EXP Marketing Gets New MD

Few weeks after Wole Olagundoye quit his job as Managing Director of one of Nigeria’s leading experiential marketing shop EXP Marketing Nigeria Limited, the agency has appointed his replacement.

The new helmsman is Mr. Gil Kemani, an experienced Cameroonian adman. Kemani, who resumed just over a week ago, comes into his new job with a huge reputation and vast wealth of experience in the experiential marketing field in Africa. The former Managing Director of Ogilvy Ghana has since held a meeting with the agency’s clients where he assured them that he was committed to taking their brands to a new height.

Recently a cocktail party was held by Exp Marketing to introduce the new helmsman to the agency’s clients and other stakeholders. It was a worthwhile event that afforded both parties to the chance to rub minds, cavort and laugh as they discussed business in the cozy and relaxing ambience of Miliki in Victoria Island.
Kemani seized the opportunity to assure Exp Marketing’s client of the agency commitment to strengthen their brand by helping them engage their consumers in creative new ways.

Nigeria being Africa’s biggest economy and one of the toughest market holds a difference challenge for Kemani, but he has assured that he will take on his job will confidence and professionalism, adding that his insight and experience will help him deliver result.

“Am very much aware and appreciative of the challenge in front of me, what I hope to bring into Exp Marketing is new set of eyes. Looking at things differently. That freshness, given that I have not worked in this market before, given the experience am bringing on board, given the fact that am coming with an experience of above the line and having worked with an experiential marketing agency before. So it is my hope that in a short time what you will be seeing is a new side of Exp,” he said.

Kemani is expected to hit the ground running as he oversees the company’s drive to boost its equity and properly position the agency for growth and marketing leadership in Africa’s largest economy. The company recently held an interactive session with client where the Kemani engaged the clients in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The experienced adman gave some hints about some of his strategies for success in his new job saying there is a need to be cautious. “I will want to appraise the market, being confident of what I bring on board. To succeed in this market, you need to understand your environment, you need to understand your clients, you need to understand your brand, you need to understand the team you lead,” he said.

His new appointment comes at a troubled times for the integrated marketing communications industry in Nigeria, as brand owners have embarked on widespread marketing budget cut for 2016 as a response to weak local economy and series of unfavourable government policies.

But in spite of these challenges on the economy, the growth projections for the experiential marketing sector has been positive, as brands now favours below-the-line marketing to above-the-line in a bid to reduce marketing budget and boost company’s bottomline. According to analysts, brands view below-the-line marketing initiative as more effective and affordable.