Agencies tasked on tech adoption at MIPAN AGM
By Felicia Nwosu
Following the constant change in consumer behaviour and technological disruption, experts in the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) industry have emphasized the need for agencies to lead the conversation in data and technological adoption in order to stay ahead of the curve.
According to them, today’s agencies need to be adaptive, evolving, trendy and value-oriented while ensuring and building a reliable and valuable client partnership for sustainable growth.
The above assertion was made during the panel session of the 2022 Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), which had the theme: “The Role of Data and Technology in Economic Development.”
The annual event was held on the 10th of August, 2022 at the high profile Marriott hotel, Ikeja.
The panel session, moderated by Dozie Okafor, Vice-President of MIPAN, had discussants who agreed that contemporary agencies must go beyond competence by adopting a thorough, comprehensive approach to leverage technology in today’s marketplace.
Looking at data as a valuable source and how Nigerian industries can benefit from it, Stanislau Martins, Agency Partner Lead, Meta Facebook, noted that most industries have embraced technology, but raised the need to focus on adding value to brands by leveraging technology through available data and insights obtained from campaigns.
“We need to ensure that the full power and access to data that we have in digital channels is well utilized. Right now, we are still at the very elementary stage when it comes to actually delivering on clients from a digital point of view. The data is there but that is not okay; there is still a lot of work to be done from the agency side. From the skills upgrade point of view, you need to know how to use the full gamut of technology; you can’t just stay in your space when you think it is safe.
“Anybody can run a campaign and say I reached a certain number, but did it help the brand to achieve its end result? One of the ways to ensure that clients’ minds are at peace is by leveraging digital technology with available data to drive impact for your brand. Whatever campaign that you are doing now, you can take the insights from it immediately to influence your offline communication instead of waiting for weeks or months,” Martins said.
Emeka Okeke, Founder, Managing Partner and Group CEO Media Fuse Dentsu International (Nigeria), while stating the barriers to data and technology adoption, mentioned two key issues confronting Nigeria and its industries. He noted that the first barrier is industry adoption of data and technology, adding that the mode of operation has changed overtime as a result of technological disruption in terms of volume of data. He urged agencies to hire right to cover up in the skill set and also invest in high definition technology.
“We are quick to say we are data-centric and have technology to manage data. Behind all of that, we actually do nothing; that is the truth. We do nothing because we expect that outsiders whom we service should do the investment for us. The second bigger problem we have is the skill gap. I think that communication practitioners, especially those in the IMC should look beyond the traditional benefits or skills of strategists, planners, implementers, and digital marketers. They should look in the direction of engineering as well as into the space of artificial intelligence and psychologists because we deal with humans.
“For us to close the gap as marketing practitioners, we need to understand that first and foremost, we own our businesses and so we need to make decisions on whether we want to invest in data and technology or we still want clients to pay for it. It ensures continuity for us; it gives us control of our space and relevance in the service we render to the clients,” Okeke said.
Feyisayo Alayande, Head of product, Digital and Marketing, Letshego, while addressing some of the barriers in adopting technology, charged agencies to put themselves in the shoes of the clients by understanding their pain-points, walking in their journey and seeing how to give back to them.
“I work with international service firms. From what we have found out about data and technology adoption generally, there is a knowledge gap. We have not taken the time to put ourselves in the position of who we are asking to use certain technology before asking them to use such technology. If you understand where people are coming from and put yourself in their position, you will close that knowledge gap quickly.
“My advice and take-away is, do not under-estimate the word partnership. Because if you partner correctly with your client, and also put yourself in the position of customers by looking at the under-served and those trying to close the poverty gap, you will understand why data is actually important in closing that gap,” Alayande said.
Oti Ukubeyinje, Senior VP, Products, Terragon, while reeling out new skills set to acquire for today and the future, corroborated the foregoing views, adding that the absence of professional skill set leads to the habit of using numbers to fit into the narratives that clients want to hear, an outcome that is not based on real data obtained.
According to him, such an act is not professional and should be discouraged in an agency where there is a ‘professional’ data scientist who is an expert in data gathering as it is against the ethics of their profession. He advised agencies to replicate the models adopted by telcos by building software that will be digitally powered within the organization instead of hiring researchers to create marketing strategies.
“It is the data that should tell the story, not the other way round. Within the media and marketing communications industry, one of the biggest gaps in terms of skills that should be preached very fast is data science, and not just data science, but also data engineering. I am saying this because scientists will do the soft part, but for there to be a repeated role, you need the engineers to build solutions,” Ukubeyinje said.
Ilonah Idoko, CEO Lona Group Limited, charged agencies to innovate and develop new trends.
“From the outdoor perspective, what we try to do is to bring innovation. For us, a time will come when as we are doing this on this platform, people would be getting real value for the money paid. We need to convince clients, not just with statistics on paper, but with the number of the people who have gone ahead to browse about the product.”
Interestingly, the panelists all agreed that just as third party cookies are phasing out, agencies need to follow suit in technological transformation, invest in capacity building to upscale skills set and adoption of professionals, and also evolve to continuously move with the ever-changing world or be left behind.
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