BJAN Conference: Expert advocates dialogue on AISOP, unconscionable contracts

A veteran Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) lawyer and Managing Partner of Gee Law Firm, Mr Nosakhare Uwadiae, has urged stakeholders displeased with the new Advertising Industry Standard of Practice (AISOP) document to embrace dialogue in the interest of bringing sanity to the industry.

He also warned IMC agencies to be careful with the document they sign with brands as most of those contracts fall within the regime of unconscionable contracts.

Nosakhare made this known at the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) 9th Annual General Meeting/Conference held at Presken Hotel, Opebi, Lagos recently, where he spoke on the sub-theme, “Advertising, Impartiality and Regulation’’ based on the theme of the 2021 conference: “Media Management in Difficult Times”.

Commenting on the contract signed between agencies and brands, he emphasised that most contracts are unfair and at times adapted from other countries which are not in line with the laws of the land, adding that most of the contracts have unfair contract terms and unequal bargaining powers.

“From experience, it is observed that most contracts between clients and agencies are bereft of equity. More often, the contracts are more to the advantage of clients (one-sided) and the agencies’ bargaining power is weak because of desperation to get business from the client. Most of the contracts clients sign with agencies falls within the regime of unconscionable contracts,” he stated.

Speaking on AISOP, Uwadiae stated: “I would recommend that Advertising Stakeholders in Nigeria should take another look at the AISOP and come up with balanced recommendations. A short, medium and long-term assessment of the recommendations should be candidly reviewed to make recommendations that will be far-reaching in the interest of all parties. There should also be an agreement amongst stakeholders for review of the AISOP every five years to plug gaps and adjust to current realities. This should be part of the AISOP.”

Noteworthy, according to APCON, AISOP is a business framework that seeks to improve mutual respect, eradicate unfair advantage, unethical competition, and inequitable engagement terms between stakeholders in the Advertising and Marketing Communication sector of the Nigerian economy which took effect from the 6th of October 2021.