Exceedingly uncompromising relationship and partnering with our clients still remain our edge – Tunde Thani
Tunde Thani is the MD/CEO of Explicit Communications Limited, a 360 degrees marketing communication agency managing great brands across FMCG, Healthcare, Banking and the Public sector. In an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE, held at the exquisite and cosy office of the CEO on the occasion of the agency’s silver jubilee anniversary, the consummate adman with over thirty-five years experience in the industry relays the story of the foremost agency, challenges in the industry and other sundry issues. Kasim Bakare provides the excerpts.
Congratulations on your silver Jubilee anniversary. It’s no mean feat to run a successful agency business in this tough terrain for 25 years.
Thank you very much.
Can you let our esteemed readers have an insight into how you started Explicit Communications?
Thank you very much. The start up of explicit Communications was more or less by the finger of God. What we call God’s hand. I had practiced advertising for over ten years. That’s a decade of somebody’s life in an agency. I don’t know if I should mention the agency. Basically, the agency was CentreSpread Advertising .I served with all diligence and commitment at that period. It was also a trying period for that agency. They were going through the bleak and dark moments that we all experience in our lives. I joined them then. The agency survived and they survived big time. Right at that moment, I thought and believed God wanted me to leave and start something. I was comfortable in that agency. I rose from being a trainee account executive to account director, just following the owners of the business. I had everything. I had a wonderful office. I operated almost fairly free. I had a car. That time, the best car you could drive was a Mercedez 200. I had it. I had close relationship with the owners of the business but that wasn’t God’s plan for me at that moment. God had its own plan. There was a divine set-up.. Even though things were looking so bright in that agency because we had just started the foray into making good money yet there was this divine set up. In a jiffy, it just all happened that I had to leave. And so I left the place. That was God’s plan for me, and that was in December, 1995. Events that happened thereafter were so much of a confirmation that leaving at that time was a hand of God. I would tell you as we go on that God wanted me to leave the company and try something for which today I am grateful to God.
The fear of most professionals leaving their comfort zones to set up a business of their own is always rife. How did you summon the courage to get into the terrain of entrepreneurship?
As I said earlier on, I was comfortable. I wasn’t planning to leave. But when God has another plan for you, that plan must come to pass. Even if you were complacent, lackadaisical or sleepy .God planned everything as I said before and It was that divine plan that drove the inner strength and will in me. I had no plans, no fore-plans, no money, no strategic template to follow but that will was propelling me. From the emergence of the template, Explicit, and how we secured free fully furnished office and instant patronage were all from the invisible hand of God. It was like all of this was orchestrated by God. An example worthy of mention was Chief Wole Adeosun’s divine contribution in our start-up story. After I left CentreSpread, for the next six months, I was just sleeping and thinking of what next to do. I didn’t know what else I could do because I had done advertising all my life at that period. Thereafter I approached an agent to help me get an office space. The agent that I met, said, You want an office? What do you want to do there? What do you want to do there? And I said Advertising. He said he even met him three months ago and he wasn’t forthcoming yet but he said “let us go and try again”. I went to meet Chief Adeosun in his house off Sanusi Fafunwa and I explained why I needed the property. He said, young man, I love you. Go and use that place for free as long as you want. He then told me to just pay the agent for his fees. Go and use it. My brother, in that house, we had furniture, air conditioned, with telephones. Is that not the hand of God? What other encouragement do you need? Even some of the clients that we had before, I didn’t go back to them. Everything we did was of course orchestrated by God, friends, family. Almost immediately, we started getting businesses, clients. Those are the support and encouragement that we had. Senior colleagues were also of support and encouragement.
Were there times you faced challenges in this business and what are those challenges?
Like I told you, usually when agencies are formed, they usually have board of Directors that will pump in money. They also bring businesses. That was not the case for me. I started unusually. There are some other agencies that started unusually like that. The challenges that we faced was not anything too different from what such companies face. Lack of capital to run, lack of contacts, lack of competent and skillful staff that can help sustain the loyalty for you to take off and run. Those challenges were there. Here is a new guy starting a new business. It was like we were starting on a shoe string business to take off. The kind of business we do requires money. And of course the challenge of living up to date like your senior colleagues, wearing designer clothes, designer shoes, e.t.c. You know our industry is a showman industry
There were challenges that were personal. Number one for me as a person was the poaching of our staff. When you struggle to train people that are just getting used to you, some other big agencies will come and offer them double their salary. There was a particular agency that was doing that to Explicit and then you are offered double of that pay. It happened severally. One happened that I wept. Two of them left at the time. When those other people, I felt we discussed it together and you would feel that the same people will empathize and sympathize with you to show loyalty then the same people we discussed would also move. As at the last count before we group and we were able to match salary for salary, environment for environment. The qualification you needed to work in that agency was just that you worked with Tunde Thani, Tunde Thani trained you
The second is the inappropriate snatching or poaching of account on the ground of affiliation and we are taking over the business. Also the challenge of bigger agencies playing on affiliation or whatever to disengage you from a business you are on. That happened to us severally. I can tell you that in some instances, our clients refused. In some they got away with it, particularly some clients that are oblivious and not knowledgeable enough. Again, this depends on the kind of partnership agreement or affiliation they have with a foreign agency. . But I can tell you that one or two clients said No. For example, at a time we were working for Siemens. And the agency said, we have just gotten the affiliation of a foreign agency. The particular agency mounted so much pressure. They said if we have to write, we will write. And they wrote. They said: We are in Nigeria, we don’t know what is happening wherever. We are satisfied with our local agency. Ditto for another client, DHL. The client told them a similar story
‘We are happy with our local agency because they know us, we know them. We have been partnering with them, they understand our brand, we are cool with them. So you can go and do business with some other clients”. Such situation we experienced. Maybe again, the kind of agreement they have with the foreign agency, we lost such accounts. Those are the peculiar challenges I faced apart from the broad-based generic challenges of economic I am not faced with the issue of my clients trying to share my profit or my money or whatever commission we have. Most of the challenges we face are within the industry. This is because from the outset, we make it clear for clients on the kind of agency we are. If someone knows you are a small agency trying to come up, a senior practitioner that you look up to will just come and poach your staff, they take your creative Director, take your Head, client service. How do they want you to survive? But my brother, we survived. Sometimes when such things happen, I will be disillusioned. In one of those cases, I wept. Our creative head and I went for a pitch at one of the multinational companies, another big agency also came. Because we defeated that agency, they decided to come after our creative head. Days after the pitch,the creative head walked up to me that he was leaving. He said he was going back to its childhood dream of being a Fine Artist. True to the word I believed him I even gave him the car he was using as I told him he would need the car for his painting work. One day, a media executive alerted me that each time he went to that big agency, he always sees the car I gave to the guy. The car was a peculiar one as people knew me with the car. When my creative noticed someone who knows me had seen him at the agency, he stopped coming with the car. It was at the start up stage of our business. We went through all that, and like I said we are still stronger
What role do you think APCON or AAAN can play in addressing the peculiar challenges you raised?
APCON regulates practitioners both local and foreign in all ramifications. AAAN regulates member agencies. Each of these agencies have laws that regulate the practice of advertising. In fairness to the bkoard members of each of them, they still try to regulate the practice. As with all areas of our endeavours in national life, there are laws but people still broke the laws. Let’s take the issues one by one.
Some people see the issue I raised as a business thing or survival strategy. Is it in the code that an agency must not survive? IS APCON supposed to preach to staff about resilience, thinking of the future. Is A{PCON or AAAN supposed to be the parents of staff to train them in the way they should go so thagt they wont depart from it. Are APCON or AAAN supposed to meet the private needs of family of staff? In some of these cases, we could have reported the erring agencies to AAAN but there is no law.
You know I gave you that caveat of the kind of agreement those agencies have with their foreign partners . We have a new person in the saddle of APCON now, Dr Lekan Fadolapo. We thank God for him having been had vast experience at AAAN. When Lolu Akinwunmi was there as APCON chairman, he made efforts at changing some of those laws. Some of those laws are still there and I wouldn’t want to go into that right now. The leaders of the industry are not folding their hands. They know that this is the industry we have and it must survive. We have a legacy for practitioners coming after us. They are trying their best to regulate the industry and it can only get better
Having spent over three decades in advertising practice,how would you assess the Advertising Industry in Nigeria?
The industry has seen it all. It has gone through the bright moments, shady and good moments. We have had our challenges in the industry. There are times we even faced identity problem. Some people came and said they are branding consultants, IMC. There was also the period of balkanization of our businesses. Our survival depends on the economy. The moment the economy is bad, the area that is vastly affected is the advertising budget. Advertising business both locally and globally have also been losing budget both in the area of digital and social media agencies. They take over some of the billings of the agencies. When your business is fragmented and some of the budget is taken away. Strategic media planning and buying, BTL, ATL, specialist companies are adapting to what is going on around the world and the effect has been significant.
Sometimes, you even wonder if that industry is recognized. The Ministry of Information, the supervising ministry, we had to fight our way to warm our way into their hearts. Advertising is still relevant. Manufacturers, telcos, politicians still recognize the relevance of advertising. The industry is growing. No matter the fragmentation, it is still advertising. Despite the challenges we have faced, we are still there waxing stronger.
You are primed as the proverbial “Eagle that loves stormy situations”. How has Explicit Communications weathered its challenges especially in a tough marketing terrain?
In life, there would always be storm. Like I told you, there was an inner will that has been protecting us. Having said, it is noteworthy that what has been helping us is hard work. Per time per time, we still have some loyal, committed workforce. This agency is 25 years. Even when things were hard and the big agencies were paying big money, they remained with us. Eccl 9:11 says the race is not for the swift nor the battle to the strong neither yet bread to the wise……… Time and chance happened to them all”. So, everything is due to the grace of God. As we speak, there are those that have been with us for 20 years. Even when big agencies were sacking, we did not. During the tough period, there was a time, we did a 15% salary cut. They stayed on even when we cut it by 30%, they still stayed on. They have been very committed and loyal. You need to see the camaraderie here, the creative environment e.t.c. I have a great team here with a lot of bonding. Though there are times I drive them hard because I want things done promptly but they are always committed and united. It’s been the grace of God.
What is your agency’s competitive edge over other agencies in the industry?
I can’t sit here to tell you about those high-falutin words like strategic planning, research e.t.c. Every agency does that. Our number one edge is the exceedingly uncompromising relationship and partnering with our clients. We have grown with our clients to such an extent that a client will be sitted by the art director doing the job he wants to do and I would wonder and the client would just tell me “I don’t need you”. We nurture and sustain our relationship with our clients. We are like family members.
Globally, Covid-19 has dealt a severe blow on businesses. What has been the Impact of Covid-19 on your business?
The kind of business we do. We deal with people and when the economy suffers, they also suffer. It affected us like it affected al other sectors of the economy. Thank God for the kind of clients we have. I also want to thank the industry thought leaders who came up with survival strategies during the Covid-19 through Zoom. Because of the mix of clients we have. We have clients like NNPC, DPR. Some of them don’t need us to have physical contacts with them. It impacted the business in a bit but we survived. Thank God the vaccines are here.
What would you describe as the “new normal’ in your organization?
We observe Covid-19 protocols in our organization. As you can see, we have imbibed all protocols from hand-washing for our staff, clients and visitors coming to the office. We started work-from-home during the pandemic and we are still doing it. However, there are some cerebral clients that would need to have come to our office regularly and we also need to consider that
How would you rate Explicit in terms of position in the advertising industry?
I will just put it one sentence. Explicit is one of the sustained medium sized advertising agencies that survived the cloudy and dark times and still waxing stronger. In the course of these years, the agency has midwife and broken many award-winning campaigns. Explicit has its share of awards as various institutions and professional bodies among others have honored it locally and beyond for tasks it has executed through the years of operation. For instance, Explicit won silver medal twice for the Lonart ‘malaria don pafuka’ campaign. Another silver medal for film- Nonalcoholic Beverage Veleta, and bronze medal for Press (Public, Political &Social Communication)
Having run a successful business for 25 years, what are your projections for the business in the next five years?
We thank God for how he has helped us for the past 25 years. We have deliberately decided to stay medium-size. This is because it will enable us to serve our clients more effectively. We have also joined the foray of fragmentation of the business
In the next five years, our move is to stabilize growth, further entrench the company as a group. We want to grow other fragments of our business. We have Sharp shooters handling Experiential, Corporate Insigna which is into BTL handling productions and other members of the Explicit Group into media planning and buying.
Who is Tunde Thani?
Tunde Thani is the last of four children of Late Pa Muhammed Nurudeen Thani and Mama Sidikat Thani of Epe Kingdom, Lagos State. I hold a B.Sc & Msc in Mass Communication from the prestigious University Of Lagos, in both cases, upper division credit. I have been in the industry for 35 years, worked for different brands across FMCGs, Banking, governmental agencies e.t.c. I am a cerebral person. I am an entrepreneur. I like to bring up people and I am a philanthropist per excellence.
Where do you draw your Inspiration from?
I draw my inspiration mostly from God and from success stories of other people. I get inspired by people in the industry, colleagues and so on. I also draw inspiration from my family especially my wife. She is such a resilient person that is always urging me on
Who are your role models in the industry and beyond?
I don’t really have one in particular in the industry. What I do is that, I study each one, role model their strength, for example, in entrepreneurship and doggedness, in absolute professionalism and resourcefulness, good governance, etc. God has blessed our industry with many leaders, dead and living that qualified excellently as role models. However, worthy of mention is my former boss that gave me the platform to start my advertising career-Kola Ayanwale. After my first degree in Unilag, graduating as the best graduating student in P.R and Advert. I also did well at the NYSC and got a National Merit Award. Without any notice of job vacancy, I walked up to an agency, CentreSpread and I told the receptionist that I needed a job. She was startled and told me there was no advert to that effect. While she was trying to explain to me, Chief Kola Ayanwale came and he was impressed by my courage. I was asked to come for an interview and I passed. Instantly, he offered me a job. I also want to thank his partner Kamal Ogundeji .
Tell us a bit of Explicit Communications’ pedigree in terms of its clientele?
We are blessed with wonderful and great clients. Suffice to say that currently we have a lot of them,. In the pharmaceutical Industry, we work with Greenlife Pharmaceuticals, we work on Lonart, one of their brands. We work on PAlaxine. Also in the FMCG, intercontinental Distilleries with four of their brands. We have great brands spanning many sectors in the industry. We own contract to NNPC business. We work for Federal Character Commission, we just got on Clearline HMO. It’s a new win. We are starting their campaign soon.
What are your hobbies?
I love the moments I spend with family and friends. I play table tennis and I love travelling. I play scrabble. I am also into philanthropy. I belong to several organizations. I am an unrepentant and unrestrained giver. I sponsored a project last year during my 60th birthday to help the elderly. My parents died at a very ripe. I belong to Lagos Country Club. I am the Vice Chairman of the scrabble section at the club. Another is Ivory League of Progress. I belong to G-summit.
I was an executive for many years at AAAN. At a time, i was on the council of APCON for about six years. I was the Vice Chairman of Advertising standard procedures(ASP). I have won several professional and personal laurels within and outside the industry. Maybe because I am a Leo, I have found myself in leadership positions at different times and it has been God’s grace.
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