As the 2015 elections draw near, stakeholders in marketing communication are joining hands with relevant electoral groups to ensure that communication experts are engaged to handle their political advertising campaigns to align with best global practices. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI reports.
It was a meeting of eggheads in the advertising and public relations industry. With the thrust of the forum centered around ensuring that the quality of political advertising campaign materials conform with certain codes of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and that of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it was, therefore, not surprising that politicians also thronged the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua International Centre, Abuja, venue of the forum.
The forum, an initiative of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), was aimed at enhancing a free and fair election in 2015.
With the dirty practices that characterise the nation’s politics, experts want communication professionals to handle electioneering campaigns’ project to build the right perception for the polity in line with best global practices.
With self-regulation almost impossible among broadcasting and news organisations in the heat of electioneering campaigns, coupled with the desperation syndrome by parties, their candidates and political campaign communication managers, INEC, is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that a collaboration between AAAN, BON and NBC change the game.
INEC said during the international seminar with the theme, Political advertising, perception building and voters education, that it has reviewed the regulations contained in its code of conduct governing political advertisements and campaigns with a view to ensuring strict compliance by political parties and their candidates.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said: “All expertise should be put to good use for the purposes of organising clean and positive campaigns that will help them win elections, rather than the kind of uncivil campaigns that take place in our country. It is important that we regulate and sanitise our campaigns.”
He said the electoral body has revised the regulations governing campaigns and already shared a draft of those guidelines to political parties. We hope to finalise it and very soon, we will put it into effect so that political parties will know clearly where to draw the lines and the sanctions that would apply if they do not act according to the rules and regulations.
He expressed satisfaction that the seminar has shown that we can learn good practice from other countries and factor it into your own preparations. “It is very important that we sanitise the electoral process and political campaigns. They should be research-based, well informed and expertise should be brought to bear in the preparation and conduct of political campaigns.”
Also, the National Chairman, All Pro-gressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, said political advertising remained a very important aspect of electioneering process.
“I urge advertising practitioners to go to INEC and collect the code of conduct already signed by political parties. The code of conduct is in a position to regulate what advertising practitioners will do. If you know that what somebody is telling you to project for him is offending the law and the rules, you will drop such materials and it is very critical that advert practitioners partner with INEC because they are very important stakeholders in this process,” he affirmed.
While advertisements influence decisions of the electorate in deciding whom to buy into, he stated that the absence of mechanism to regulate what political parties and their candidates are permitted to showcase to the electorate often lead them into making wrong choice.
“Political parties have a code of conduct they have signed with INEC and keeping strictly to it. Political parties should refrain from messages that are offensive and in conflict with normal acceptable norms in the society. It is very important that as we prepare for the 2015 general elections, what the political parties and their candidates should be taking to the electorate will be very critical in deciding who the people will choose ahead of others in a particular contest. So, it is very good that at this time, political parties are enjoined to keep by the rules. Mudslinging and propaganda politics should be avoided.
“You can’t decide to disparage people because they are your opponents. It is good that we have this seminar so that people will be told what to do. It is also very important that advertising practitioners would also be aware of all these things so that when people approach them to project certain messages to the Nigerian public, they will be properly guided. Billboards are raised containing certain messages, Newspaper advertorials are placed. All stakeholders are enjoined to vet and edit the content of materials coming to them from politicians before they go to print”.
Meanwhile, the Political Director of the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, Craig Smith, said to ensure best global practice, Nigerian politicians and their communication experts should ensure that in creating their campaign messages, they must start with research. He said research will reveal the popularity of the candidates, the need of the people, how to engage them, the best medium that will drive the campaign message to the right target so that electorate will make the right decision.
Craig also said globally, political candidates and their parties use communication professionals in line with best global practice. He cited Clinton-Gore campaign as an example which followed principles of advertising campaigns process and delivered electoral victories and governance impact in the USA.
However, Craig urged experts to desist from the use of attack communication strategy to attract voters’ sympathy; rather, politicians, he advised, should engage in activities such as community development projects that impact on the electorate, saying only this would attract their votes.
Meanwhile, the outgoing President of AAAN, Mrs Bunmi Oke, said the association will ensure that government and politicians engage professionals in political advertising. She said the recognition of the association by the Federal Government is an icing on the cake. “The icing on the cake is that we got Federal Government recognition that we are invited to be a member of the national Confab. That tells me that in this business we need to work as team with all stakeholders in the marketing communication.”
