The Advertising Regulatory Council (ARCON) recently unveiled plans to establish a stock image bank named the Nigeria Stock Image Bank (NSIB). The agency has inaugurated a committee tasked with laying the groundwork for its establishment.
Considering this development, ADVAN, as the body of advertisers (corporate organizations that utilize marketing and advertising to promote products and services), believes it is pertinent to put our position forward and highlight some critical items:
1. We want to state clearly that advertisers are not represented on the committee established by ARCON for the setup of the Stock Image Bank. ADVAN does not have a representative on the panel. If there is any advertiser on that panel, they are there in their organizational capacity and do not represent or speak on behalf of advertisers.
2. In our opinion, the establishment of such a comprehensive system, which will be utilized for commercial interactions as well as house proprietary works, should, as a matter of necessity, engage and include all relevant regulatory agencies that have constitutional oversight of these functions in the development process. This inclusion is essential to ensure that regulation for the system is appropriately managed by the constitutionally empowered agencies in charge of such matters. It will also help to forestall new regimes of unwanted multi-level taxation in an already overregulated industry.
3. We wish to state unequivocally that the establishment of this system should not interfere with the constitutional rights of advertisers to patronize vendors/contractors of their choice while conducting their legal businesses. As organizations that have the constitutional right to determine their own contractual and partnership structures, we will not accept any system that seeks to restrict our rights in this capacity. Commercial activities in a free-market economy should not be monopolized, as there is a clear difference between regulation and monopoly. The image bank system should operate on a ‘free to participate’ basis for both suppliers and buyers. The system must communicate strong value as a means of attracting participation, rather than attempting to use any form of illegal ‘fiat’ or other unconstitutional methods.
Finally, it is ADVAN’s desire that the marketing and communication industry move forward and thrive. It is, however, disturbing that policy creation in the industry is not achieved by an all inclusive stakeholder approach, but by the submissions of a selected few
The façade of ‘ADVAN was on the committee or was in the room,’ while completely ignoring our contributions, does not inspire much trust in these committee processes.
ADVAN, as a critical stakeholder in the marketing communications industry, will always be at the forefront in supporting stakeholder-inclusive, well-researched regulations for the development and viability of our industry.
