that transformed the meaning of engagement or expanded the meaning of engagement which led everybody into a new thinking model for existence as well as interactions.
Based on the developments of year 2020, he said the world adapted to new methods which is now the new normal of existing and engaging on digital platforms. According to him, Public Relations as one of the communication mix has equally adapted to the new normal with a series of interactive platforms among the different publics.
“At Absolutepr, we have structured our existence in the new world by ensuring that systems and people are shaped to meet the clients demand. We are consciously engaging platforms of value to deliver exceptional services to our clients.
“Our understanding is that the year 2021 will afford us opportunity to reinvent ourselves as a people and business. Evolution is our key word since the commencement of the business, we evolve daily to attend to the challenges of business and clients
Akonte believed that the “new year will gradually pick up its momentum within the scheme of things as we all know that COVID 19 is now a part of the human existence and conversation so it will influence conversation and engagement methodology even more as we all grapple with it”.
