Many Banks Suffering From Cultural Complex, Says Lolu Akinwunmi

Lolu Akinwunmi

Immediate Past Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON and CEO, Prima Garnet Africa Group, Mr. Lolu Akinwumi, has slammed many Nigerian banks over their new trend of television commercials, describing them as new wave of colonial mentality and inferiority complex.

Akinwunmi stated this Wednesday in a post on his Facebook timeline.

He said after his conclusion of a personal study and appreciation of campaigns by Nigerian banks, except for a few, it is quite clear that many are suffering from a cultural complex.

“In concept and execution, many of the TV and print ads are clearly not targeted at Nigerians. The messages (in the TVCs) are too highbrow and lose comprehension within the Nigerian society which is the primary target,” noted Akinwunmi, who had also at a time headed the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN.

He added: “The models are foreign-looking and speak with irritating affected accents. The locations and scenes are obviously too foreign. Even if they were trying to be aspirational, surely they have gone too far. You cannot link what they are showing and saying with anything in our local environment. The sense you get these days is a fierce competition on who produces the most foreign – looking campaign!”

The Prima Garnet boss also frowned at the fad of having almost all TVCs looking like what are being aired on other western capitals like New York, London and Paris.

“We travel around a bit. You should see South African and Indian ads. They are made for South Africans and Indians. And they win international awards. Now many of our banks and a few other clients have foreigners write and develop these ads for them for use in Nigeria. How on earth will it work? Is this the new standard of sophistication?” he queried.

He however challenged them to undertake a post-campaign comprehension study and they will be amazed that millions of naira are being spent on campaigns that are not resonating with the target audience.

In recent times, many banks MDs are now appearing as the lead in their institutions’ TVC campaigns with highly elitist messages.

This has made industry watchers wonder if they are actually communicating with average Nigerians that provide the revenues for those banks, while others query the role of APCON in this regard.

“This love for foreign taste go beyond the business realm. It has indeed permeated even family lives and general behaviour. We now have parents who do not speak their mother tongues to their children….the list is endless. My description of this is not colonial mentality…I’ll rather call it “inferiority complex” mixed with mental indolence both on the side of the clients and the Agencies,” said Joko Okupe, a senior advertising professional.

Sharing same sentiment, another industry player, Yomi Layinka said more than its economic consequences, this craze for foreign concepts and production values has a much more psychosocial impact on our cultural values and their consequent national self-confidence.

He said, quoting Lloyd Weaver: “…TV adverts inevitably advertise a people’s current economic desires, their extant language of communication (both verbal and non-verbal) as well as their costumes and artifacts. TV advertising as a critical tool of cultural signification cannot be left in the hands of people who do not understand their significance. So, let all who know come to the rescue in whatever ways we can before we all rue the ramifications of our inactions.”

Culled from PMNEWS