The president of Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Mr. David Okeme, has urged associations and groups within the marketing communications industry to look out for ways they can work better collaboratively.

Okeme said this recently when officials of the Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria (AAAN), led by their president, Mr. Kayode Oluwasana, his deputy, President, Mr. Ikechi Odigbo and the Executive Director, Mr. Lekan Fadulapo, paid a courtesy visit to the national secretariat of ADVAN.

Okeme noted that the move by AAAN to collaborate at a bigger level with ADVAN was a good development for brands and the industry in general, explaining that relationship building sits at the edge of client and agency connection.

While speaking on the visit, which he saw as a decision by two key stakeholders in the industry to foster the spirit of corporation and collaboration, AAAN President, Olowasana, pointed out that the two bodies are two sides of the same coin which means the two must consciously work together to always remain one coin.

He explained that the vision of his new executive is to boost the understanding of stakeholders, adding, “With this visit and the fantastic discussions that we have started, we believe we are both committed to the same vision, which we believe is lofty and in the interest of the two bodies. In fact, we don’t want to have two parties anymore; the brand is what is central. The two parties are one, in favour of the brand. I expect that going forward, we will do many things in common. There will intermittently be areas we need to align and clarify issues but the spirit that is on now is for increased understanding, collective agreement and promotion of noble visions. Each of these is what we are starting today”.