ARCON bares its fangs in pursuit of industry standards

avatar
by Jacob Solomon Jun 4, 2023 News
ARCON bares its fangs in pursuit of industry standards

The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria sets standards for advertising practice in the country. The agency has been fighting other interest groups recently.

The prophetic words of Victor Hugo can be parodyed. The wisecrack describes the renewed vigour by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), the body responsible for setting standards for advertising practice in the country, to pursue its constitutional mandate relentlessly.

Since the transformation of the advertising body, a lot has changed in terms of theory and practice.

YouTube Channel

The Act which repealed the advertising practitioners was signed into law by the president. The act is Cap. The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act, 2022. was enacted by the Federation of Nigeria in 2004 to establish a Council for advertising, advertisements and marketing communications as the apex regulatory authority for the Nigerian advertising industry.

Arico has its fangs bare.

From digital content creators, skit-makers, bloggers, digital agencies and a host of others who deploy data across all the social media and online platforms, it is no longer business as usual as the advertising regulatory body has come out hard on them.

The agency has warned players in the digital media space that they will face severe sanctions if they continue to break the law.

Effective March 1, 2022, the agency has imposed sanctions on advertisers.

He said that sanctions were cut across primary digital space owners, including big tech, such as Meta, and down to secondary digital space owners, which include content creators and skitmakers.

Six months after the Nigerian government filed a lawsuit against Meta and its local agent for N30 billion, there are signs that the agency is capable of biting.

The summons included notices on the social media tech giant Meta platforms.

The N30 billion suit against the internet giant was given the go-ahead by the court after an application was made by the company. AT3 Resources is one of the defendants.

According to the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No.23 of 2022, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria is seeking a sum of N 30 billion in fines and sanctions.

The suit was filed against Meta Platforms Incorporated and its agent AT3 ResourcesLimited at the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division.

Meta Incorporated has been accused of violating the advertising laws and losing revenue as a result.

ACON is not in violation of the laws.

The Director-General of ARCON has said that the agency has the power to control the advertising space based on the new advertising act.

According to Fadolapo, the regulatory body has authority for advertising, advertisements and marketing communications.

He said that the law gave the authority to regulate the advertising industry in Nigeria.

The Act defined advertisements to include a notice, announcement, exposure, publication, broadcast, statement, announcorial, infomercial, commercial, hype, and display.

Advertising needs to be aimed at creating, planning, strategising, managing, and developing, producing, propagating, servicing, or facilitating an advertisement.

The Act defined marketing communications as any act, gesture, endeavor, execution, performance tactics, or effort aimed.

Fadolapo said that the agency had created 17 new offices to be more responsive to the tasks before it.

A man is at daggers drawn.

In what may be described as a clash of titans, the regulatory body has had brushes with some of the wrong people.

According to a report, the Advertising Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) filed a lawsuit against the other.

While responding to some of the issues in its rebuttal, ARCON offered a plausible explanation to shed more light on the issue.

The agency is improving the advertising sector.

The regulatory body responded to the legal action.

In a press statement signed by the Head, Corporate Affairs, at the regulatory body, it was stated that its actions are aimed at improving the Nigerian advertising industry and protecting the interests of stakeholders.

Advertisers and other shareholders need to be involved in advertising contracts, contrary to ADVAN's stance.

Minimum acceptable industry standards are what the body's role is to establish.

These standards are only used as a framework to guide transactions. Standards for fair practices are established by regulatory agencies.

There are some ADVAN members that are uncomfortable with the new fair-trade practice framework. They want to take the industry for granted through exploitative policies, something they can't do in other countries. They will decline the same payment policies in Nigeria.

The fair-trade framework prevents members from taking advantage of the industry through exploitative policies, according to the Council.

ADVAN frowned at the ban on foreign models and emphasized its position in the statement.

According to the Council, it's local content policy aims to allow Nigeria and Nigerian to benefit from advertising.

The policy requires a minimum local content percentage in all advertisements in order to encourage the use of Nigerian in their advertisements.

The policy has allowed Nigeria and its citizens to benefit from the marketing communications industry.

The Council disapproves of companies that rely on imported advertisements as it leads to job losses and revenue outflow from Nigeria.

The Council defended its engagement with ADVAN, stating that the process involved input from all stakeholders and the public.

ADVAN representatives made both oral and written submissions at the public hearing at the National Assembly. The record of the law review process can be seen by everyone.

The president of ADVAN lied that they didn't make any submissions to the law. It's surprising to hear that ADVAN didn't engage.

The industry-standard practice is to pay for services rendered within 45 days most of the time, according to a challenge by ArCON.

The council questioned ADVAN's reluctance to comply with this practice, and suggested that they compare it with other markets. The Nigerian advertising industry is at risk due to unethical policies offered by ADVAN.

While accusing some ADVAN members of resisting changes that would improve the Nigerian economy and allow people to benefit from advertising, the council condemned the notion that certain sections of the law are "drastic."

Some ADVAN members are against the policy because it brings equity and fairness to the table. You have the ability to hire and fire agencies. Before you bring another agency to the business, you should reconcile and honour outstanding obligations from the contract. ADVAN insists that this is interference.

A lack of understanding of the Nigerian legal system and statements credited to the ADVAN President that a retired judge can't make a valid judgement as the Chairman of the Advertising Offence Tribunal are some of the criticisms.

Some of the opinions he has publicly express on critical industry issues are subject to this.