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It is a stand-out fact that advertising business
in Nigeria has carved out a niche for itself in global marketing
communication. This is apart from nicking a fair share of the global
revolution in product branding – cum – marketing. How did this
transformation come out?
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Mr. Jimi Awosika, the managing director of Insight Communications Ltd. attributes it partly to the Internet wonder.
According to him, this digital blitz has triggered a sort of communication explosion in the advertising millieu.
Hear him: “Hitherto, advertisers talked to
consumers, but these days, the most substantial part of the audience we
seek is very active on the Internet, especially on social media. We
actually have consumers talking with advertisers, back-and-forth, even
seeking out content. And more importantly, they get involved in the
conversation about the brand. Feedback is real time. Thanks to the
Internet!”
In this interview, he states how the advertising
industry is deepening its root in marketing process and what he
foresees as outlook for the industry in the next 10 years, among others.
Excerpts:
My worry over appointment of communications professional to public offices
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Let me use this medium to correct that assumption, as
that wasn’t what I said. I think it was sometime last year in Ibadan, I
was speaking about the government not actually involving
ad(vertising)men, who are in professional advertising, to market some of
its policies. That was my exact statement.
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How insight communications was cnoceived
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Is it correct that there were three major founding
directors?
The whole idea behind Insight was to bring about specialization in
advertising; back then that didn’t exist. The thinking back then was
that ad men should be a lot more knowledgeable about marketing issues,
unfortunately this lack of specialization caused a lack of focus and
expertise. This is what then led Mr Biodun Shobanjo to form the agency
–Insight Communications Ltd.It all started sometime in 1978. Firstly, he
spoke to a few people in the immediate environment. He spoke to me,
thereafter, he spoke to a group: Richard Ibe, late Johnson Adebayo,
Sesan Ogunro and Yemi Amogbe. Also, of course, he spoke to his friends,
Mr. Goddy Amadi, and Mr Ayo Idowu. That was the birth of insight
communication.From day one, when the company opened shop on January 2nd,
1980, 17 people were on board as part of the new company. But the
initial core team were the six of us: Mr. Shobanjo, Johnson Adebayo,
Richard Ibe, Sesan Ogunro, Yemi Amogbe and myself. Richard Ibe was the
Art Director, Sesan Ogunro was the Copywriter, I was in charge of
Account Management, Yemi Amogbe was Finance Controller and Johnson was
in charge of Production. Of course, the pioneer Managing Director was
Mr.Shobanjo.
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Insight Communications key success factors
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Actually over the last 25 years, we have been Nigeria’s
biggest advertising agency. Our key success factors? Number one: our
people.Over the years we have consistently kept our focus on finding and
hiring the best people, having them trained properly and motivated to
produce the best advertising. Our business is a business of time. In our
profession it’s all about dealing with two things: fame and fortune.
Fame and fortune for your client’s brand; it’s simple, if your clients
brands are successful, then you are successful.So it can be said that
the success of Insight is directly linked to the success of its
clients.“Insighters” make brand success possible, that’s what we do. And
as Managing Director, it is my duty to build a winning team and also
ensure that team members are motivated and empowered to produce
outstandingly bright ideas so that by working with the clients to
succeed, they will in turn create goodwill for the agency, and this
attracts patronage. That’s what is responsible for the success of
insight.
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Current trends in advertising industry
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Well, in the past, the practice wasn’t that
sophisticated. It wasn’t fully directed at producing measurable results.
It was all about advertising, to a large extent: advertising for
advertising sake.This isn’t to say that we didn’t have top professionals
then. We did have some professionals and outstanding people. But their
true potential and the potential of the industry were yet to be truly
harnessed. Secondly, in the past, the business of ensuring that
advertising was built on some sound strategy was lacking. Emphasis was
instead placed on just getting the job done. But today advertising in
Nigeria is focused on strategy. What that means is that a lot of the
advertising you see today is thought through and directed at producing
measurable results. Indeed, the impact can be felt.The structures of
agencies and function have also changed over the years leaving most
agencies to be truly creative. With advertising agencies not bogged down
with buying media, more agencies have now cleared the path for in-depth
creative thinking. After all this is what agencies should do.
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Can you say advertising is working?
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The role of Advertising is to create awareness, to
create an image for a brand, to create activities for a brand; these are
the things that advertising can do. Basically, if a person is not aware
of a brand, he or she is not likely to seek it out. If he or she
doesn’t seek out a brand, he/she is definitely not going to buy it. But
most importantly, advertising builds a relationship between consumers
and brands. This leads to brand love, a situation where the brand is
beloved by the consumer. There is no stronger relationship in a brands
world than this.
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How internet has affected advertising
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Today, the most substantial part of the audience we seek
is very active on the Internet especially on social media. If that’s
where they are, then that’s where advertisers need to be; to engage them
in conversation and other activities that naturally appeal to them. And
just like it’s impact on the rest of the world, the impact of the
Internet on advertising is huge. A huge and positive impact that has
affected brand conversations, taking it from a one-way thing to an
interaction. Hitherto, “advertisers” talked to “consumers”, but these
days, we actually have “consumers” talking with “advertisers”,
back-and-forth, even seeking out content. And more importantly, they get
involved in the conversation about the brand. Feedback is real time.
Thanks to the Internet.
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Assessment of 40th Anniversary of advertising in Nigeria.
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The advertising industry today is more grounded in the
whole marketing process. In the days of old, only a few clients actually
engaged in advertising. These were the multinationals. In fact, only
very few firms recognized the need for advertising then. Today the
industry is well recognized and has produced some top creative minds
that can hold their own anywhere in the world. Today, the advertising
industry in Nigeria is grown, with old and new agencies alike in a
healthy competition that only makes it even better.
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Advertising industry next 10 years
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Well, in terms of a trajectory, “up” is the only way it
can go. However, it is going to be a lot more competitive, the field is
also going to get a lot better and interesting. We are beginning to see
the attempt by top global agencies to take a stake in most advertising
agencies in Nigeria. This means Nigerian ad agencies will also be
subjected to all the pressures and stress that globalised agencies
face.I think it’s a good development that will lead to a bigger wealth
of knowledge being shared between all agencies.
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My responsibilities
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My typical day starts at 8am in the morning; it runs to 8
or 9pm when I leave the office. I usually get involved with the
business. Truth be told, Insight has taken a substantial part of my
life, with no regrets though. Insight and the business of advertising is
the only business I know so this is the only thing I get involved in.
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How I unwind
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Advertising is a very interesting business and
constantly evolving. It challenges you everyday. And those challenges
actually help me unwind because most times I have to think through the
problems going home, ensuring that they are resolved. If you love what
you do, then you unwind every time you do it. This is why my advice to
people is ‘do what you enjoy doing. Advertising doesn’t feel like a job
to me anymore. What would I be doing if I weren’t in advertising? Well,
that’s not a thought that crosses my mind. For me, insight is not just
an agency; it is an idea that I live for. Most of us are committed to
always think about insight.
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Thrills of my advertising career
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What I enjoy the most actually is creating solutions.
Taking time to understand what to choose, and ensuring that those issues
are properly taken care of; identifying solutions for my clients and
ensuring that those solutions, when we come up with them, are properly
articulated to the clients. And those solutions then are brought to life
in creating and producing adverts for television, newspapers, radio
etc. And, of course when the results show. That actually, for me is the
satisfaction. So for me, it is not all about the money. It is what you
consider as responsibility. It’s a truly good feeling.
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Ever handled a marketing campaign that failed
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Well, I think that is a difficult question. But even at
that, when campaigns are not well received, it gives us the opportunity
to go in and rectify whatever the shortcomings might be. And that is the
beauty of partnerships, because if you have long-tenured clients, there
are enough checks and balances within the whole process to ensure that
most adverts that get out of the agency will be successful. So what is
failure to me, failure is really not trying to build a brand at all.
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Why some campaigns fail
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Communication is put together to address what the
consumers truly want in the brand. So if the communication is not
properly addressing that, it will fail. We should shift focus to the
consumers; understand their motivations because that’s what will
determine whether the consumers will react in one particular way or
another. So that is the major issue, really understanding the consumer.
And secondly, ensuring that proper communication is put together to
address what the consumers truly want.If the heart of the message fails,
then the heart of the consumer won’t be touched. When a campaign
touches the consumer, when you get the “eureka” moment, that’s the
moment of brilliance, those are the moments that have kept me doing what
I do for over 30 years.
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Why people call me Baale
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Well, that has nothing to do with advertising. The name
came about probably as a consequence of the way I relate with people.
The name was actually given to me by my grandmother-in-law. One day, a
friend of mine went with me to visit her. When we got to her house.
Everybody was like, “Oh! Brother Jimi is here! Brother Jimi is here!” So
the woman looked at me and said, “This man, you are Baale Oko Ilu.”
Eventually, that friend of mine spread the story to my other friends. Of
course, you know the way it is in Nigeria. Most people, who couldn’t
call me by my first name, maybe because I’m their senior, now decide to
call me “Baale Oko Ilu”. Today a lot of people just call me “Baale”.
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Mr. Biodun Shobayo as a star Icon in advertising world.
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I don’t think they are wrong. The truth is I don’t think
there is anyone in the last 40 years that has positively impacted
advertising than Mr Shobanjo.When you talk about the core philosophy
behind Insight Communication, you will actually realize that the whole
idea is built around the man; he is not given to mediocrity, he is an
all-in-all person.
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Mr Shobanjo is a top creative; in respect to creative
thinking, in respect to business management, in respect to people
development, he is truly rounded. Just take a look around and you will
see how he has impacted the business of advertising in Nigeria. About a
third of Chief Executives of big advertising companies in Nigeria have
roots or relations with Insight. And many are never shy to say it.
Working with somebody like Mr. Biodun Shobanjo
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I have been with him now for 35, going to 36years. So I
really don’t know what it is like to work with any other person. If
anybody has influenced me, even more than my parents, because I lost my
parents very early in life, it’s Mr Shobanjo. So I always say to people
“if there is any defect in me, blame it on Mr Shobanjo or my wife”.When
it comes to working with him, as I said earlier, he is an all-in-all
kind of person. If you want to do business with Mr Shobanjo, you better
be good at it. He places value on integrity, intelligence, and people
who focus on doing things well. Over and above that, he is a stickler
for excellence. So working with him actually has brought out the best in
me. I tell anybody who cares to listen, even though most people think I
shouldn’t always say it, I say, “look, I am proud to be a Shobanjo
boy”. So if you call me “Shobanjo’s boy” I won’t have any personal
grudge with that. I don’t think, as I said earlier, anyone has
influenced me the way he has.
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My greatest achievements in advertising so far
My greatest achievement, I think is simply that I have
helped midwife an agency that has changed the face of advertising in
Nigeria; and that I seriously did with all sense of responsibility. What
people say about me doesn’t really bother me, because I do my job as an
ad man, good or bad, you decide.
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