As the beer sectoral group harps on self-regulation, growing competition and poor sales are forcing players to flout the much-preferred self-regulation. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI looks at the industry’s challenges of sales and self-regulation.
Brewers have been working with the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to ensure that alcohol advertisements are done according to the rule prohibiting the placement of such advertisements during certain period on television, radio and newspapers.
Beyond that, the code also prohibits agencies from using children under 18 as models in campaign materials. In the light of ensuring compliance without having to wield the big stick on violators of the APCON code, stakeholders in the beer sector promised to deliver effective and credible self-regulation in their marketing communications but that promise in recent times appears to be waning. Recent developments showed that in the face of volatility in beer market couple with new entrants is forcing some of the top brands to tactically violate the watershed rule.
While the marketing continues, stakeholders observe that the allowance for internal examination is fast being taken for granted, hence, may prompt the regulator to wield the regulatory big stick. Pouring about 20 million hectolitres of alcoholic drinks into the market yearly, the sector sometimes ago had through an industry summit organised by APCON on Alcohol Marketing and Marketing Communications began to chart ways to manage the potential Impact of Alcohol Beverage Marketing and Marketing Communications on the Society.
During the summit, the Beer Sectoral Group (BSG) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the International Centre for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) and the World Federation of Advertising (WFA) in an attempt to collaborate with APCON brainstormed on the best way forward for an industry choked by regulation and challenged by the need and, as stated, their right to do business and be in business.
Being forced to caution consumers to “Drink responsibly”and “Not for persons under 18” on their commercials communication, a brand expert working with a leading brewer, who preferred anonymity, said the industry feels “unfairly treated and have called for what some described as ‘respect for their right’ to do legitimate businesses”.
He gave credence to a position by the President of WFA, Stephan Loerke, who in a global trend presentation, stated that, those countries with stiffer alcoholic advertisement regulation records higher consumption than countries without any. During the alcohol summit held in Nigeria in 2012, Loerke, admonished industry players not to be seen to be disobeying rules of alcohol marketing. “We should not be seen to be disrespecting the sensitivities of regulation and society. We will continue to do this and move to a point where we agree on what is good for our society, what is good for our belief systems and balance that with what is good for business to thrive in our environment,” he said.
While the BSG, a member of the MAN expressed believe that self-regulation rather than ban on alcoholic communications in the media is a way to regulate the industry, a recent development showed that self-regulation could be tactically flouted. Barely a year after the alcohol summit, some brewer flouted a major campaign watershed rule despite their claim to self-regulation. In an effort to increase sales during Christmas, the brewer, a member of BSG re-launched one of its flagship brands in a manner industry experts described as not only flouting regulations but flew in the face of the self regulation sing-song of the sector.
The situation aggravated industry regulator, hence, undermined the drive industry call for internal self examination to drive marketing and regulatory compliance, prompting the use of ‘big stick’ to ensure compliance.
However, while the big stick option remains unimportant to industry observers, a brand expert, Mr. Yemi Brown (not real name) who works for a media agency servicing a media account a new beer brand, told The Nation that those who are rooting for regulatory “big-stick” are still worried over some issues.
“These borders on the relationship between the impacts of whatever sanctions are prescribed for non-compliance and take-outs from marketing mileage. A brand might be fined N5 million for regulatory breaches but when measured against a marketing mileage of immeasurable value, the sanction diminishes in impact. In other words, there just might be deliberate flouting of rules with the thought that paying relatively insignificant fines would do little on whatever mileage would have been achieved.”
But Nigeria is not the only country where self regulation has been applied in alcohol beverage marketing. In fact, in many countries, advertising for beverage alcohol (as well as for many other products and services) has been subject to self-regulatory rules for many years. A recent survey of 22 European countries, according to www.ourthinking aboutdrinking.com found that 21 of them, including all EU member states, have developed self-regulatory systems which govern alcohol advertising. In particular, the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) is dedicated to acting as a single voice on advertising self-regulation issues, and promoting high ethical standards in commercial communications by means of effective self-regulation.
However, the Nigerian alcoholic beverage industry has been urged to comply with rules of compliance, especially those set by the industry itself. For industry observers, rules on alcohol marketing are not new. “There are global templates that the industry in Nigeria can easily adopt and follow to get their marketing right. It happened in the tobacco industry in the not-too distant past. There was no need for anyone to wield any big stick against them even when everyone knows the tobacco industry in Nigeria is a virtual monopoly.”
