Agency relationship with clients has gone beyond putting up posters; it’s about thought leadership – Akpo
Having led the pace in the Nigerian experiential marketing sector for 23 years, EXP remains at the frontline of the industry. In today’s rapidly shifting landscape, advertising and technology go hand in hand. Tech empowers more visible campaigns and clients, in turn, expect more proactive solutions, agility, speed and efficiency from agencies. As one of the agencies that invest in new tech and thought leadership, EXP has moved into a new generation of tech-powered advertising. Just recently, EXP created ripples across the IMC sector with outstanding revelations from their intensive research about understanding millennials. During an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE in Lagos, Rosemary Akpo, Managing Director, EXP and GA Production, said the agency was poised to think and create out of the box. Excerpts:
Who is EXP and what is the relationship with GA productions?
The word EXP itself was derived from ‘experiential’. We were also the first experiential marketing agency in Nigeria. We set up business in Nigeria 23 years ago, even though we had been doing business before then in South Africa.
Experiential marketing is different from above-the-line marketing because we create experiences for brands. You can put a TV or radio ad on air but the only way people can touch, feel and sense your brand is when they experience it. So, our job is to take whatever your brand stands for and create an experience out of it.
Group Africa production is a sister company to EXP, it started a couple of months before EXP started in Nigeria. It is a turnkey events company; we are experts in big, medium and small events and provide technical support to other agencies and brands who want to run events for themselves. We have stages, lights, generators, Logistics and other equipment.
In terms of positioning, where do you stand presently and what has brought you to this phase that you are now?
Nearly all other experiential agencies have their history tied to EXP; we are like a learning ground for experiential marketing. We enjoy the unique position of being the first to start up this business; the onus then is to continue to remain relevant. The good thing about EXP is that it keeps reinventing itself and tries to remain at the cutting-edge with investments in technology, people and resources because it is the benchmark for what experiential marketing is.
We set the standards. Right now, we are just going through another renewal process. For example, there is a new leadership team; we have moved the office to a bigger space, and we have new offerings in spaces that we didn’t have before. It’s an exciting time for the company.
Who are your clients and what offerings do you have for them?
We have over 42 clients on our list. We used to have over hundred, but we had to streamline the number of clients we have. We differentiate clients in different sectors and categories. We have some in the communications sector, banking sector, alcoholic segment, soft drink segment and so on. One of the advantages we have is that it is rare for marketing directors to move from the client side to the agency world, but we have quite a number of people in the leadership team who has been on the client side. This has enabled us to create offerings that are perfect for brands having been in their shoes.
What is the content of the recent study conducted by EXP?
It’s in line with our wanting to lead in the space of thought leadership that made us undergo the research. For a while now there has been a challenge on connecting with millennials. We found out that there was lack of depth in understanding millennials, who they are, what appeals to them, how they make money, what they spend money on and so on.
There are lots of studies on millennials on the internet but most of them are not specific to Africa. EXP across Africa decided to invest in a research that would enable us to understand them (millennial) better. The research majored in three countries, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. Even with all my years of experience in the industry, the study was still a massive eye-opener for me. One of the things that came out quite strongly for me is that millennials still go to the website of a brand to find out the truth about that brand; meanwhile, as a marketing person, we spend quite a significant amount of money on the social media drive. That is not to say that it’s wrong. I’m just saying you must box with both hands. Another thing is that, they (millennials) trust the judgment of their family members more than their friends. This came as a surprise to me and we asked over 10,000 of them. That tells you that if you want to influence them, you have to go through the people they trust.
What would you say stands EXP out and why did you have to relocate to this current location?
We were hidden before but now; we are out where everyone can see us. What stands us out is not the amount of money we make or anything else but the people down from me to the last person that works here. People from here, people on our clients’ side and the people our clients are serving. Our focus is usually who we serve and not the money we want to make. People are our focus and our priority.
Co-creating a brief with a client is one of your innovations, what does it entail?
Rather than sit back and wait for a client to send you a brief, we go to the client, look at the data and come up with a brief. What it does is that, from get go we understand what we are solving. There are several clients that have bought into it and are doing it with us, and I have consistently found that the results are better when your agency is part of creating your brief. The output becomes more inspiring. We also leverage on our network with other EXP markets across Africa to bring a more robust solution and even better execution.
What drives you in this business? How has your experience being on the client side influenced your strategies and also your team?
This is what I was made for. And just as I said, what drives me is the people. I’m always interested in solving ‘people’ problem because if the people are fine, everything else will be fine.
Being the client in the agency adds a lot of value. If I would not approve something as a marketing director, then it would not get past me here. We have become better at our jobs because we are the clients and at the same time the agency. It impacts even our cost because we cost more efficiently.
How will you access the experiential business in Nigeria?
It’s very diverse and there a lot of players and contenders but I think the sky is big enough for all of us to fly. There is enough happening in the industry to keep all of us busy. I don’t think the competition has become toxic.
What should we be expecting from EXP?
We are planning big expansions. We want to invest in capabilities we don’t have today that would make us more relevant to our clients and consumers. In the next one year you would be hearing of ventures that EXP has gone into. There is a lot of growth coming; we would probably triple our size in the next 5 years. We will keep investing.
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