Black House Media (BHM) has released Nigeria’s first Public Relations Report. The report is, however, facing a reliability test amid commendation, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.
The newly launched Nigeria PR Report, a first of its kind in the public relations industry is eliciting cheers and jeers in the marketing communication industry. The 106-page book is a compendium of quantitative and qualitative research augmented by industry-wide perspective and knowledgeable commentary on PR practice in the country.
It was released in collaboration with the group’s research arm – BHM Research & Intelligence (BRI), digital agency ID Africa, and Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), notable dignitaries from the PR, advertising and academic sectors.
They all converged on Protea Hotel, Ikeja where the report was made public for discussion and review.
”The inaugural Nigeria PR Report is an unbiased endeavour to depict the history, current state, existing challenges and prospects of the PR industry in Nigeria. Despite increasing intervention by PR to help communities, organisations and governments resolve problems they considered insurmountable, there is little data, if any, on the role of in-house PR teams and external consultancies in aiding local and international brands make sense of Nigeria’s chaotic business environment. This is the latest focus of BHM Research and Intelligence,” Founder and CEO BHM Group, Ayeni Adekunle said.
The CEO, Relics and Chief Brand Analyst-in-Chief at Brandish, Mr. Ikem Okuhu, who raised some posers on the report, said while it is a great intervention for an industry whose offerings have lost the respect of clients as because of dearth of data to back up their strategies, there are lots of loopholes that put the reliability of the report to question.
The report is criticised on the premise that an industry rating and report should come from an independent body and not from a player.
Secondly, the report is written in first person plural. Thirdly, most of the chapters (or sections) are signed off by the founder of this agency or in some instances, by his workers. Fourthly, generous doses of content were devoted to appealing to industry leaders, especially the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) (pages 34 to 44 of the report were exceptionally devoted for this purpose hence, coming out “obviously superfluous.”
“I devoted an entire weekend to digest the ‘Nigeria PR Report 2015: Inside the Public Relations Industry in Nigeria’. It may have been the first of such reports on the industry in Nigeria, but I expected a lot more. I have never seen a report written in the first person. But no matter how much you re-invent a wheel, it must have to be round. “Brave effort but there was just too much about his company and his person to make the report an acceptable ‘industry Report.’ But that was the biggest error in the report released by BHM. You do not write such reports in the first person. But paragraph after paragraphs, chapter after chapter, page after page, I kept reading Adekunle Ayeni. But I wanted to read the Nigeria PR Report!”
Okuhu noted that such reports are meant to be non-personal but based on facts and research.
“But even with all the research, the moment you present it by using the pronouns of ‘I’, ‘We’, ‘Us’, the message you are sending out is that you are merely presenting your personal opinion. As knowledgeable as you may be, this will certainly send the wrong message. In the end, what we have are very strong opinions of the people that worked on the project than a dispassionate, depersonalised report,” he added.
Reacting to Okuhu’s review, the Corporate Communication Director of Airtel, Mr. Emeka Oparah said: “As a practitioner from the clients’ side, I relate with most of the points raised. There’s a good point about an operator reviewing himself. Well, maybe he wouldn’t have, if there was someone out there looking at the industry and the practice critically.
“So, he’s created a niche opportunity for research practitioners to cash in. It’s bothered me forever how and why marketing professionals have earned more respect by keeping records, building up data, investing in research and promoting their profession-than PR practitioners.
“And by the way, PR practitioners, all over the world-not just in Nigeria, promote everyone else but themselves.”
He said these are issues that must be engaged, challenged and confronted head on.
Ayeni or BMH (what’s the difference, anyway) has got everyone thinking. I’m sure the report will spurn other reports and the second edition will be a vast improvement.
Also, speaking, the President of Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), Mr. John Ehiguese, said: “Like I said in my brief remarks, ideally it should have PRCAN preparing such a report, and I assure you that under my leadership we will take up that challenge in a practical way. Regardless of whatever perceived shortcomings in that report, we cannot deny that Ayeni has challenged us all, and it is up to us as PR practitioners to build upon what he has started. I mentioned to Ayeni in a telephone conversation that, at the very least, next time any Nigerian PR practitioner is attending an international conference, he/she can at least have something (from the report) to share with the world about Nigerian PR practice, beyond just talking about ‘opportunities’ and ‘potentials’. It’s definitely a good start, and I personally congratulate him for that.”
Despite that, the report joins a host of groundbreaking initiatives executed by the BHM Group. In 2014, the company launched Nigeria’s first PR app, simultaneously recording over one billion social media impressions for its portfolio of client campaigns.
The Brand Rating Index (BRI’s) report is an overview of public relations in Nigeria, its evolution, and an analysis of BHM’s #PrisDead campaign. For the campaign, about 200 Nigerians from three major cities (Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Abuja) were interviewed for the offline section of the research, with findings already presented in a series of videos, infographics, memes, blurbs and articles.
Ayeni explained: “The aim is to shed more light on the workings of the PR industry in Nigeria and chronicle the public – and practitioners’ – perception of the industry, with a view to ensuring its development moves apace with global standards of practice and the changing consumer demographics and preferences Nigeria is experiencing.”
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/
