CASERS Group focuses on a future with bigger promises
After 30 years of outstanding creativity and conquests, CASERS Group looks forward to another 30 years full of adventure and many more triumphs.
By Joseph Ekeng
The story of CASERS Group started on a note of love. A young man who had just lost out in his maiden business adventure had to decide whether to remain in Enugu where the doomed business was located or to return to Lagos and marry his girlfriend of 10 years. He was torn between two choices – one was love and the other was ambition. “As you can see it was a very easy choice. In a nutshell, love won at the end of the day”, Enyinnaya Odigbo disclosed and his disclosure was greeted by a rousing round of applause from guests at the dinner organised to celebrate the Group’s 30th anniversary in Lagos recently.
As it turned out, the decision to relocate to Lagos in the name of love was perhaps the best decision of Odigbo’s life. He got married to his then girlfriend and that same year he established what has turned out to be one of Nigeria’s greatest marketing communications networks – Complete Advertising Services, better known as CASERS which has since grown into a multinational IMC Group. And Odigbo himself has transformed from a struggling businessman, into a brands and marketing phenomenon with his fame spread across Africa and beyond.
On Wednesday 13 December, 2017, to be specific, the company rolled out the drums to celebrate its 30 years of back to back successes. The posh dinner which was held at the prestigious Landmark Event Centre in Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, was with pomp and pageantry, with a huge crowd of dignitaries in attendance. A couple of soul music sounds from Funmbi set a perfect tone for the dinner; then there was poetry and lots of testimonies – of how a tiny spark of idea has evolved into a multinational company and the pride of Africa.
The Beginning
Like every great journey, CASERS actually has its own fair share of humble beginnings. It started out in 1987 as a single company, howbeit with a great ambition to change the advertising landscape in Nigeria. “We were determined to deliver unassailable value for any brand that entrusted us with their business. We avoided the temptation of benchmarking against older agencies because we believed that we had the preparation and creative energy to bring original thinking to the marketing communications industry,” Odigbo said.
Pioneer clients
Within a short period of setting up, CASERS became the proud managers of several major accounts, including First Aluminum, African Continental Bank (ACB), Carnco Milk and Globe Motors. It was an unprecedented achievement for an upstart. These pioneer businesses provided for CASERS, the springboard to wining other major accounts and enjoying sustained growth. And from a single agency, CASERS transformed into a holding company with six thriving subsidiaries (DDB Lagos, BBDO, Capital Media, Magenta, Activ8), spanning advertising, Outdoor, Media independent, Activations and Event Management.
The growth was consolidated by CASERS’ audacious move in 2015 to acquire the multinational MAWAL Group, which gave the network footprints in at least six markets in West and Central Africa; the countries include Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Benin and Cameroon. It also has a minority stake in an agency in Ghana. Till date, it remains the only Nigerian agency with such privileges.
Recollecting the growth milestones
Mr. Enyi Odigbo’s short speech at the dinner focused on events of the past and then peered into the future. He recalled that the company’s path to greatness was aided by three major milestones. The first, of course, was the decision to turn his back on Enugu and return to Lagos to reunite with his then girlfriend with whom he now has four kids.
The second milestone, according to Mr. Odigbo, was the decision to join the DDB network as an affiliate. “At that time, we were already affiliated to another network. That network had consolidated significant business to us. DDB came along and told us that they had a university. We did realise at the time that it would be more valuable to have access to a source that would develop our human capital and consequently improve our competitiveness in the market. So, we took the decision to join DDB.” Then, the third milestone was the decision to acquire the MAWAL Group about two years ago.
But it seems there was a big omission in the recollection by the Chairman. He failed to mention a milestone that was equally as significant as the other three, and that was securing the MTN account, a business that was and still is clearly one of the biggest on the continent.
However, in an earlier interview with MARKETING EDGE, Odigbo noted that the MTN account helped to transform his agency from a mid-sized company to one of the biggest networks in Nigeria.
Future milestones
But having done so well in the last 30 years, what then does the next 30 years hold for CASERS? That is exactly what the Group has spent the last few years to think about. The company has perhaps learnt a few lessons from Nigerian advertising agencies which were once big players but have since vanished off the radar. So, CASERS is aggressively repositioning to avoid similar fate. “For us we are more interested in looking at the future, achieving milestones in the future that has to do with us becoming a dominant player,” Ikechi Odigbo, the Group’s Vice Chairman said.
Leadership restructuring
In order to achieve the future of its dream, the company has tweaked its management structure, to accommodate the rapid growth of the last few years and create capacity for future expansion.
Managing a multinational company can be a daunting task. And so CASERS found itself in an unfamiliar territory that put a lot of strain and pressure on its leadership. It was a challenge that, according to the Chairman, slightly distracted the company and slowed down its creative momentum. “We have gotten over it,” he assured at the anniversary press conference.
The Group had to move quickly to nip the trend in the bud. Two executives with vast experience especially in the management of multinational companies were conscripted. Sarah Osedo, founder of the MAWAL Group and Yemi Cardoso, Chairman Citibank Nigeria Limited, have been appointed external directors.
More so, all the advertising agencies in the Group, across the region will now report directly to Ikechi Odigbo, who is Vice Chairman of the Group and Managing Director of DDB Lagos. A number of young executives have now been brought into management positions to prepare them for major responsibilities and leadership.
These changes are apparently a necessary step, not just to curtail some of the organizational and leadership challenges that came with the acquisition of the MAWAL Group, but also to enhance its management capacity as it gets ready to expand into other markets in Africa.
BTL, Production, Digital
CASERS is also determined to become a dominant player in other sectors where it is presently not playing or where its investments are limited. The group is now directing more focus at the Below-The-Line, Production and digital marketing sectors.
According to Ikechi Odigbo, the company will no longer outsource its production job. “It will now be done internally,” he said. This has been made possible by its strategic partnership with Space, a South African technology and production company.
CASERS is also determined to become a dominant player in the experiential marketing segment. The segment which is valued at about N30billion, along with digital, have been touted as one of the fastest growing sectors in the integrated marketing communications industry. And, in recent times, networks have rushed to tap into the growth in BTL by setting up shops. This growth has been largely driven by demands by clients who are pushing a lot more of their marketing budgets into BTL.
Also, the fast growth in the digital marketing has made it very attractive to agencies, and it has been projected to overtake TV advertisement in 2018.
Equity Partnership with DDB
As pointed out earlier, one of the factors that have spurred growth for the Group is its affiliation with DDB network. At the moment, both parties want more from the relationship, and they are on track for an equity based marriage. Discussions are on-going, but the problem at APCON with regards to not having a council in place has slowed down the pace of the negotiation. But the Chairman has assured that the deal is as good as done, because DDB wants a bigger footprint in Africa.
So, while the last 30 years have been an exciting ride for CASERS, the next 30 years hold even bigger promises for the company. Over that period, a lot of changes are bound to take place and that will obviously include the faces at the driver seats; but the spirit will always remain the same and the goal will always be to become number one when it comes to shaping people’s choices on the continent.
From all of us at MARKETING EDGE, it’s Happy 30th Anniversary to CASERS Group.
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