ADVOLUTION: rethinking the present advertising landscape for what is to come

By Amechi Obiakpu

In a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming creativity and reshaping every aspect of communication, the need to rethink the present advertising landscape for the future of the industry was brought to the fore at the 53rd AGM of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).

The event, held in Lagos on Friday, July 24, 2026 pulled together stakeholders from the advertising ecosystem including the media. One narrative that experts at the gathering did not mince words about, is the fact that, the future of the advertising industry is too important to be left to chance hence there was the need to either adapt to the current technological reality or lead it.

In a thought provoking keynote address, Dr. Meksley Nwagboh, the Chief Marketing Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc said the end of advertising is not a tragedy but an invitation to return to the true purpose of advertising to understand people and move market.

Speaking on the theme, “ADVOLUTION: The End of Advertising As We Know It and How To Win What Comes Next,” Dr. Nwagboh pointed that any agency that can solve client problems will always be relevant to clients irrespective of their size, as the go-to-market strategy no longer works in this day and age.

According to him, good market strategy is one which provides solutions to client problems.

“If your client’s problem is in promotion, then yes, it’s about ads, it’s about designing marketing, it’s about getting the messaging right. But sometimes the problem is in the product, and sometimes the work and the value that you can add to your client is to help them understand what it is that the audience sees”.

For Dr. Nwagboh, the brands that will win will not necessarily be those that spend the most, but the winning brand will be those that create moments people genuinely want to talk about.

Narrating an experience from the just concluded 2026 FIFA World Cup Dr. Nwagboh said: “During the FIFA World Cup, the Norwegian Air challenged the British Air to a friendly wager on social media. The rules were very simple: whichever country’s team lost would replace its Instagram logo with that of the winning team for at least 24 hours. And so, British Airways accepted. Unfortunately, England beat Norway. The Norwegian Air, following the defeat, temporarily changed its profile to the British Airways look and congratulated them. Simple transaction. But what’s remarkable was what followed; the millions of people that watched, commented, shared, celebrated the exchange. Other airlines even joined the conversation. Global media picked up the story. Neither of these airlines were official World Cup sponsors, yet they became part of tournaments most talked about marketing moments. In the future, we will look back at the 2026 World Cup. We’ll remember it for its highs, for the beautiful game, but we’ll also remember it for what Norwegian Air did with British Airways, without even buying expensive ad slots or sponsorship rights or launching a traditional advertising campaign. Yet they were able to reach millions”.

Continuing he said: “that to me is absolution. The advertisement wasn’t the labor force. The advertisement wasn’t the conversation. The media buy wasn’t television or billboards. The media was the audience itself”.

He posted that, creativity was no longer confined to a third-second commercial. It unfolded in real time, with consumers becoming participants, storytellers, and distributors today-a clever idea that captures culture can generate more attention than a campaign with multi-million-dollar budgets”.

As technology continues to disrupt the ecosystem with consumers becoming more deserning, Dr. Nwagboh noted that AI is no longer a distant promise. It has moved from the margins of experimentation into the daily region of marketing and communication across the world.

While mentioning trust as one of the most important value in the marketing communication space, he listed some of the factors that agencies must do to compete favourably in the industry to include: invest in capabilities; redesign talent; measure what matters; protect originality; become experience partner and build AI literacy among others.

In his presentation Tomiwa Aladekomo, Chief Executive Officer, Big Media Cabal posited that Advertising, as we know it, literally is coming to an end. The future according to him will not be won by those who defend old habits with new vocabulary. It will be won by those who understand that the next era of communication must be more intelligent, more integrated, more predictive, more participatory, and most importantly, more accountable.

Speaking earlier in his welcome address, Lanre Adisa, AAAN President said, before now, one of the biggest anxieties for an advertising agency was losing a pitch, retaining clients, and staying ahead of the competition but now the bigger conversation is around Artificial Intelligence.

Although, he noted that those concerns have not disappeared they have added to a far more fundamental question that confront the industry.

“In a world where artificial intelligence is transforming creativity, where consumers are changing faster than brands can adapt, where creators are becoming media companies, and where technology is reshaping every aspect of communication, the greatest threat is not that another agency wins the business. It is that the business itself changes—and we fail to change with it”.

He affirmed that, “Advolution: The End of Advertising as We Know It… and How to Win What Comes Next,” is not merely a conference title. It is a call to action.

“Across the globe, advertising is undergoing perhaps the greatest transformation in its history. Artificial intelligence is redefining how ideas are conceived, developed and executed. Data is reshaping strategy. Technology is disrupting every touchpoint of the consumer journey. The creator economy has fundamentally altered the way influence is built. And consumers are demanding participation instead of interruption, authenticity instead of spin, and experiences instead of messages. The rules we mastered are evolving. The models that built many successful agencies are being challenged. The future is no longer approaching. The future has arrived. The question before us is simple. Will we merely adapt to change, or will we lead it?” He queried.

Adisa who runs one of the leading creative agencies in the country, Noah’s Ark, is optimistic  as he believes that advertising has never simply been about producing campaigns.

“At its very best, our profession has always been about solving business problems through powerful human insight and transformative ideas. That has not changed. What has changed are the tools available to us. Technology is becoming more powerful by the day. Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly reshape how we work. But technology, on its own, does not create meaning. Algorithms can optimise. Machines can generate. But only people can imagine. Only people understand culture. Only people can feel emotion, appreciate nuance and create ideas capable of moving hearts, shifting behaviour and building enduring brands. The future will therefore belong not to those who fear technology, nor to those who rely on it blindly. It will belong to those who combine technology with imagination, data with empathy, and innovation with timeless human creativity,” Adisa posited.

Do you have a compelling story to tell? Contact us via our email: espinewsng@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp on 08032519246.