The Nigerian media and advertising industry have a common headache. It is called ‘non-compliance’. It is a big problem you can equate to cancerous cells in the body of a human being.
While it is very debatable on what is compliant and what it is not, media practitioners have a consensus that a media exposure is non-compliant when it is not executed according to the agreed contract, however with caveats that all other things being equal such as absence of an ‘act of God’ and or force Majeure’.
Non-compliance has almost torn the industry into pieces to the extent that agencies jobs are lost, agencies lose businesses and pile up debts in their balance sheets. Clients also lose as well. Awareness opportunities to drive sales and build brand equity are being sacrificed for missed opportunities and excuses.
For many people who look at the matter on the surface, the media houses should be battered and blamed for all these headaches. They are in business and they should make sure they deliver on their services.
However, a deep review of the matter shows that non-compliance is a more complicated malaise for the industry that cannot be discussed using simplistic diatribes. To better understand how to mitigate non-compliance, here are some of the consensus reasons festering this ‘cancer’.
Degradation of professionalism
Every industry has its standards and ethics on how things should be done. The moment process is bastardized, there will always be repercussions. From pitching, briefing to strategy formulation, planning and placement standards have been corrupted and these things end up making the industry’s executions to come out below par.
Agencies, clients (brand owners) and media owners have to upgrade their compendium of professional standards in the context of global best practices to ensure the industry does not become a victim of itself.
Debt problem
On average, Nigeria’s media industry has a debt stock above N100 billion. A carry-over of unpaid campaigns for more than 10 to 15 years with no hope of recovery.
The worst hit in this debt problem are the agencies and media houses who have the debt sitting on their balance sheets. It leads to job losses and delayed salaries making the industry less-attractive for good talents. These counter-productive situations lead to non-compliance as many clients end up recycling their debt while not clearing their old stock.
The industry needs to put heads together to formulate rules that can be followed to ensure a looming debt problem does not consume the industry. When services rendered are paid for, non-compliance will be reduced to the barest minimum.
Unfavourable government regulations
Nigeria is one of the most over-regulated business. The media industry is one of the worst hit. Broadcast regulations and laws were formulated during the pre-Internet and draconian military era have not been reviewed to conform to the necessities and complexities of today. Many media houses are still operating within the context of these laws which does not promote innovation.
For media houses to function and deliver better services, they need to operate, compete in an atmosphere where they are allowed to innovate and grow in the context of global best practice.
