ADVAN revamps marketers’ excellence awards

After resting the marketing excellence awards for one year, the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) has rejuvenated the award, as the association has put machinery in place for the programme this year.

The association, which is determined to stimulate and promote marketing profession in Nigeria to excellence, is preparing for the event slated for October 26, at the Federal Palace Hotels, Lagos, this year, with a promise to highlight the fundamental position marketing occupies in business and public sectors.

Entry for the awards, which the association has thrown open to both members and non-members, will be a celebration of hard-work and ingenuity in the marketing profession, Yomi Ifaturoti, chairperson of the award committee, told BusinessDay in Lagos. Submission of entries has since opened and will close September 20.

Making details of the award, she said the 2013 marketing excellence award will recognise outstanding and effective marketing in Nigeria. The 11 categories for award are consumer insights, CSR, experiential, consumer promotions, new brand of the year, digital marketing, brand of the year, innovation of the year, campaign of the year, brand manager of the year and marketing professional of the year. In a bid to adequately award marketing excellence in its true form, there has been a complete overhaul by the association of the award categories, judging criteria, and selection process for the 2013 edition.

“All entries will be judged by a team of the marketing professional in the nation and verified by the nation’s leading independent marketing research organisations, to ensure a transparent selection process,” she said.

In the former editions, the selection process was based solely on the merit of entries sent in by participants without third party authentication.

Kola Oyeyemi, president, ADVAN, had in 2011, said the event was an important one within the marketing community, aimed at celebrating excellence in marketing practice in Nigeria.

ADVAN is a strong voice of about 60 of the biggest marketers in Nigeria, representing over 200 brands with an annual marketing spend of well over N100 billion.