Group Chief Executive Officer of Prima Garnet Africa, Mr ’Lolu Akinwunmi, has issued a strong warning to advertising agencies in Nigeria, urging them to reinvent their business models and demonstrate greater value as Artificial Intelligence (AI) reshapes the marketing communications industry.
Akinwunmi made the call in Lagos on Friday, November 6, 2026, while speaking at the 14th Annual National Brands and Marketing Conference organised by the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), where industry stakeholders examined the future of creative agencies under the theme, “Advertising in Nigeria and AI: Who Needs Creative Agencies Anyways?”
Drawing on more than four decades of experience in the advertising industry, the Prima Garnet Africa chief executive challenged practitioners to abandon the assumption that clients, consumers and the wider marketplace would continue to depend on traditional advertising agencies regardless of technological developments.
He maintained that agencies must continually earn their relevance through strategic thinking, creativity, professional expertise and the ability to deliver measurable business results.
His central message was that technological advancement had fundamentally changed the relationship between advertising agencies and their clients, making it increasingly necessary for creative firms to demonstrate what distinguishes their services from readily available AI-powered tools.
According to Akinwunmi, brand managers in cities such as Lagos, Kano and Abuja can now use artificial intelligence applications to generate campaign ideas, write radio commercials, develop headlines, create images, summarise research and prepare presentations within minutes.
Some platforms are also increasingly capable of producing audio-visual content, further reducing the time and resources traditionally required for certain advertising activities.
The development, he argued, presents a significant challenge to agencies whose business models depend largely on producing advertising materials rather than providing deeper strategic and commercial value.
“The future belongs not necessarily to agencies that produce more communication, but to those that demonstrate a greater capacity to solve problems and build brands,” he said.
Akinwunmi acknowledged that the advertising industry had experienced several technological disruptions over the years, including the introduction of personal computers, desktop publishing, the internet, digital advertising, social media and smartphones.
However, he distinguished artificial intelligence from previous developments because of its ability to influence virtually every major function within an advertising agency.
From consumer research and strategic planning to copywriting, graphic design, content development and production, AI is increasingly changing how advertising professionals approach their work.
He consequently warned that agencies could no longer expect clients to continue paying traditional fees for routine activities that technology could perform more quickly and efficiently.
Nevertheless, Akinwunmi cautioned against confusing the ability to generate advertising content with the ability to develop effective communication that delivers the desired results.
“Artificial intelligence can make advertising easier to produce. It does not automatically make advertising more effective,” he said.
To illustrate the distinction, he explained that an AI application could generate 50 headlines for a new product within minutes. However, determining which option best reflects the brand’s positioning, communicates its consumer benefit and differentiates it from competitors requires professional judgement.
He added that advertising professionals must also consider whether creative materials remain consistent with a brand’s personality, values and overall communication objectives.
“While artificial intelligence can generate alternatives, the responsibility for selecting the most appropriate course of action remains a matter of human professional judgment,” Akinwunmi stated.
Beyond the immediate implications for creative production, the Prima Garnet Africa CEO called for a broader reassessment of how agencies define and communicate their value to clients.
He noted that advertising firms had traditionally measured their contributions through deliverables such as television commercials, radio jingles, billboards and newspaper advertisements.
However, he argued that clients were ultimately more concerned about the business and behavioural outcomes of their marketing investments.
These include increased product purchases, stronger consumer trust, improved brand perceptions and specific actions that contribute to business growth.
According to him, the ability to understand business challenges, interpret consumer behaviour and develop solutions that produce meaningful results would become increasingly important in determining which agencies remain competitive.
“The agency of the future, or maybe I should say the agency of the now and the future, must not merely be a factory that produces communication. It must be an organisation that thinks, questions, interprets and solves problems,” he said.
His position reflects a wider conversation taking place across Nigeria’s advertising industry as practitioners consider how to balance technological efficiency with the human insight required for effective brand communication.
At the same BJAN conference, Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, also argued that artificial intelligence should be viewed as another stage in the industry’s evolution rather than an outright replacement for creative agencies.
Fadolapo emphasised the importance of human creativity and strategic thinking while calling attention to the need for safeguards around AI-generated advertising content. Brand Times+1
The regulatory perspective adds another dimension to the debate, particularly as the growing use of AI raises questions about originality, professional responsibility and the standards governing advertising practice.
Akinwunmi also extended his observations to the media industry, warning that journalists and other media professionals were facing similar pressures from emerging technologies.
He noted that AI applications could generate reports, summarise interviews, transcribe recordings, develop headlines, assist with research and create multimedia content.
However, he maintained that the professional value of journalism would continue to depend on the ability to investigate claims, ask difficult questions, verify information, establish context and explain the significance of developments.
His argument places particular emphasis on the distinction between producing information and exercising the judgement required to establish its accuracy, relevance and wider implications.
For Nigeria’s advertising agencies, the message is increasingly clear: technological adaptation alone may not be enough to secure their future.
As artificial intelligence makes creative production more accessible, agencies will face growing expectations to demonstrate deeper consumer understanding, stronger strategic capabilities and tangible contributions to the businesses they serve.
Akinwunmi’s challenge therefore goes beyond adopting new technology. It calls for a fundamental reassessment of the industry’s traditional operating model, with relevance increasingly determined by the quality of thinking, solutions and results agencies bring to the table.
