Expert Predictions Confirmed As Brands Move Accounts

Yetunde Ogundipe -

As predicted by experts, the first quarter of the year is indeed getting wobbly for the communication industry as movement of accounts is gradually becoming the order of the day.
The agencies’ fear that the advertisers would further cut down on their marketing communications budgets in the year and also move their accounts from one agency to another to save cost is becoming a reality.
Findings reveal that players in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods  FMCG – are expected mostly to shift their account businesses. An example is Unilever; it is seeking for new activations, event and public relations companies to partner with in delivering experiential activations to its consumer.
M2 also gathered that Etisalat Nigeria is considering splitting its accounts between 141 Worldwide and another agency, whose identity is being guided secretly as of now, while Zain Nigeria is in the process of hiring another advertising agency or agencies to handle its creative business.
As predicted by the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mr. Lekan Fadolapo, 2009, being a challenging year for the industry, will make things a bit slow in the first quarter of the new year. Companies will still cut down on their spending, and marketing will only be used in the areas of strategic importance, but by the second quarter things will gradually take shape.