Advertising professionals have been urged to continuously evolve their skills, business models and creative approaches to remain competitive in an industry being transformed by artificial intelligence, changing consumer behaviour and emerging technologies.
The call was made at the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) in Lagos, where industry leaders stressed that adaptation has become essential for agencies seeking long-term relevance and growth.
Delivering a keynote presentation on the theme, “AdVolution: The End of Advertising as We Know It and How to Win What Comes Next,” Divisional Head, Brand and Communications at Fidelity Bank Plc, Meksley Nwagboh, described the ongoing transformation of the advertising industry as an opportunity for practitioners to rethink how they create value, serve clients and connect brands with consumers.
Nwagboh said the profession had entered a new era where traditional methods, structures and assumptions are no longer sufficient in an environment increasingly shaped by data, automation, artificial intelligence and changing audience expectations.
Rather than viewing the changing landscape as a crisis, he urged agencies to see it as a call to build stronger organisations, create more intelligent campaigns and develop responsible communication systems.
According to him, meaningful evolution extends beyond adopting new technologies and requires a deeper understanding of people, culture and markets, alongside stronger strategic and creative capabilities.
He cautioned against allowing artificial intelligence to undermine originality or replace critical thinking, noting that the industry’s future leaders would not necessarily be those with the largest collection of AI tools, but those with the strongest strategic minds, cultural understanding and sound judgement on the appropriate application of technology.
Nwagboh encouraged agencies to deploy artificial intelligence to automate repetitive tasks while preserving the originality, imagination and human insight that distinguish effective advertising.
He also emphasised the growing importance of data, explaining that future-ready agencies must be capable of transforming data into insights, insights into strategy, strategy into compelling storytelling and measurable business results, while maintaining creativity, trust and relevance as the foundations of brand communication.
President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, Lanre Adisa, echoed the call for transformation, describing failure to adapt as a greater threat than change itself. He urged agencies to invest in talent development and strengthen their understanding of emerging technologies to complement, rather than replace, human creativity.
Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer of Big Cabal Media, Tomiwa Aladekomo, acknowledged that artificial intelligence is redefining the advertising landscape but maintained that human creativity remains the industry’s greatest competitive advantage because technology cannot replicate intuition, cultural understanding or original thinking.
Chairman of the conference and member of the AAAN Board of Trustees, Kelechi Nwosu, encouraged agencies to look beyond executing client briefs by developing and owning intellectual property, describing imagination as one of the industry’s most valuable commercial assets.
Representing the Lagos State Governor, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, described the conference theme as timely, noting that while technology continues to reshape society and business, creativity remains a uniquely human capability.
Speakers at the conference agreed that agencies willing to invest in people, embrace innovation, adopt technology responsibly and respond to changing consumer expectations would be best positioned to lead the next phase of the advertising industry.
They concluded that while technology will continue to redefine advertising, the future of the profession will ultimately depend on practitioners’ ability to preserve the enduring value of human creativity while adapting to new tools, behaviours and business realities.