In the 1989 edition of Introduction to Public Relations, Sam Black, former secretary general of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), stated:
“Public Relations has become generally accepted as an important element of business, government and all aspects of everyday life. Accepted does not necessarily mean understood.” read
Saw bullets fly, but can’t tell the identity of her killer
Power has shifted from the hands of media companies and PR professionals to that of the consumer.
In 2014, BlackHouse Media recorded over a billion social media impressions from different campaigns. In the same year, the company introduced Nigeria’s first mobile application for the media and public relations industry. Figures and facts such as these have become important parameters of growth today in the media and public relations industry.
Print readership has declined drastically over the years, with Facebook and YouTube now regarded as television’s competition. Press releases, buzz words, press conferences are no longer as effective as they were during the times of Edward L. Bernays, Sam Black and Sam Epelle.
Today, technology has led to the evolution of traditional tools of PR and power has shifted from the hands of media companies and PR professionals to that of the consumer. Social media is ruling the world of communication and the fear of displacement and irrelevance has taken over the media industry. This is not unusual, as people fear what they do not understand.
Some believe that the way PR works in the ‘real world’ is different from the way it works on social media. This notion has caused big companies to take ‘expert’ advice from ‘influencers’ who are not certified by NIPR and PRCAN – PR regulatory bodies recognized by the Nigerian government.
Since power shifted and consumers now have the loudest voice, the line between online world and offline world has become thinner. One tweet, Facebook post, Instagram post can damage the reputation of an entire organization. Citizens on social media are constantly challenging the actions and press releases of government. Powerful movements against injustice and corruption such as #OccupyNigeria, #BringBackOurGirls and #OpenNASS began on Twitter.
Consumers are now more informed than they were in the past, thanks to the infinite amount of information available online. This fact has made it necessary that PR practitioners use social listening tools in order to strategically interject their point of views into the discussions on social media to either change the negative perception of the public or position who or what is represented in good light.
Anita Aiyudu (@anitaaiyudu), Lateefah Adesanya (@that1960chick) and Tosin Ajibade (@olorisupergal) at the Service of Songs for #PrisDead
CEO, BlackHouse Media, Ayeni Adekunle, CEO CMC Connect Yomi Badejo Okusanya and CEO X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko at the Service of Songs for #PrisDead
Staff of CMC Connect at the Service of Songs for #PrisDead
Editor, Brand Crunch, Lekan Babatunde (L) and Corporate Communications Consultant Henry Ekechukwu (R) at the Service of Songs for #PrisDead
But the success of social PR is heavily dependent on rich and fruitful relationships.
Tech companies have created platforms and opportunities to make communication between brands and their publics more amiable and intimate. Consumers relate their stories everyday on social, on their blogging platforms, on their photo or video sharing platforms. What PR needs to do is to observe and study the patterns in these stories, and then craft their messages to empathize with the public and flow with these patterns.
Sending out bulk e-mails or SMS is not really ‘PR’. As the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) plans to regulate the menace of unsolicited text messaging, PR professionals must now focus on adopting acceptable and pleasant means of communication with their publics. Theaker (2012) claims that organizations have experienced criticism about their behaviour on social media. However, foreign brands like Oreo, Charmin, Virgin, Dutch Airlines, Heineken and others are using social media in creative and commendable ways and getting remarkable results.
On the issue of control, no one can stop consumers on social media from sharing negative or positive opinions on brands. What PR pros can do is to be proactive online and create a wonderful experience for audiences whenever they interact.
How else can one counter or nip negative opinions in the bud? Gilpin and Murphy (2010: 75) gave an example of a campaign that was created by a blogger who claimed that Johnson & Johnson’s Motrin painkiller brand failed to monitor their online media on weekends. Now, this may puzzle some people because most companies take weekend breaks; but it is a well known fact that social media never sleeps. Hence, it is imperative agencies must use monitoring tools as their eyes for as long as possible.
It is also not enough for brands to just tell their stories. They must have a passionate community of consumers who have, over time, become believers and evangelists, happy to share their experiences, which are strong enough to convert even the worst skeptic. The marriage of cool technology and great content is the social couple that can ultimately achieve this.
Social is the new normal – not just social media or social business but social impact, social enterprise and social value (Phillip, 2015: 127)
Honoraria. Flava. Keske. T-fare. Brown Envelope.
These are just some of the code names by which cash exchange for editorial coverage is known in Nigeria.
In a country where there are over 50 newspapers and magazines on the newsstands, hundreds of radio and TV stations, and an ocean of blogs and websites, it is no surprise that the media environment is industrious.
Everyone wants to be in the media – politicians, motivational speakers, consumers, brands, entertainers, pastors, even bankers, fraudsters and climbers.
To be frank, only few deserve coverage, but in a country where a tabloid journalist earns less than $100 per month, where most newspapers owe up to six months’ salaries, and TV stations pay tokens for wages, it is no surprise that the numbers of reporters and editors patronizing their subjects have been increasing.
Some of the busiest journalists are freelance agents; securing advert placements, planting news and features in their journals, managing celebrities and consulting for banks and politicians. Many of their bosses are aware of these activities – if not equally guilty.
According to a May 2015 report by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, about 9 Nigerian newspapers owed salaries up to 18 months.
The media scene is a mess and the public relations industry in Nigeria is a beneficiary. Driven by a news conference and press release culture, PR pros in these parts have mastered how to speak the language of envelopes. For decades, they have connived with poorly remunerated reporters and struggling publishers to fill papers and magazines with promotional content that scarcely catches the interest of the readers.
There are now about 50 agencies registered with Public Relations Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), the body recognized by government to regulate PR consultancy in Nigeria. Yet, there are hundreds more, practicing in every sector, without certification by NIPR or PRCAN.
A 2015 BHM Survey estimates that around 1,900 press releases are issued per day in Nigeria. Most of these are from politicians, corporate organizations and celebrities.
Journalists on every beat are bombarded with emails and phone calls requesting priority. Usually, only those from ‘friendly’ sources make it into the pages in consequence of bank alerts, gifts and promises. Most of the time, the press releases are announcing a new product, countering a report, promoting a new artiste, or an event.
In 2013, three top 10 agencies paid out over $250,000. One year after, the figure could have quadrupled for each of these agencies.
Meanwhile, newspaper sales continue to drop at an alarming rate. At least, five print publications – The News, Entertainment Express, Sunday Express, PM News, Y!,- have gone under in the past year; many have reduced frequency of publication while others are shutting down presses and cutting staff. After publishing for five years, Nigerian Entertainment Today is shutting down its weekly print edition to focus fully on digital operations.
PR agencies are not doing any better. Many are unable to keep senior staff due to poor remuneration. Salaries are owed regularly – a sad reality for an industry that pays less than half what advertising pays. Just as it is in the media, some of the brightest talents in PR have fled, in search of better packages.
The verdict is clear – consumers don’t care about press releases. Consumers only care about themselves and what is important to them. When agencies and media began to bore audiences, they wasted no time in switching to an alternative: blogs and websites, which spoke their language.
Elsewhere, in the United States and England, agencies are embracing story-telling and big ideas. Agencies are news jacking, blogging and breaking the Internet. The press release has been murdered and buried. Elsewhere, bribery is a sin and if it does happen at all, it is clandestine with clear understanding of implications.
Moreover, PR is driven by clear strategy and clear measurement indices. Media is driven by circulation figures and ethics. Those who practice otherwise are the exception, not the norm as it is here in Nigeria.
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and PRCAN are working hard to cleanse the practice and lead the industry into the future. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other associations are working to ensure organizations treat their journalists better, and more than a few agencies are determined to execute campaigns that meet current global standards.
Great case studies are emerging from Nigeria. Little agencies are doing big things and interests in membership for NIPR and PRCAN is at an all time high.
But experts claim some things will need to happen before we experience this big transformation.
Chido Nwakamah was still president of Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) when we sat in my office at BlackHouse Media in 2014.
BHM, where I am CEO, was launching Nigeria’s first mobile application in the PR industry and Nwakanma attended with the association’s excos John Ehiguese, Muyiwa Akintunde, and others. As we demonstrated and tested the app, one question appeared consistent: how did we plan to get the right information, in a country where the PR market was shrouded in so much secrecy?
One year later, our industry has opened up a bit. A late 2014 survey gave us an idea of who is billing what. Journalists have more information about accounts’ movement and pitches. Many agencies are now providing campaign case studies on-the-go. The industry is opening up to international affiliation and collaboration and PR agencies here are beginning to use their own medicine.
But while that is happening, there appears to be a sustained assault on the industry. The perpetrators? Those whose job it is to protect and develop public relations; those who profit from the profession; those who deeply need the industry.
Some of these people know what they are doing. Others have no idea.
As I have noted repeatedly, the public relations industry has been at best disappointing. While many complain about everything there is to complain about, it is often my style to look at what we did wrong in the past 20 years. Top on the list is the fact that we did not embrace technology early. Information and communication technology has transformed the way humans interact. As public relations professionals, we should have been at the forefront of big data science, of social media, of location and habit mapping. We should have been the pioneers of digital marketing and experience design and brand story telling.
If you do not disrupt yourself, then you must get ready to be disrupted. It happened to the search industry, happened to media and photography. It has happened to computing and mobile messaging. It happened to advertising. And now, as the transportation and telecommunications industries face unprecedented disruptions, public relations itself is undergoing an assault by new ideas and tools. New technology has ensured that every industry today must innovate or die.
Newspapers are now playing catch up with blogs and websites. Telcos are being forced to rethink their business model because of obvious threats from Skype, Whatsapp, Facebook and co. Google built a global advertising business while ad giants were snoring. The Kardashians are launching bestselling apps and engaging millions of millenials without breaking a sweat. Taxi associations are grumbling as Uber makes a mess of tradition and reinvents an entire industry. Apple, which itself disrupted the music industry with the introduction of iTunes, was a late comer to the party as Spotify, Deezer and Soundcloud changed the way we consume music. Netflix? You know the story of the disruption that took down Blockbuster. You know of how Blogger and WordPress gave everyone the power to be online publishers and how that impacted traditional news brands. You know of how the Android OS caused a revolution that took down more than a few mobile phone companies.
As the global public relations industry faces the biggest threat in decades, many insiders are admitting that indeed, PR is Dead. Writing in his book of the same title, Robert Phillips, a former Edelman executive says, “PR has run out of options and has missed its moment to lead. It is in terminal decline. About to be overrun and overwhelmed by the age of data, PR today is to communications what analogue was to digital at the turn of the century.”
This was my exact position, when I met with staff of X3M Ideas, a Lagos communications group recently. My exact position when I addressed participants at the African Public Relations Association conference in 2014.
These admissions are not to nail the coffin on the profession and move on to something else. Rather it is information to help us understand what has happened so we can adapt and survive. We have since killed the press release. We are making measurement more scientific and using storytelling in better ways than ever. We are investing in data and tech and redefining the kind of talents that make up an agency.
In Africa, where the PR industry is hitherto traditional and conservative, dominated by press agentry, practitioners are dumping old habits and moving into the future. Many agencies are staffing web developers and programmers; designers and editors, as well as community managers and influencers. One Nigerian agency is employing psychologists while another has put out an advert for in-house comedian.
And those who matter have noticed. There’s a renewed client and employer trust, as evidenced by a 2014 PRCAN survey. There is a surge in the number of young undergraduates interested in working in PR, and an interesting increase in the number of foreign agencies interested in doing business here. In Nigeria, the country with Africa’s highest GDP, highest Internet penetration and highest population, at least two affiliations have been announced in the past six months. Burson-Marsteller has partnered with a leading Nigerian agency, CMC Connect while Fleishman Hillard only recently signed an affiliation with Mediacraft Associates LTD. Bell Pottinger has collaborated on project with BlackHouse Media while Edelman last week paid a working visit to Sesema PR in Lagos.
As the quality of service is improving and new ideas are helping the profession rebound, regulators Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) are working to step up industry governance, kick out quacks, provide resources for training and development, and ensure certified practitioners in public service achieve chartered status like their colleagues in accounting, human resources and medicine.
But I suspect recent happenings may make all the work of the past few years come to naught. Foreign agencies are opening shop in Nigeria without recourse to NIPR or PRCAN. Those who are not physically here are getting and executing briefs from their base in Europe and America. Public and Private organizations are patronizing PR staff and agencies not certified to practice by NIPR, nor accredited by PRCAN.
There is a good precedent in what Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria (AAAN) have done. No foreign agency can currently practice advertising in Nigeria without 75% local ownership. No advertising agency can do business without an AAAN membership certificate (registration fee is at least N750, 000).
The recently formed Experiential Marketers Association (EXMAN) is as we speak, setting up policies and procedures to sanitize and regulate their practice, hoping to curb falling standards and ensure a system that can help clients tell the difference between quacks and professionals.
Since our agency BHM was inducted into PRCAN on November 23, 2013, I have been part of several meetings where standards have been discussed. The association has spent time engaging with clients and employers, travelling round the world to see what is happening elsewhere, partnering with Holmes Report, ICCO, APRA, etc for training, data exchange and resources, while developing a masterclass programme that continues to receive praise.
NIPR was established in 1963, and chartered in 1990 by Decree No 16 to regulate the practice of public relations and monitor professional conducts through an established code of ethics and professional conduct regime. The law stipulates standard academic and professional qualifications for admission into the institute. A 22-man governing council elects the president every two years.
PRCAN was established by an NIPR byelaw of 1993. The association was also registered as a not-for-profit organization in 2007. Just like NIPR, PRCAN was set up to promote the professional practice of public relations in Nigeria.
As both organizations work to ensure that individuals and organizations that are not certified do not parade themselves as professionals, there has been a vehement attack on both bodies and their executives, by those – as I said earlier – who should be working to develop an industry from which they profit.
Having followed the discussions around NIPR and PRCAN’s letters to Guinness Nigeria and MTN requesting they do not work with non-accredited agencies, and having followed media reports on the matter, I am convinced the reputation of our entire industry is being dragged in the mire, by this unnecessary campaign. NIPR and PRCAN are not being unrealistic in their stand that having won PR accounts already; the agencies concerned must regularize their papers with the associations. The request, I am assured by PRCAN excos, is not for their contracts to be terminated, but for them to do what is appropriate and sort out relevant memberships. I do not think it is too much to ask from agencies actually working in public relations and representing clients who themselves mostly identify with relevant associations – be it NIPR or APCON or PRCAN.
To do otherwise, and instead embark on a war against NIPR and PRCAN is, to put it mildly, bite the finger that’s feeding you.
We have bigger battles to fight as an industry. It’s time to get together and put in the work required to guarantee our future. If we continue to put personal interests, ego, and sentiments ahead of the industry’s interest, it will remain impossible for us to build the kind of ecosystem that can ensure PR does not die a painful death.
A 2015 research by BHM Media & Intelligence Unit
Public Relations, on the one hand, helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organization (or brand) and its publics. It involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest, and helps management to keep abreast of, and effectively utilize change.
Advertising, on the other hand, is a paid, mediated form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future
The table below sums up the differences between PR and advertising:
Prior to the advent of integrated marketing communications, the Nigerian marketing communications industry exhibited a disposition more towards PR, with town-crying and hawking being the earliest forms of advertising. These have survived in many of Nigeria’s rural communities till date.
The development of modern public relations in Nigeria began around 1948 when the pre-colonial administration set up a public relations department with offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu. In charge of the department was PR expert Mr. Harold Cooper. The activities of Cooper, his team including expatriates and Nigerians initially concentrated on publicity work that dealt with problems arising from World War II, such as shortages of goods and the imposition of an austerity regime by the colonial government.
One interesting novelty was to address a letter of welcome to all Nigerians returning from overseas, offering them assistance towards the finding jobs or resettlement in other ways.
Similar publicity activities were simultaneously taking place in large organizations such as UAC, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, which for example used the services of Ernest Ikoli, a veteran journalist.
Harold Cooper was succeeded by his deputy, Mr. John Stocker, who was assisted by Nigerians such as Ayo Lijadu, and Mobolaji Odunewu in consolidating and expanding government information and PR activities in the country.
With the economic and political growth of Nigeria came unique challenges of public communication. As the country moved towards the emergence of political parties and the fight for independence, campaigns for the ‘Nigerianization’ of both the public and private sectors resulted in a PR revival. Foreign firms, which dominated the economy of the country, saw the need for some form of PR activities for dealing with press criticisms and the people’s misconception of their roles in Nigeria.
1950s to 1960s:
The next significant changes in the development of PR in Nigeria began with the attainment of independence, the discovery of oil and the shift of emphasis from general trading to industrialization. Companies like UAC and Shell were compelled to launch planned programmes covering government, press and community relations. The creation of PR departments in companies increased, alongside the development of Nigerians to manage such offices.
Nigeria’s first set of PR consultants set up shop in the late 50s and focused on press agentry. They existed until two decades after. Founding consultancies include OAB Press, Publicity Services Nigeria Limited, Gab Fagbure & Associates, Gab Idigo & Associates, Uloma Nwachukwu & Associates, Bob Ogbuagu & Associates (Bob Ogbuagu) and Praction Partners Limited.
PR gained significant professional identity in 1962, with the establishment of the Public Relations Association of Nigeria (PRAN) under the leadership of late Dr. Sam Epelle, a former director of the Federal Ministry of Information. The association helped to draw together an increasing number of practitioners who over the years had become members and associates of the British Institute of Public Relations.
Mid-60s to 80s:
From the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties, the Public Relations Association of Nigeria (PRAN) subsequently adopted the more professional name of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in 1972.
Mass Communication, crucial to effective marketing communications practice, was first introduced as a course in Nigeria at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the University of Lagos and the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu. The evolution PR in Nigeria in the private and public sectors resulted in the establishment of more PR firms, in turn causing the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) to be founded in 1984. Six years later, the long-standing Nigerian Institute of Public Relations was chartered in 1990.
With respect to media advertising, print media made inroads into Nigeria in 1859, with Iwe Iroyin, a Yoruba language newspaper published by Reverend Henry Townsend at Abeokuta. Within was an advert – an announcement for the Anglican Church.2
The main challenge to media advertising remained low literacy rates, but the need to capture the Nigerian public necessitated some formal research into advertising because by the 1960s, more than 300 firms were registered to do business in Nigeria, and the country’s population was already formidable, standing at 55 million. At the time, one in four people living in Africa were a Nigerian.
The US Department of Commerce researched the existence of various media in Nigeria, naming these as crucial for firms hoping to reach the Nigerian consumer market for US goods, as reproduced below:
VARIETIES AND COVERAGES OF ADVERTISING MEDIA (in Nigeria, in the 60s)
The main modes of advertising in these early days were radio, considered particularly effective, as it bypassed literacy levels. Motion picture adverts were also popular, because many people visited theatres for recreational purposes. But perhaps the most widely used advertising formats were paper, cardboard, metal posters and signs near the point of sale. Personal selling was a hit; product sampling was widely practiced in market areas, as well as sales promoters with loudspeakers and moving vehicles, a technique, which is still in use today. Experts quickly discovered that advertising was “generally more effective when direct, forceful and continuous.”
Examples of advertising lines in those early days are:
“The ubiquitous ‘Guinness gives you power,’ next to the bulging biceps of an African arm has made Guinness stout the biggest seller in Nigeria.”
“‘Buy Raleigh, the all steel bicycle’ on radio, billboard and poster has kept this manufacturer’s product tops for years.”
Other challenges were that at the time, an estimated 80% of the adult population had little or no formal education but they were still an important consumer base. Also, businesses quickly realized that Nigerian consumers were not a monolith to be communicated with in the same way. Raymond Baker, then president of Overseas Economic Development Incorporated of New York, summarized the advertising landscape of the times and advised thus:
“The Yoruba of the Western Region is a very outgoing and friendly individual, while the Hausa of the Northern Region is rather quiet and reserved. Colours may be important; for the Yoruba, blue is always favoured. Even the direction of hands and eyes is sometimes significant. Marketing in Nigeria must be considered with an appreciation for the tribal and cultural background, as well as the education and income of the people.”
He ended with:
“Gradual changes can be expected to take place in techniques of advertising and promotion, and in the long run, improvement of the education and literacy of the people will bring further changes. Product advertising expenditures may require a large percentage for development of brand image, and introductions of new items may become possible through media campaigns,instead of more personal promotions.”
SOURCE: Baker, R.W. , Marketing in Nigeria Journal of Marketing,Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jul., 1965), pp. 40-48\
Advertising: Virgin in Port Harcourt vs Mama Na Boy
Relying on pun as its chief linguistic device, airline company Virgin Atlantic’s widely successful campaign tapped into the sociocultural belief that virgins are hard to find, through its use of taglines such as: “Who says there is no virgin in Port Harcourt?” and “the real Virgin has arrived” respectively.
In contrast, telecommunication provider MTN had an advert where a mother-in-law received a call, breaking into song and dance when told “Mama, na Boy,” meaning her son’s wife had just given birth to a son.
This cliché, despite being used in society daily, was deemed offensive by many Nigerians, as critics said the words “Mama, Na boy’’ reinforced the Nigerian mindset relating to the preference of boys over girls as children. MTN pulled the advert, and commenced PR measures to overcome the resultant bad press.
PR: Indomie vs My Pikin
In May 2004, rumours surfaced that the consumption of Indomie Noodles was causing illness and death. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) closed all factories and distribution facilities belonging to manufacturer De-United Foods Industries Limited (now known as Dufil Prima Foods ltd), while carrying out its investigations. As public outcry and fear increased, then CEO Roger Yeo refused to focus on the negatives by publicly declaring his companies’ losses. He instead appealed for the conclusion of all investigations, scoring points with some members of the press and public by saying, “our distributors are angry because they have been selling and eating this brand for 10 years.”
When NAFDAC recalled a few batches of products but gave the company the go-ahead to resume operations, De-United Foods Limited kicked off with public adverts in newspapers and radio announcing the news, as well as a pledge to ensure the best quality. The company then embarked on an aggressive PR drive; road shows were organized, free noodles were given, with promos and education-focused CSR activities becoming a staple for De-United Foods till date.
On November 19, 2008, NAFDAC was told children were dying, after baby teething syrup called “My Pikin.” By the next day, 11 cases were reported, with 8 children dead, but manufacturers Barewa Pharmaceuticals immediately released a statement, categorically denying being responsible (without carrying out checks), and instead reassured the public to keep buying. This contributed to a worsening of outcomes as by February 2009, at least 84 children were dead, and NAFDAC had discovered the company was indeed culpable and begun prosecution proceedings. In May 2013, a Lagos Court ruled that the company be wound up, its assets forfeited to the government. Two employees were also sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment.
PR (Digital): #Surulere versus Sound Sultan
In January 2014, producer Don Jazzy and artiste Dr. Sid released ‘Surulere’, which means, “Patience is rewarding”. At the same time, they ran an online campaign on social media where they placed personal ‘throwback’ pictures with their then current pictures. This was done to encourage their followers and the public to stay focused on their goals.
By the time the music video of ‘Surulere’ was uploaded on YouTube on 23 January 2014, fans and celebrities alike had also begun uploading pictures of them transitioning from grass to grace. Because they could relate to the artistes, the public bought into the concept and also tagged their own pictures with #Surulere. The song remains a hit and the term is still used on social media. #Surulere is now fully entrenched in local lingua, an enduring PR boost for the artistes and their company Mavin records in the eyes and hearts of the public.
A little over a year later, in May 2015, singer Sound Sultan intended to release a new song titled ‘Oba Lola’ but tweeted that he would only do so if he got 2000 retweets from the public. Instead, the artiste faced great ridicule, with people mainly mocking him and counting the slow pace of retweets. However, after 23 hours, the post finally got 2,100 retweets and Sound Sultan kept his side of the bargain.
The medium matters, e.g. food and drink adverts are better retained when presented with moving images – as seen on TV, but also achievable via web and mobile media. Sales promotions should be regular, while billboards must be designed with caution.
Case Study A: Bournvita food drink
A survey of 315 consumers examined “the influence of advertising on consumers’ purchase of Bournvita, manufactured by Cadbury Nigeria Plc. Of more than 12 different food drink brands, which featured in this study, Bournvita topped the brand preference table – both in the food drink industry in general, and in Cadbury’s own food drink brands in particular. According to the respondents, advertising and quality are the major factors responsible for the success of Bournvita. Very few subjects cited other reasons such as price, packaging and availability for their choice of the brand.”
“A combination of electronic and print media is employed in advertising Bournvita but television is seen as the most potent and effective medium by 71.43% of consumers.This may be because Television combines motion, sound, and special visual effects. The product can be demonstrated and described on T.V, which also offers wide geographic coverage and flexibility as to when the message can be presented. The implication of this is that price and other variables seem not to count much to the consumers as long as the quality of a product is maintained and the brand is also supported by heavy advertising reminding and persuading consumers to continue to buy.”
Case study B: PR and Advertising among GSM networks
A random sample of 500 students of four Universities in the North–east were given detailed questionnaires. The authors report that: “advertisement and sales promotions influence initial purchase and additions; this was indicated by the respondents as 80% of them agreed that advertising and sales promotions played a role in their addition of (another telecoms) network. Sales promotions should be done at shorter intervals, since it was found to induce more purchase from customers.”They recommended: “service providers should use the television in advertising their services” and “the benefits of the service should be stressed in all advertisements, such as the bonuses and free gifts available, because what customers are actually looking for, are the benefits.”
Case study C: Amstel Malta billboards in Onitsha, Nigeria
A sample of 373 individuals, “drawn purposely from the population of Amstel Malt consumers in Onitsha” and surveyed via questionnaires “showed that models in billboard advertising attract more attention to themselves than to products advertised and that audience recall models in billboard advertising more than the product advertised. It was therefore concluded that audience attention was more on models used in billboard advertising.”
The study recommended “billboard advertising should use models sparingly and concentrate on making the product or service advertised more conspicuous on billboard to ensure easy (brand) recall.”
5a. When PR proves more valuable than advertising
Case Study: The Planned Parenthood Foundation strategy
As the world began understanding AIDS in the 80s, a need also arose for the promotion of healthier sexual reproductive practices and family planning in Nigeria. The Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) decided to lead with a PR campaign, by using music to propagate the need for a wider use of family planning and condoms.PPFN’s Adebola Adejo, said the method was used because at the time, “there was more of a listening audience than a reading audience.”The campaign kicked off with renowned artistes Onyeka Onwenu and King Sunny Ade producing and singing two songs ‘Choices’ and ‘Wait For Me’ (sponsored by America’s John Hopkins University), with the latter track sung in Pidgin. A national launch came by late 1989 and both songs were immediate hits, rising to the charts and remaining there for weeks on end. Over 30 newspaper and magazine articles were written about the release of the album, “Wait for me.”In addition to performing to large crowds and publicizing child survival and family planning through live performances, King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu also visited maternal/child health and family planning clinics and gave talks on family planning to the public, all of which garnered added press coverage.The deliberate concentration on PR rather than advertising was revealed when Adejo, said: “Sunny Ade is a well known polygamist who now tells his audience he knows the evil of polygamy, given how much it costs him to take care of his large family. This in a way helps others who plan large families to think before jumping into it.”About two years later, the songs were then linked to public service announcements from June till November 1992. Impact assessments later revealed that family planning awareness which stood at 45% in 1990 when the Ade-Onwenu album was released, climbed to 75% awareness by 1993. Contraception prevalence in Nigeria also increased from 3.5% in 1990 to 10%in 1993.
5b. Using advertising where PR would have been more effective
Case Study: Gala Sausage Roll vs Indomie Noodles
At the end of January 2012, UAC Foods Limited utilized bulk SMS to send text messages to customers informing them of a price increase from N50 to N70 thus:Some customers were vocal in their denouncement of this technique:This would not be the first time.The company had also used radio adverts to announce a price increase from N40 to N50, which had rubbed some customers the wrong way. Five years before the SMS message from UAC Foods, a customer complained in 2007. Altogether, this trend of events meant that the customers expressed that the company was not listening, as shown in this excerpt culled from the comment thread: “…stupidly they tried using adverts to improve sales.”
By contrast, that same year, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of Indomie Noodles focused on relating with the public, when they increased product prices. It started in early September 2012, when customers began to grumble that there seemed to be a change in the price of Indomie noodles. Just three days later, the company kicked off its Super Millionaire Promo, which encouraged people to buy more of the higher-priced 120g Indomie noodles, to stand a chance to win millions of Naira weekly. The promo was not given a time limit, initially tagged as “for a limited period.” It therefore continued, even as more people realized there was a price increase. The image below is from November 2012.
Newspapers were awash with interviews of winners, while the company continued to engage with the public, notably on social media. Here is an exchange on Dufil Prima Foods Plc’s Facebook Fanpage between a consumer and the company: Dufil Prima Foods Plc also went ahead to carry out a different promo with a longer duration called Indomie Flash Contest, which gave consumers the chance to win a months’ supply of Indomie. By the time this promo ended, around mid-2013, its customers were fully eased into, and therefore firmly settled into the new price regime.
6. Practitioners’ perception of PR and Advertising
Audience segmentation and the deployment of digital channels is crucial – Nwakanma
“Modern communication management requires more listening than speaking. This concept finds support in the public relations planning model that positions research and action before communication and evaluation. (We have to) segment audiences effectively…(it is) time to draw up a Nigerian communication demographic map.A significant portion of youths is now to be found only in that (digital) space. This is moreso as the 87 million persons on the Internet in Nigeria actively engage social media. The 2015 elections mobilized them for participation, at least online. Public communication managers must engage and define. Otherwise, citizens – informed, uninformed or plain obnoxious – would define at will.”
– Chido Nwakanma, MD/CEO of Blueflower Communications Limited
Digital will be huge – Ogunmefun
“Digital marketing is going to be huge and there are a lot of things that would happen in the digital market space only if the environment is conducive for it to thrive. Things have started happening but it is not at the scale that it is meant to be. The truth about it is that traditional advertising can never go away.The two main problems we have in the advertising industry is data collection; we lack a lot of data in this industry. The second one is building professional capacity in terms of the staff members. Perhaps if we had adequate training institutions that would prepare people for this sector, the industry would grow.”
Digital media presents both challenge and opportunity – Ehiguese
“The ascendancy of digital media is a challenge to the extent that it is one of the manifestations of how media forms are evolving, affecting consumer information consumption habits, and ultimately impacting the way we communicate with the consumer. But then it also presents many opportunities. With online media, speed is of essence because of its real-time nature. Adverse news or information online can go viral within minutes and cause severe damage to a brand or company’s reputation. That is why one of the most important elements of Online Reputation Management is “listening.” You must be listening to the online conversation as it affects your brand, so that you can respond promptly to address any negative or inaccurate piece of information before it goes viral and causes reputational damage.”
We must master our fears – Ofili
“The Internet and mobile technologies are not a threat; they are only additional new dimensions to the broader parts of communication – the other half of our marketing communication practices. All we need to do is master our fears of its over-advertised powers and threats to our profession, and go ahead to own it by domesticating it within the creative department, or locate it as an independent department within the reach and practices of the creative department for their mutually close operations. This is how we should respond, rather than allow newcomers threaten us with their young language and practice as to make us change ours so readily, like one suffering from inferiority complex.”
7. The Future
New niches, M&A likely in the industry – Ehiguese
“We need to be more creative in our business development drive, to identify new market niches and opportunities. And they are there, waiting to be harnessed. [As for] mergers and acquisitions in the industry, essentially in order to build scale, to be able to gain more clout, and to service big clients effectively…we haven’t seen much of that happening yet in Nigeria, but it will come with time. The merger and acquisition fever appears to have caught on globally, and I believe that it’s just a matter of time before we begin to see it in Nigeria.”
– John Ehiguese, President, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria and Group Managing Director of Mediacraft
People no longer just consumers – Shobanjo
“Marketing communications is about connecting people and brands, is about doing something educative, entertaining and useful for people and also about tapping into the human element; it is not just about making 30-second commercials. The digital revolution has ensured that people are no longer just consumers, but participate in the creation of ideas and products, production and distribution, as much as any marketing communications agency.”
– Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman, Troyka Group
The roles can be swapped at any time – Oluwasona
“We need to address our collective psyche. The ‘client’ of today needs to realize that he is the ‘agency’ of tomorrow… I have seen some of my former clients become outright agency staff. The reality I am trying to draw out here is that roles can be swapped at any time. There is no inferior partner in a brand building relationship. There therefore should not be a superior partner.”
– Kayode Oluwasona, Managing Director, Rosabel Leo Burnett
It’s 2015.
It’s July 9, and almost 50 workers at BlackHouse Media, a public relations agency in Lagos, Nigeria are out of patience waiting for June salaries.
A week earlier, the finance team sent a mail to all staff, explaining the delay and promising payment in one week. It’s the first time in many years that the eight year old agency is failing to pay salaries on time.
BlackHouse Media, a member of BHM Group, is by Nigerian definitions a successful agency. It works for two multi-nationals, including the country’s biggest brewer; it works for media giants and has a digital advantage over every competitor in the market. In 2014, the company launched Nigeria’s first PR application, and recorded over 1 billion social media impressions for client campaigns. One year later, it launched its own digital agency, ID Africa.
BlackHouse Media is not struggling. But while staff salaries were only delayed for one week in June (after a cash flow hitch), the same cannot be said for a lot of other agencies in its category.
According to a 2015 survey, only a handful of public relations agencies in Nigeria are able to pay staff and contractors as at when due. A lot of old and new generation agencies are struggling to make ends meet in a market when creative agencies, digital marketing companies and media independents are making a kill.
Why is this so?
Many in the industry believe it is because agencies cannot charge much. Only a few get good budgets and are on retainers.
As a result, only few can keep great talent. The flight from PR into advertising or client side is at an all time high; most of the agencies surveyed have lost senior consultants in the past year.
Only few can do great work.
PR is rarely in the room when management is planning or when the government is strategizing. When we do get called, it is often for traditional media relations or to ‘manage’ press events.
Clients complain they do not get value at the level of strategy; that they do not get help navigating social media; that they do not see creativity and innovation, especially in storytelling and community management.
Agencies lament on the frustration in not being properly compensated; not having access to senior management. They complain about phony pitches, poaching and government’s failure at regulation.
Nigeria’s federal government continues to engage services of quacks for public relations roles even as many public and private organizations regularly engage unregistered foreign agencies to do PR work in Nigeria.
Many of the so-called big agencies cannot pay competitive wages, and in recent times, several have owed up to three months’ pay.
Pundits say creative and media agencies are not immune to these problems. Reports say only a handful of agencies in that segment are running profitably.
The difference? You can identify the big media accounts based on spend. You can understand why some agencies are getting lucrative creative briefs while others are idle. There are more than a few media, events and creative agencies turning over billions of Naira annually from one-offs, commissions or retainer works. There is, at this moment, none in PR.
BHM Media & Intelligence predicts that more agencies will see revenues dwindle if client trust is not restored, if the industry is not able to re- attract super talents. And these will only happen if the practice is able to resurrect.
Yes, PR is dead.
What exactly do we bring to the table that clients and their publics cannot do without? The current system of press releases, buzz words and other fluff?
Nigeria has a population estimated at about 200 million. Most of these are young people spread round rural, semi-urban and urban areas.
As at March 2015, there was an estimate of 195 million active mobile phones in Nigeria with GSM subscriber base of 144,486,786. Nigeria has the highest internet penetration rate in Africa with an annual growth of about 4 million.
Our country has over 7 million people on Facebook and is considered one of the top five African countries with the most Twitter activity. Also, the adoption of other platforms like WeChat, Whatsapp and Instagram is growing rapidly.
Newspaper circulation will predictably continue to drop. Some of the country’s biggest titles have cut print runs consistently; several have shut down presses while others have completely gone off the stands. In a country where media relations is a core function for most PR professionals, how will this impact on our work?
More consumers are spending more time on their phones than in front of the TV. Media platforms are rapidly redefining themselves and aligning with consumer habits.
Brands are using storytelling and content marketing to engage their consumers. Many consumers are becoming content creators and publishers in their own rights – be it through their Facebook status updates or by expressing strong opinions on Twitter. Some of the biggest media and influencer jobs of the past two years in terms of income and impact have been by individuals on social media; individuals who may never have been considered ‘media’ only a few years ago. Some of them are so powerful that the Nigerian government has nicknamed them ‘cabal’.
But where are the PR people?
What do these figures mean?
It is time we shamed those who believe “PR will never take its long-coveted seat at the boardroom table, where it will be recognized as an essential component of strategic business rather than a bolt-on” (Phillip 2015, 11).
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