A former Registrar of APCON, Dr Josef Bel-Molokwu, has decried the absence of a professional association for individual advertising professionals, calling for the inauguration of such a body.

Dr Bel-Molokwumade the call for the launch of his latest book, A Trilogy of Advertising: The Profession, The Practice, The Philosophy. Presentation of the book held November 16 at the NAN Media Centre, Iganmu, Lagos.

Dr Bel-Molokwu said that he had always worried that advertising practitioners had no professional association of their own in Nigeria since the six sectoral advertising associations only had a corporate membership. He said he had initiated the move to encourage practitioners to form an association during his tenure as head of APCON, but regretted that the industry had been largely lukewarm to the idea, with only a trickle of activity by practitioners in Abuja and Port Harcourt.

He said another issue requiring deliberation in the industry is “the non-existence of a generic name for professionals of advertising”. He mentioned the challenge facing advertising practitioners all over the world to develop a word to describe themselves, noting that advertising appeared to be the sole profession that had no English appellation, unlike other fields which had lawyers, medical doctors, engineers, pharmacists and the like as nomenclature.

Bel-Molokwu said there is a need to “embody the Regulator and the Consumer as additions to the pedestal of advertising, alongside the Advertiser, the Agency and the Media”. He postulated, “Advertising has advanced far beyond a tripod. The overriding importance of the Consumer and the Regulator in contemporary marketing communication has made it crucial for them to be part of the feet on which advertising stands. Therefore, a valid case is made for the Quintupod of Advertising in place of the tripod.”

He said the Consumer and the Regulator had defined advertising by their overriding roles over the years and the industry should include them in the structure to form a Quintupod.

The author said the need to do more study and writing inspired the need writing of A Trilogy of Advertising. In his remarks at the event, the author thanked all those present and who have supported his book penetration initiative. He quipped that, age permitting, he could attempt to write one or two more books on advertising, adding that he was so spurred by what he called “unfinished business in this book”.

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