Hottestgistnaija.com
By Kola Popson
Thursday 16th of July 2015 was a day filled with mixed reactions and views as Corporate Affairs Managers of banks and bloggers/online publishers assembled at White House Hotel, G. R. A. Ikeja area of Lagos State for the first Bankers/Bloggers Conference convened by the Ultimate Communications, the parent company of Best of Nollywood Awards, www.bestofnollywood.tv and www.hottestgistinnaija.com.
The conference, which was meant to ensure and maintain a symbiotic relationship between Corporate Affairs Managers of Nigerian banks and bloggers/social media owners, was a success to behold as it afforded the participants opportunities to make known their grievances to one another as it affects their businesses.
In the same vein, the thought provoking and heartwarming lectures delivered by the guest speakers, Top Public Relations (PR) Consultant and Chairman-Chief Consultant at TPT International Ltd, Adetokunbo Modupe and Kayode Akinyemi contributed immensely to the successful holding of the conference through their in-depth and factual analyses of the subject matter.
While speaking on the topic, WHAT DOES A BLOGGER WANT FROM A BANK, AND WHAT DOES A BANK WANT FROM A BLOGGER?, Mr. Kayode Akinyemi emphasized the importance of social media/blogging to running of business such as banking by quoting Public Relations measurement expert, Katie Delahaye Paine (2009) who “argues that companies that do not take social media seriously will soon go out of business.”
Similarly, while Mr. Akinyemi stated that blogging has assumed such an immense relevance that most popular blogs on the internet do have a readership that rivals small media outlets, he aligned himself with the opinions of some communication scholars who consider blogging as mere commentary, opinion and uncensored, unfiltered sources of information on a variety of topics. He added that there are several types of bloggers for varied reasons which could either be for money, fame or an advocacy.
Moreover, while Akinyemi questioned the credibility of those whose sole purpose of running a blog is money, he faulted the over-reliance of Corporate Affairs Managers of banks on traditional communication approaches such as advert and other conventional PR activities as well as below the-line-campaigns. He observed that Corporate Affairs Managers of banks consider bloggers less important to conventional journalists.
Mr. Akinyemi, therefore, canvassed for a symbiotic relationship between bloggers and bankers which could only be achieved through repeated purchase of banner advert and online advertorial contents by banks, extension of invitation to bloggers to attend major bank’s events such as product launch, AGMs, media briefings, special events, sponsored events, treating bloggers as part of the bank media platforms and giving bloggers same respect the banks accord to conventional journalists.
In addition, Mr. Akinyemi noted that it is important that bloggers, on the other hand, help banks position their brands well through brand advocacy and awareness of their products in a pleasing manner to the public, eliminate negative reporting on the banks and assist them in crisis communications as well as giving extensive coverage to the activities of banks on how their new products or services can impact on the society positively.
In his own lecture, a PR practitioner, Mr. Adetokunbo Modupe explained that the refusal of Communications Managers of banks to identify with bloggers as journalists contributes largely to the unwarranted disputes often experienced between the two parties, while he also added that the unreasonable attitude of some of the bloggers in a bid to gain banks’ attentions for advertorial patronage adds salt to the injury.
Moreover, Mr. Tokunbo Modupe tried to correct a notion by some of the Corporate Affairs Managers of banks that all bloggers are not journalists, noting that many of those bloggers had trained and practiced as conventional journalists before they eventually decided to run their own blogs for public consumption. “Any journalist can be a blogger, but not all bloggers are journalists,” the PR consultant added.
In the same vein, Mr. Modupe urged both parties to create and maintain a symbiotic relationship that will lead to the advancements of their businesses, adding they both need each other in one way or another for the successful running of their banks and blogs. While he appealed to the Corporate Affairs Managers of banks to stop considering bloggers and online publishers less important to conventional journalists, he urged bloggers to adhere strictly to ethics of journalism which entail truthfulness and fairness in their news reportage.
On a similar note, Mr. Tokunbo Modupe held that credibility is what journalists, either conventional ones or bloggers, need to become relevant in a way that Corporate Affairs Managers would be willing to go into partnership with them. He also suggested that bloggers should have an entity or association that will ensure self-regulation among members. He said this will go a long way in correcting the wrong notion by some people that bloggers are mere blackmailers.
It important to state that Mr. Adetokunbo noted this in reaction to the response of Mr. Ramon, a representative of United Bank for Africa (UBA) to the first lecture delivered by Mr. Kayode Akinyemi that “the essence of blogging is blackmail.” Mr. Ramon’s postulation had led to a situation where many of the bloggers at the conference disagreed with him for generalizing bloggers as blackmailers.
Some of the banks duly represented by their Corporate Affairs Managers at the conference are Skye Bank Plc., Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Eco Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) among others.
