Joel Nettey, the Chairman and World President of the International Advertising Association (IAA), has proposed the establishment of the Brand Ghana office by an Act of Parliament.
In an interaction with President Akufo-Addo during a courtesy call to the presidency, he noted that, the move will ensure the office receives funding.
Mr. Nettey further intimated it will simultaneously enable the country to have a dedicated outfit projecting Ghana to the world and attracting the needed Foreign Direct Investments.
“It takes concerted effort to build an admired national brand that attracts investments. Campaigns like Truly Asia, Incredible India and the South African campaign do not just happen. There is a method to the madness. I propose for your consideration Mr. President that, just as President Kufuor set up EDIF by an Act of Parliament, the same should be done for the Brand Ghana office with clear funding streams and direction, then the value that Ghana will generate from the sustained Brand Ghana office will live for generations unborn.”
The first Brand Ghana office was established under former President John Attah Mills, but after years of inactivity, the office was replaced under the current administration by a committee made up of the Ghana Tourism Authority, and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, among others, to carry out the work of the now defunct outfit.
Elsewhere, the president of the International Advertising Association, Joel Nettey in an interview on the sidelines of the Second Africa Leadership Conference, noted that, the absence of the Advertisers Council Bill will make it cumbersome to efficiently control the Advertising industry.
Among other things, he intimated that, the passage of the Bill will give them the legal backing to prosecute advertisers who contravene industry rules.
“As it is right now, we don’t have rules and regulations. You switch on your television and you see an advertiser advertising all sorts of things in real weird times. But it goes beyond us, if there isn’t a body that will guard the advertising space and hold people in check, then really, it is an open playing field, and we can’t afford that”.
In a similar vein, the Advertising Association of Ghana on October 1, 2020, lamenting the precarious position of the sector due to the pandemic, justified the need for the passage of the bill.
The President of the Association, Mensah Togbor, similarly revealed at the association’s 29th Annual General that, agencies have had to streamline their budgets and that affected their cash flows.
“Any industry especially in our industry advertising, when there’s a problem the first thing every company does is to cut marketing budgets. In January people had good budgets then all of a sudden in February, COVID-19 came. I don’t know anyone who didn’t suffer.
“We all suffered. Budgets were cut, some 80 percent, least was 40 percent but most were 80, 60 percent because the companies didn’t even know that they would continue to work. Therefore our industry was at the edge of total collapse”.
He further expressed worry over the paucity of the bill which he indicated will regulate the space.
“Like any other industries, there are rules governing it. There are rules, you cannot just get up because you have been to school and you can read and write. You set up an agency with you and your wife with no qualifications then you start. Because what you do as an agency impacts on the nation, people so you have to do it professionally. So, there are rules guiding it.”
