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Opayemi - Quacks Are Frustrating Efforts to Position PR Practice [interview](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Publicity Secretary, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi, spoke with Raheem Akingbolu and Mary Etienne about the determination of the professional body and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to purge the profession of quacks and ensure adherence to ethical practices in PR. Excerpts: From medicine to law and several other professions, quackery has remained a big bother, which stakeholders are daily contending with. For the Public Relations profession, while the stigma resulting from the abnormal situation has almost denied the noble profession of its essence in the society, several moves have been made to control its spread. But according to the Publicity Secretary, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi, a lot of factors are frustrating the moves. He said: "Quackery in PR practice has not only become a worrisome development, it is causing embarrassment for professionals in our industry. Not that many of us are comfortable with it but it has remained difficult to banish because of our peculiar situation in Nigeria. One; there is no strict entry barrier compared to some professions. Another reason is that as a result of our poor knowledge of public relations, some brand owners and even those in public service often engage people who know next to nothing about PR to handle their briefs." To this end, Opayemi disclosed that PRCAN as a body of professionals has mapped out strategies through which it would sensitise the public on functions of public relations, for them to be able to draw a line between a genuine practitioner and a fake one. He also lamented that the body is worried because of the wrong impression that PR is all about media relations. "It baffles me as an individual to see many educated people seeing Public Relations from the perspective of media relations alone, when MR is just a leg among several functions of PR. In today's market, core areas include: strategy development, public affairs, community relations and crisis management. That is why we are embarking on re-certification exercise in conjunction with NIPR to separate the wheat from the chaff. After this, we will run after the black sheep in the industry." Though the Publicity Secretary didn't see the body solving the problem permanently, he was confident that it would be reduced to the barest minimum by the time the current regime finishes its term. "Any professional practice where the barriers to entry are not clearly defined and enforced is a disaster waiting to happen. That is what has happened to PR practice in Nigeria over the years. This is why I said our foray into office as executives of PRCAN is a collective rescue mission. No matter the volume of law books I have read on law, can I just simply set up a law firm and head to court to defend a client No matter how I have learnt by experience to treat malaria, does that qualify me to set up a clinic in my neighbourhood and call myself a medical doctor It is just ridiculous. "Not only has there been a loose barrier to entry, it has become nearly non-existent over time. So, I speak the minds of most of my colleagues by saying, we will like to see the entry barriers clearly defined and enforced," he added. Level of Appreciation When asked if members of the public see any reason for PR engagement, Opayemi's answer was in the affirmative but he went on to explain that a lot of people, especially in the public service, are yet to come to term with the place of PR in brand building, information management and public communication. "Unlike before when the only people that appreciated PR were the few multinationals around, I think things have changed as many local organisations have come to realise that PR is important to brand development. The only area where we are having challenges is for potential clients to understand their briefs and what they are expecting at the end. If they know this, they will surely know who to engage," he said. On whether they are getting patronage from government or not, again, he refrained from making a sweeping generalisation but pointed out that patronage is still low from public service. "To say we are not getting briefs from government is like making a sweeping generalisation which I will not make. In fairness, there are some people in public service who understand the importance of PR more than those in private sector, but the truth is that more briefs from public service get into wrong hands, where they are often messed up," Opayemi added. Speaking on how well to build brand equity, the practitioner advocated the need for capacity building. He also urged government to engage professionals in breaking campaigns to be able to reach the target audience. APCON Reform Commenting on the report about the new reform in the advertising industry, Opayemi said the regulatory body had taken a courageous step in its battle to sanitise ad practice in Nigeria. "It is exemplary courage because it is something those of us in the leadership of PRCAN are watching closely and we are drawing inspiration from our preparatory steps to clean up the PR practice in Nigeria. It is also exemplary in the sense that the present leadership of the NIPR also has an example to follow. It is for those in the leadership of NIPR presently to decide how they want history to remember them. "For us in PRCAN, we have taken a decision that we will not leave PR practice in Nigeria the way we met it, and it will be for good. So, our foray into office as leaders of the PR profession in Nigeria is a collective rescue mission. We have become endangered species of the profession and only bold reforms aimed at sanitising the industry can save us. "In our industry too, we want prospective clients in the private and public sectors to know that there are firms recognised by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to practice PR consultancy in this country. So, if those agencies they have engaged do not belong to that league, they should be asking questions. Before you can call yourself a consultant gynecologist in medicine, there is a certain degree of expertise in that particular field of medicine you must be certified to have obtained. "That is why we are currently running an advocacy campaign under the theme, 'Engage a PRACN Agency.' We are taking this to both the private sector and the public sector. We have published the names of genuine PRCAN registered PR firms in Nigeria. So, it is left for a client to decide whether he or she wants to continue to be serviced and advised by a firm that is not in that league. "Secondly, I will like to see enhanced skills and better professionalism in PR practice. Again, this is already being given enhanced attention by PRCAN. At our last executive meeting, we also extended opportunity for the training to brand journalists. This is to enhance their understanding of the practice for better reportage of PR campaigns and industry issues in general. I will like to see the PR practice regulated the way APCON has set out to regulate ad practice by introducing practice license with effect from January 1, 2013", he added. Affiliation and Branding If there are issues he thought are currently being misunderstood, they are simply affiliation and branding. While he didn't rule out the importance of affiliation to PR growth, Opayemi expressed belief that some local firms dreaming affiliation don't understand how it works. He also advocated entry barrier for foreign agencies seeking affiliation in Nigeria. On branding, Opayemi said the concept had almost been abused to mean propaganda, sloganeering and logo creation. "Why would any foreign agency waste time discussing affiliation with a Nigerian agency if there are no barriers to entry They will simply jump into a plane and set up their practice here without qualms. They still see the marketing communications market in Nigeria as a banana republic and a country of 'anything goes'. "But I am comforted that the practitioners in advertising understand the import of what is happening and they are standing up to the challenge. While our colleagues in advertising are awake, some of our colleagues in PR are totally oblivious of the fact that there is a tsunami sweeping our neighbours away. For those Nigerian PR firms that are in romantic affiliation relationships with the foreign agencies, my advice is that they should wake up. "It's the dawn of a new day in marketing communications. Europe is back into recession and America is struggling. So, your foreign spouse will divorce you and set up shop right next to you and begin to compete with you in the same market. Africa is where any discerning foreign PR agency would like to be now. Where else will a discerning foreign investor want to be except Nigeria This is Africa's second largest market for crying out loud. "The predictions are that, with stable reforms, the Nigerian economy will out-grow the South African economy in a matter of years. This is why economic analysts are no longer talking about the BRICS economies; they are now talking about the BRINCS economies with the letter N representing Nigeria. So, unless the barriers to entry are defined and enforced, more foreign agencies will be on the plane to Nigeria to set up in flagrant disregard for the laws regulating PR practice in Nigeria", he added. Speaking on rebranding, the publicity secretary stated that there must first be something to sell before any effort is made to market it. Using Lagos as an example, he pointed out that the state has done a lot of things which could be marketed and used as a launch pad for rebranding. "The idea of 're-branding' itself pre-supposes that there is a product. It further suggests that the product is either bad or at least, not very good, and needs to be improved upon. Therefore, it is absolute error when a group of people to celebrate something that has not existed on the pages of newspaper or through carnival and believe they have rebranded. In Lagos for instance". Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |