The Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria
(PRCAN) has committed itself to collaborating with Brand South Africa in
enhancing the relationship between both leading African countries.
In this light, PRCAN will work towards participating
actively in the Brand Summit scheduled to hold in South Africa later in the
year.
PRCAN President, John Ehiguese, who led his team to
receive a delegation from Brand South Africa in Lagos, said there were learnings
that Nigeria could draw from the strategies deployed by Brand South Africa in its
own destination branding programme.
According to Ehiguese, there were salient
opportunities for Nigeria to consider arising from the successful nation branding
of South Africa. He said: “We suffer from a negative perception externally. The
image of Nigeria out there is not what it should be. It is not that Nigeria is as
bad as it is often portrayed, but that is the perception generally. We think
that there is an urgent imperative to do for Nigeria what Brand South Africa
did for South Africa.”
The PRCAN president recalled that the relationship
between the Association and Brand South Africa began about two years ago when
the then Chief Marketing Officer of Brand South Africa, Wendy Tlou delivered the second PRCAN Gold Medal Lecture in Lagos. He said
that PRCAN was quite glad that even with a change of guard at the marketing arm
of Brand South Africa, the conviviality between both organisations continued.
“We will be glad to partner with you in any area that will enhance the
relationship between both our countries,” he assured.
He told the delegation that PRCAN was committed to
outreach programmes locally and internationally, explaining that the
association had entered into partnership with the African Public Relations
Association (APRA) to organise the 2016 APRA Conference in Calabar next month.
He said that being a member of the International Communications Consultancy
Organisation (ICCO), PRCAN had invited Maxim Behar, ICCO President, as lead
speaker on the Consultancy Day of the 2016 APRA Conference.
Linda Magapatona-Sangaret, Chief Marketing Officer
of Brand South Africa, said her team was delighted to be in Nigeria and would
explore immense partnership opportunities with PRCAN. She invited PRCAN to get
ready to be part of the proposed Brand Summit to be held in South Africa later
in the year.
Magapatona-Sangaret said that
Nigeria and South Africa had a lot in common and that the mission of Brand
South Africa was to have all of Africa recognise as a quality brand. “Our
biggest asset is our people and our rich culture and we must play to our
strength in these and other areas,” Magapatona-Sangaret
declared.
In her delegation were Sindiswa Mququ, General Manager
for Africa and Middle East for Brand South Africa, and Tope Ogbeni-Awe of
TopComm PR, consultants to Brand South Africa, while the PRCAN team included
Muyiwa Akintunde, the Vice President.
PRCAN, the umbrella
body of Public Relations consultancy firms operating in Nigeria, has as its
primary objective the promotion of professional reputation management in
Nigeria, in both the public and private sectors. It is also committed to
maintaining professional standards and discipline among members and providing
the right environment for the public and private sectors to thrive and meet
their PR consultancy needs.
PRCAN
is chartered by NIPR Bye Law No 3 of 1993, to cater to the interests of the
consultancy side of PR practice in Nigeria. It currently has a membership of 51
PR firms providing services across at least 21 PR practice areas.
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