The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), organisers of Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards has announced November 26, 2022 as the date for this year’s event.

LAIF Awards is the brainchild of AAAN which seeks to reward creative excellence and promote the spirit of healthy competition among agencies in the creative industry.

The announcement was made in a press conference held last Thursday, at the AAAN secretariat in Ikeja.

According to the organisers, the 2022 edition which is the 17th , is a week-long event filled with activities expected to start Nov. 21 and climaxed on Nov. 26, 2022.

The theme for this year is: ‘All ideas are welcome’.

In his opening remark, the President, AAAN, and CEO, X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko, stated that the LAIF Awards is a major milestone, each year, for AAAN, aimed at recognizing creative talents and challenging others to do better.

Continuing Babaeko said: “The frontier of creativity is in a state of constant evolution. This year, the LAIF awards will reflect the award’s commitment to advocating and rewarding creativity and its commitment to becoming a top-recognized awards platform in Africa”.

“We are improving the skills and craftsmanship of creatives in the industry with this award. Those who do not emerge winners are challenged to try again next year,” he said.

The Chairman, LAIF Awards, and CEO, Noah’s Ark Communications Limited, Lanre Adisa, posited that, the awards which is in its 17th edition, encompasses everything about creativity which is the reason for this year’s theme, ‘All Ideas are welcome’.

He also applauded the growth and reputation the awards has enjoyed so far.

“This year’s LAIF Awards will be focused on diverse and inclusive creativity welcoming people from all walks of life.

“We are at a stage where companies looking to engage the service of a creative advertising company uses the LAIF awards as the benchmark for their selection on whom to invite for a pitch.

“With the LAIF Awards online portal, borne out of the challenges that came with the pandemic and our commitment to reward, regardless, we have seen more submissions of entries. Last year, we had over 700 entries and we are hopeful there will be an increase in entries this year,” he said.

Organisers say, this year’s LAIF awards will be a hybrid.

The week long event will start with the nominations party, followed by the Young LAIFERS, a 2-day LAIF seminar, and the awards event which will take place on the 26th of November.

The Young LAIFERS which is directed at encouraging under-30 years practitioners in the industry will be open to youths in the tertiary institutions and the winner of the Authentic African Story Awards, a special award that was endowed by Lere Awokoya, Chairman TBWA Concept, will go home with 1 million naira.

Also, the Viewers’ Choice Awards will return, organisers said, adding that, members of the jury comprise people from different parts of the industry, including production, creative agencies and people from the client side, to ensure a balanced judging process.

Another interesting angle to LAIF is now the open door for collaborations with content creators creating exceptional quality materials that are impacting the digital space and creating opportunities for robust engagements in the industry.