Nigeria’s marketing communication industry is entering a new phase as the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) prepares to use the 2026 National Advertising Conference to tackle some of the biggest changes confronting the sector.
At the centre of the conversation will be artificial intelligence, digital advertising, data protection, media measurement and the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on the industry.
The sixth edition of the National Advertising Conference, NAC 2026, will hold from November 11 to 13 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
With the theme, “Repositioning the Marketing Communications Industry for the Next Frontier,” the conference is expected to bring together advertising practitioners, marketers, media professionals, regulators, business leaders and other stakeholders.
Chairman of the NAC 2026 Planning Committee, Tunji Adeyinka, disclosed that the organisers were working towards producing practical recommendations capable of influencing the future direction of the industry.
According to him, a cross-functional committee has spent months examining the challenges created by the rapid growth of digital advertising and artificial intelligence, with proposals for a new regulatory framework expected to form part of the conference outcomes.
Rather than allowing the conference to become another platform for identifying problems, Adeyinka said NAC 2026 was being positioned as an advocacy platform capable of driving actionable changes.
The conference will also examine the implications of AfCFTA for Nigeria’s marketing communications industry, with another committee working on recommendations and an action plan.
Data protection is expected to receive significant attention, particularly as brands, media organisations and marketing companies increasingly depend on consumer data.
The organisers will also examine emerging developments in media measurement, including early insights from the rollout of television audience measurement technology.
Beyond regulation and technology, the conference will look at the Nigerian economy and its impact on businesses within the marketing communications ecosystem.
Chairman of Access Holdings Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, is expected to open the conference with a fireside chat, while other sessions will feature business leaders, chief marketing officers and industry experts.
Discussions will also cover broadcast digitisation, the informal market, the creative economy, gender, cultural representation in advertising and the future of the profession.
ARCON said the 2026 edition is expected to attract at least 700 participants, compared with about 500 at the previous edition.
For an industry being reshaped almost daily by technology, changing consumer behaviour and new forms of communication, the conference could provide an important opportunity to determine whether regulation will keep pace with innovation.
More importantly, the success of NAC 2026 may ultimately depend not on the number of conversations held in Abuja, but on how many of its recommendations translate into practical changes across Nigeria’s marketing communications landscape.
