COVID-19 forced creatives to rethink strategy – Tunde Shobanjo
By Felicia Nwosu
Tunde Shobanjo, Head of Business/Chief Operating Officer, Leo Burnett Lagos, has said that the advent of COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased consumption of technology through various technological applications and software, thereby enhancing modes of business operations as well as accelerating the growth of the creative advertising and marketing industry, including the quality of business delivery.
The Leo Burnett COO said this in an interview with MARKETING EDGE, while assessing Nigeria’s creative industry. He traced where the creative advertising journey started for Nigeria decades back and reaffirmed that the industry has evolved to a large extent, noting that the pandemic has forced business owners to rethink strategies.
“If we look at where the creative industry started and where we are today, we have definitely evolved to a point where technology and digital are leading in forefront of organisations. Back in the days, people used to create content either by marketing communications houses or media houses, but the access has grown so much today that children from the ages of 8-10 are developing contents on YouTube that people consume. And these people have millions of followers who are able to dictate the way consumers consume their contents. The industry has definitely evolved to a point where it is more exciting with more opportunities for everyone,” he said.
Giving his view on how Nigerians can harness the opportunities that abound in the creative industry, the business head revealed that with unrestricted access to internet has led to an increased technological participation, where creators unleash their creative prowess in the industry, irrespective of their ages.
“What we have right now are the platforms for people to be involved in creativity. Back then, one had to work in the marketing communications or media industry to be involved in creativity. But we can see what technology has done; instead of closing that gap, it has opened it for people. Like what I said before, today we have children from the ages of 5 creating contents, the ground has definitely opened up for everybody.”
Recalling some of the impacts of the creative industry in Nigeria, the former business director reaffirmed how many have been empowered through the acceleration of technology as content creators. He said these creatives, who have leveraged various platforms to explore and hone their creativity in the industry, have become the most sought-for in the industry today.
“The access is there for everybody. We have begun to see that creativity doesn’t just lie in an organization. People like Brother Shaggi and Mr. Macaroni, including other younger creatives who operate on freelance platforms have attracted brands that approach them directly to help them create content and they are actually illuminating agencies right now. It is not really a bad news giving opportunities to these young talents. The landscape has actually changed and it is giving more opportunities to people. More and more people are contributing to creativity and it is being seen oversees as well.”
Noting some of the major shift in the industry this year, the creative expert maintained that technology remains the chief catalyst, while adding that it has disrupted and readjusted every facet of human endeavour.
“Before the outbreak of COVID-19, we used to come to work seven days a week, but the pandemic has changed all that. It forces us to use Google Meet and other platforms; there are so many apps that help in our communications today. We have been forced to adjust and we also started finding out that we actually don’t need all these physical space to deliver our creativity to our clients. So, working from home and having to adjust, that is something that we can’t avoid and things have definitely changed for the better.”
Mr. Shobanjo expressed support for both local and international collaboration of agencies for knowledge sharing and impartation of ideas as no man is an island in terms of knowledge, which he explained can be acquired from any of the sectoral groups and not just from the creative space alone.
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