Experts in the integrated marketing communications industry and others in the business of brand management have called on brands to take advantage of the immense visibility and advertising opportunities at the airport to reach their target audience.

The experts made the call at the event to uncover the treasures in airport advertising in Nigeria held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos with the theme “Optimizing Consumer and Brand Engagement” and organised by Air Power Limited, an Advertising, and Digital Interactive Out-of-Home (OOH) media company. Air Power has the concession of most of the indoor and outdoor Airport Terminals in the country.

According to Felix Ehikhuemen, Managing Director of Air Power Limited, the agency provides media leverage opportunities at 15 out of 22 Airports in the country with the vision to become the preferred OOH media partner to advertisers/buyers of media seeking to leverage their brands in niche markets and to increase customer engagement through the use of technology.
In his words, “At the moment, we provide media opportunities at Airports covering 15 out of 22 Airports in Nigeria, indoor and special position and offer a variety of advertising formats for your campaign- billboard, digital screens, and branding of special position.”

The Keynote speaker of the event, Dr. Ken Onyeali Ikpe, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of Insight Redefini, said airport advertising is a strong medium to reach a wide range audience including decision makers with a minimum spend. Therefore, he urged advertisers to reposition their brands with Airport Advertising.

“The average air traveler is generally better educated, more sophisticated, and wealthier than the audience in any other advertising environment. Advertisers can benefit from the possibility of addressing attractive target groups and high-contact figures with above-average incomes. The airport also presents opportunities for advertisers to address business travellers and key decision-makers who due to their selective use of media, are difficult to reach via other media,” he stated.

Alhaji Sadiku Rafindadi, Director of Commercial and Business Development, FAAN, represented by Hyacinth Ngwu, the General Manager, Commercial, Business Development, FAAN, revealed that after COVID-19 businesses returned to the airport tremendously more passengers than before which is an opportunity for brands to leverage on the advertising facilities to reach their target audience.

“Advertising at the airport carries trustworthiness, reliability, and, of course, international recognition. Take for instance, in 2020, the incident of COVID-19 came and we shut down the whole world, including the airports. I tell you as of 2021, businesses returned to the airport faster than other areas of business ventures, and they gave quick returns immediately after the pandemic.
“In the year 2018, our total passenger traffic at the airport was 16.37 million. In 2019, it rose to 17.58 million, in 2020, with the pandemic, it crashed to 9.35 million, but in 2021, it rose to 15.88 million. All businesses at the airport bounced back in 2022. Already we have recorded 18 to 19 million; that means we have surpassed 2019 figures. We are projecting about 20 million this year. It is statistics and a fact; so you can see that airport businesses are lucrative businesses,” Ngwu said.

Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) on his part also urged advertisers to take advantage of the opportunity at the airport to reach their audience as it would continue to regulate advertising in the country and create a level playing ground for all.

“Everything we have been doing is to grow the advertising space and we will continue to do just that,” he explained. He added that ARCON and FAAN as government agencies will continue to work together for the good of the airport advertising industry.

The event had heads of marketing, brand managers, integrated marketing communications agency executives, heads of sectoral groups, and captains of the advertising industry among others.

Specifically, some of the dignitaries at the event who also urged brands to leverage airport advertising include Dozie Mbanefo, MD/CEO, New Crystal Communications Limited (an agency partner to Air Power Limited); Kola Oyeyemi, CEO Axiom Intel; Emeka Okeke, Group CEO, Media Fuse Dentsu Nigeria; Femi Adelusi, GMD, BrandEye Media/BrainBox Nigeria and President, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN); Emmanuel Ajufo, MD, Opportunity To See Limited and President of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN); Dozie Okafor, MD, Phd Nigeria; Kelechi Nwosu, Managing Director, TBWA\Concept and Tosanwumi Omagbemi, MD, Interaction Channel Limited (ICL)