Yes, I know. It’s been quite a while since I last made a post on this
blog. Hard to think that almost eight months have passed ... just like that!
I’m not even going to try and offer an explanation – everyone who’s followed
the Nigerian story since the beginning of this year, knows that developments in
the polity would appear to have thrown the country into a state of suspended
animation. The social and economic cost
is still unravelling. But that is
another story entirely.
A lot happened in the Nigerian PR
space during all that time, and I’d like to fill you in on some of the
important events – though not
necessarily in a chronological order.
So, while I was away…
1. PRCAN Joined ICCO
The Public Relations Consultants
Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), the umbrella body of PR consultancy firms
practicing in the country, was formally admitted into membership of the
International Communication Consultants Association (ICCO). PRCAN’s inclusion
was announced during the bi-annual Board Meeting of ICCO which held in Vienna,
Austria, on April 16-17, 2015.
ICCO represents 31 national PR
associations, who in turn collectively represent over 2,000 agencies around the
world in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australasia.
2. Yours Truly Was
Appointed to the Board of ICCO
Following PRCAN’s admission into
ICCO, the President of PRCAN, Mr. John Ehiguese, was appointed a member of the
Board of Management (BoM) of ICCO.
As the highest decision-making
authority in the organization, the BoM meets twice every year and is formed by
representatives of all the national trade associations affiliated to ICCO.
3. We Lost a Gem
A very important member of PRCAN,
and its former treasurer, Ms. Alima Atta, MD/CEO of Sesema PR, succumbed to the
cold hands of death, after a brave and protracted battle with cancer. Alima
passed on June 6, 2015 at the age of 48.
It is such a tragic loss, and
once again my heart goes out to her family and the staff of Sesema PR, arguably
one of our most dynamic PR firms and the Edelman affiliate in Nigeria.
4. The MTN Nigeria PR
Pitch Went To An Advertising Agency
Once again, the four-yearly
ritual of the MTN Nigeria PR pitch (undeniably the biggest PR business in
Nigeria) came up again in March this year. At least eight agencies were invited
to pitch for the business, out of which two were eventually selected.
The curious twist to the tale
however is that one of the successful
agencies (DKK) is an advertising agency!
Of course the Nigerian PR community (led by the NIPR and PRCAN) is practically
up in arms in protest against this travesty. I suspect that the way this matter
is eventually resolved will invariably have grave implications for how the PR consultancy
practice evolves in Nigeria over the immediate future.
At the very least there is bound
to from now on be increased interest in how client organizations call for and
conduct pitches for their PR business.
5. The PRCAN Monthly
Breakfast Meeting Made Its Debut
After a couple of unavoidable
postponements, the maiden edition of the PRCAN Monthly Breakfast Meeting
finally held on Thursday, July 23, 2015. Special Guest Speaker was Mr. Kufre
Ekanem, the Corporate Affairs Adviser of Nigerian Breweries Plc. (a Heineken
company, and biggest brewer in West Africa).
Ekanem spoke on: “Culture - The
Next PR Frontier”. The kernel of his presentation was that the employees of an
organization constitute a very critical group in the PR stakeholder matrix, and
for that reason, an organization’s culture (invariably projected in its Employee
Relations programme) is emerging as a key driver of Corporate Communications.
It was a highly successful and
well attended event, attracting more than 30 participants, many of them agency
heads. The plan is to sustain the MBM as a regular monthly feature on the PRCAN
events calendar.
6. Mediacraft
Associates Entered Into Affiliation With A Global PR Network
Our agency, Mediacraft
Associates, has finally signed an affiliation agreement with one of the leading
global PR networks. I am not at liberty to give details at this point, until a formal
announcement is made – which should happen in the next few days.
We’re excited about this
development, and looking forward to reaping the full benefits of the
affiliation, chief of which would be capacity building, global exposure and new
business opportunities.
There was certainly a lot more
that happened while I was away, but these updates will do for now. It sure is
good to be back, and I’ll try to see to it that I do not take such a long break
away from this blog, ever again.
