Covenant University wins 2025 AIC creative advertising pitch competition
By Amechi Obiakpu
Covenant University on Tuesday outperformed three other tertiary institutions to win the Advertising Industry Colloquium (AIC) 3.0 creative advertising pitch competition.
The tertiary institution emerged winner with 564 points to retain the title it won at last year’s edition. First time entrant, Pan Atlantic University came second with 512 points ahead of River State University and University of Ilorin with 410 and 375 points respectively.
The creative advertising pitch competition was one of the highlights of the 2025 Advertising Industry Colloquium otherwise known as ‘town meets gown’. The event pulled advertising industry practitioners and academia including students to bridge the gap between the theory and the reality in the advertising practise.
Organised by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) the event was held at the Sheba Centre, Maryland, Ikeja, with the theme: “From Dialogue to Data: Merging Storytelling, Human Engagement & Techs in Marketing Communication”.
In his opening remark, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, Director General, ARCON said the concept behind the AIC is to create conversation between what is being learnt at the tertiary institutions and the reality in the advertising practise.
According to him, such conversation has to be an ongoing one to bridge the gap between the ‘town and gown’.
“The conversation is what we need to keep going not in this gathering alone, because the conversation between the town and gown is extremely important, most especially these days”.
Expressing the concern of many practitioners, the ARCON boss said: “They found out that when the graduates of the profession are being brought to the industry the lacuna is so wide.
“We don’t want to have another situation where we will be creating another finishing school- so we need to continue this engagement. Which is one of the aims behind the AIC,” Dr. Fadolapo added.
“One cannot say between the theory and practical which is better because both complements each other- the theory shapes the practice while the practise is enlightened by the learning in the classroom,” says Professor Rotimi Olatunji, rpa, Chairman, AIC and Journal Committee.
Prof. Rotimi said the theme of the 2025 AIC is fitting, topical and timely. “The advertising and marketing communication industry has now been remarkably altered by a combination of centrifugal forces, chief of which are the internet, digitization, Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, technologies and lots more.
“Effective marketing communication under this ecology demands not only stories compellingly told but also messages that connect to the hearts, intellect, culture, spiritual essence, and ethos, particularly given the complexity of Nigeria’s diversities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the four tertiary institutions emerged from the pre-event pitch competition carried out across institutions in Nigeria. Their presentations were centred on rebuilding the nation.
For emerging victorious Covenant university received the sum of one million naira. Pan Atlantic University got 750 thousand leaving the River State university and Unilorin with 500 thousand and 250 thousand naira respectively.
The judging criteria were based on creative originality, emotional and cultural impact, strategic relevance, call to action and execution/presentation.
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