SUNDAY,  NOVEMBER 19 2006

Political advertising, for, by and to the people
By DR. MAY NZERIBE
OUR global understanding of the media has expanded beyond the old traditional media of: press, television, radio and outdoor.
The media now includes any point of contact or interface between the brand-corporate or product and its various publics.
The challenges include the need to abandon complacency in the face of compelling changes especially with the transfer of control to the consumer. Consumers care about more compelling content and more convenience.
Getting messages to the consumer (the electorate in political communication), has become more complicated. We are reminded by Paul Woolmington of The Media Edge, Y & R Inc. there are many paths to a consumer:
Television, real-time events; Physical space, sponsorship; The web street theatre, the telephone; mail, magazine, news articles; Editorial features, food transportation.
Consumers, like some of you here, are brutal editors, living in a world with an endless amount of media vehicles, saturated with content. The attraction will be a medium that provides them with something they need or want. The choices are many.
Media overview - 2005
Television
- Over 140 TV stations
- 1 Federal network service (NTA);
- Nigerian Television authority with 95 stations- 28 State-owned stations
- 14 Private stations
- Satellite stations (Africa Independent Television and Minaj Broadcast International)’
- 4 Digital TV stations (DSTV, Trend TV, FSTV, TITV).
Radio
- Over 90 radio stations
- Federal Network (FRCN) of 26 individual stations with 12 more expected within 2005’
- 56 State-owned stations (on Am & FM bands)
- 15 Private-owned stations
1 Community/university station (Unilag FM, Lagos).
Press
- Over 90 titles
- Dailies
- Midweek/weekend
- Sports/business.
Magazines
- Over 40 titles
- Weekly & monthly
- News magazines/entertainment
- Business sport
- Foreign/international titles.
Outdoor
- 112 Registered outdoor firms managing almost 20,000 boards pan-Nigeria.
Political advertising in Nigeria, wasn’t like this all along, from 1963. Where and how did we turn the bend? In a normal democratic setting, the ballot box is the arbiter acting as an undisguised umpire mirroring the consumers’ (electorate), choice, an exercise of their freedom based on candidates’ manifestos and programme’s of action. The electorate make their informed choices in the knowledge that such programmes would serve them best. That was why the ballot box was invented; but the politicians have put it to other uses, manipulating it to foist political candidates on us in a circus play wrongly tagged election. The ballot box, an election or a selection; choice of sorts, based on willing acceptance of programmes or imposition through manipulation.
Advertising offers choices, informed choice; before the surrendering of individual freedom to a set of leaders who in all honesty should earn this mandate and be seen to actually earn it.
In Professor Murata’s Humanisation of Information advertising is shown as a close dialogue or communication between corporate entities and consumers or their publics.
In discussing this theory of humanizing information, they had this to say: “beautiful leaves/flowers blossom from beautiful branches which shoot out from beautiful trees that in turn, grow out of beautiful roots. These beautiful roots which are hidden, represent advertising.” The role of such communications is recognized as vital and as a commitment-building strategy.
Honesty is important, an inner-directed flow of commitment, working from the individual (candidate) up to the society. This should be the spirit behind political advertising.
But that belongs to another geo-political entity or entities, not ours where elections have been held and winners emerged even when 24 hours to the “voting”, candidates were hardly known to the electorate and programs were vaguely proposed in usual broad terms or loosely defined.
People, we must remember, are now more literate and have become bored with tired, old theatricals. Things tend to work only if there is a genuine grassroots partnership.
The three (3) pillars of political communication support this, viz:-
* Campaign communication works best on emotion, not rational discourse.
* One-on-one research showed what was of prime importance to people and so what issues should therefore be addressed.
* The electorate at the grassroots
- their profile, what media mix, nature and spread of the election; attention or skepticism, general distrust of the government(s), mostly arising from credibility problems.
- what is wrong with things as they are?
- achieving equitable distribution of social benefits in the country’
- ensuring an efficient and effective political system;
- sustaining economic growth (very least expectation is the economy to grow at same rate as the population). “The population structure directs the needs, demands and aspirations of the people”
- maintaining peaceful relations among regions and ethnic groups.
Political advertising strategies and execution are not different from most other forms of advertising.
First, there are three key players. The party that produces the candidate; the consulting group who manage many inter-related facets of the exercise of selling party programmes and/or the candidate; and the media that carry the messages to the consumer (the electorate). This is an ideal setting where honest efforts are made to sell party positions that place more value on the community and the needs of others.
The old community spirit of high grid, high groups is no more modern and does not appeal to an increasingly relevant proportion of our population.
“A very important characteristic of the Nigerian population structure is its youthfulness, with a median age of 18 years. Forty four percent of the population is below age 15” according to UNFPA’s Ms Daniel Landry.
There is also the question of marketing in politics. Do you sell the politician the same way you sell products? Not quite! In politics same as social marketing, the needs of the electorate must be considered as well as the candidate’s. It is audience-centred in the search for a long-term relationship. What is in your programme for the electorate? Commercial marketing (promotion of products) focuses on its own concerns. It is self-centred or inward-looking.
Political advertising, as in other forms of advertising, has its rules of engagements and they are based on the industry’s ideals of:
i Is it the truth?
ii. Is it honest?
iii. It is decent?
iv. Is it legal?
Most political advertising in recent times have failed to live up to these benchmarks. Even in ordinary political discourse, we have tended to be abusive, directing attacks (verbal & physical) on individuals rather than issues; preferring to be evasive of core issues of electorates’ participation. Truth builds trust, a key element in our communication. Trust in the relationship between the candidate and the electorate, is presently at a discount.
The Media, however looked at, must assert itself and perform its oversight function in a democracy especially one as nascent and endangered as the Nigerian variant.
Advertising is a paid form of promotion by an identified sponsor. Since we have come to treat news as a cash and carry commodity inspite of NPAN, NGE, NBC and we fall over ourselves to promote individuals, not minding their background, the quality of what they say and the effect of some such pronouncements on our fragile peace and unity, the media should get in the dock.
Advertising agencies stand more condemnable. Anything goes. CNN’s Larry King talked of Nigeria exporting what it never had (democracy in an authoritarian Abacha regime).
There is arranged “hereditary” democracy where son takes over from father or an anointed, in a democratic setting. What tone and content in such political advertising?
* The electorate were not able to judge between what is feasible and what is outright falsehood.
Hope is of 2 kinds:-
a. Honest, true, achievable
b. distant, a hope designed to dull the impatience of the mind.
A discerning electorate should be helped by the media through honest investigative write-ups or more critical appraisal of political advertising materials for possible falsehood.
- not sponsored embellishments, the types we see in biographies/autobiographies or epitaphs.
* Quality of some leadership materials dumped on the society through faulty/fraudulent party “selection” processes has thrown up area fathers; elder citizen thugs; 419 godfathers, barons and kingpins who have no claim to exemplary good moral values to help society. They add no value to the system (the old social system of trickle down economy is sustained).
Amongst them today and yesterday are card-carrying members of Any Government In Power, (AGIP) - no strong attachment to principles, social doctrines and sustainable ideologies in the public interest, but with strong dubious credentials of practical loyalty program such as full page advertisements endorsing the recruitment/drafting of maximum rulers, or have been involved in million-man march; or as politicians, are fabled to be not deep in conviction, no permanent friends but permanent interests.
In asking the media for continued diligence, a Swedish saying comes to mind: “don’t throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water”.
Our memory is short (it was not designed to be so), so the media must serve our larger interests consistently and frequently - the odds and denial of personal benefits, notwithstanding.
Issues of decency and honesty are commonly determined by a diligent society with a lot of support from the media that beams its searchlight on parties, candidates and issues of developmental interest to the community. An uncompromised media will help the electorate know the candidates and their antecedents. Investigative reporting should take care of this.
Two issues come to mind here:-
a. The military have been pointed at as accumulating wealth during their incursion into governance. No one remembers those civilians inviting the military to take over governments based on inverted interests, till death do us part.
The media also forgot to remind us, since our memory is generally short, that aside military heads of state and military administrators with their command structure, the operating civil service, commissioners and special advisers were all civilians.
Moral rearmament: When you point your finger at your neighbour, there are three more pointing back at you.
In the case of corruption, we have a reference point in our national life:- So much religion in the air, and yet Nigerians are not that religious.
Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich, reminds us that: “No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability and knowledge to insure the accumulation of a great fortune without the cooperation of other people”.
The fourth ideal in political advertising is legality. What is the role of the media in ensuring respect for our laws? What is their position on ethical issues, social and constitutional responsibilities? What provision exist to guide political campaigns and how could the media, as the message keep to the rules of the game, e.g.
i. Constitutional provisions especially in the areas of the freedoms and human rights abuses.
ii. APCON’s code of advertising practice and sales promotion. Section 4.7 on page 37 addresses issues such as pre-exposure vetting or copy advice, truth in our messages; false claims or misrepresentation, advertiser’s identity; ethnicity, religion and all such sectional interests; equal opportunity issues? There is emphasis in 4.7.8 as it urges media houses and stakeholders to ensure that political advertisements are in consonance with all laws and regulations.
iii. Nigeria Broadcasting Code, 2003 edition, pages 85/86 deal with political advertisement.
iv. INEC has provision requiring the media’s special attention.
Whither, the media?
* Globally, news channels and titles have always beamed on negatives especially in areas of news/features focusing on crime, sex, human right abuses, conflicts, etc.
Our response is to counter global “information tsunami, which are relayed up to the minute on a repetitive basis, by setting up and operating our own channels, DSTV or MTV will not do it for us.
* Products and services are promoted on the basis of their living up to the promises of benefits. No bad product succeeds in repeat buy-ins without re-formation; re-packaging and re-positioning.
* Our media reports help others determine the level of interactions and investment.
Our leaders have not helped the brand, Nigeria. Our media should help beam the searchlight on candidates and generally determine the moral tone of our political advertising. Ultimately, rigging, selection or no selection of candidates through manipulation and maneuvering predetermined results through executive intimidation and such other abuses, will be reduced or totally end in the people actually electing their leaders.
Even as the conveyor of our paid for political messages, have been circumspect about messages we know will hurt our future because the claims or promises are fraudulent?
Have our commercial interests tot ally overwhelmed our sense of social responsibility to the nation, the society, the electorate?
Asahi Shimbun: - Tell the truth
- Not damage the dignity of the pages
- Not violate provisions of the country’s laws and advertising codes
- Not damage the interest of readers.
* What professional consideration are expected, then?
- Tell the truth, show the truth words and pictures of an advertisement should both pass the test
- General impressions
-Avoid weasles’ and dangling comparisons
-Our candidates operate in our midst.
Candidate’s antecedents should help determine objective or competitive claims.
Where the electorate do not get the total picture, the advertisement is misleading or there is a deliberate intention to mislead.
-Stretching the truth, in ethnicically sensitive environments is never encouraged.
-Try to protect the consumer. Common sense requires us to adopt consumer protection by telling the truth and carrying only truthful hard or commercial, news,. We must appreciate the need to communicate sensibly and responsibly.
- Eschew invidious or misleading generalisations capable of causing problems for the ordinary citizens.
Last words
* Desmond Tutu
- If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
Chinua Achebe
- You can never wait for the ideal circumstances to take action. You do what you can right away - not in 50 years or 15 because you cannot be certain where the current situation will lead. (as quoted by Amy Otchet of UNESCO).

DR. NZERIBE is a media consultant.
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