By Martin Ogumah
The 2025 National Advertising Conference (NAC 2025), holding at the Abuja Continental Hotel, entered a defining moment this week as industry leaders, regulators, and professionals underscored the urgent need for inter-generational collaboration, digital readiness, and strategic transformation to strengthen Nigeria’s marketing communications landscape.
At a Fireside Chat themed “A Different Generation, a Different Industry,” Dr. Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi, President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), emphasised that the industry’s future depends on creating a culture of knowledge sharing, mentorship, and seamless interaction between the older and younger generations.
According to her, workplaces with multi-generational teams must deliberately foster environments where younger practitioners feel safe, valued, and empowered to express themselves.
“If leaders do not create an enabling environment, team members may feel unappreciated – and that affects productivity,” she noted. “It is our responsibility as leaders to give access, break barriers, share knowledge, and document experiences so young professionals can shorten their learning curve rather than reinventing the wheel.”
Other panellists – Anthony Eigbe (Tecno West Africa), Maryam Amuda (Aster Integrated Marketing), and Bello Yusuf (3-IPOD) – echoed her views. Bello stressed that while trends evolve, industry fundamentals remain constant, warning that any organization lacking foundational principles will eventually falter. Amuda highlighted that today’s audience is dynamic and highly intentional — a shift requiring marketers to adapt messaging strategies to new digital realities.
In his goodwill message, Lanre Adisa, AAAN and HASG President, affirmed that NAC 2025 is not “talk for the sake of talk” but a vital platform for exchanging insights that strengthen the ecosystem.
Opening Day 2 of the conference, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), positioned the gathering as the industry’s central convergence point for rethinking communication strategies in a rapidly changing world.
With the theme “Marketing Communications: Transforming Businesses and Creating Growth in Challenging Times,” Dr. Fadolapo warned that businesses now operate in an environment where market algorithms shift rapidly, consumer insights evolve unpredictably, and digital disruption constantly rewrites the rules of engagement.
“Digital disruption is transforming how we communicate,” he said. “This makes our ability to communicate effectively more vital than ever.”
He reiterated that the conference offers a space for professionals to learn, unlearn, and relearn, especially as every economic sector seeks new strategies to remain sustainable. The ARCON DG encouraged attendees to use the conference as a springboard to generate bold ideas that will reposition the industry.
“May this conference ignite fresh thinking and strengthen our ecosystem. It should remind us that great communication remains one of the most powerful tools for business growth – even in challenging times.”
Across all sessions, one message stood out: the future of Nigerian advertising lies in inter-generational collaboration powered by digital innovation. Speakers stressed that to stay relevant, the industry must: Mentor and empower younger practitioners, adopt the channels they understand – digital media, social platforms, AI, and data analytics, build workplace cultures that encourage shared learning and mutual respect, and document legacy knowledge while embracing new digital competencies.]
As NAC 2025 continues, it reaffirms the industry’s commitment to building a collaborative, technologically driven, and future-ready marketing communications sector — one that integrates the wisdom of the past with the energy of the next generation to accelerate business growth in the digital age.
Martin Ogumah has graduate degrees in Sociology and Political Science. He has over 20 years of experience in media, advertising, and PR
