Expertise in problem-solving will impact advertising spend – Mbanefo
By Oghale Mafuru
As clients continue to seek ways to optimize limited advertising budgets amid global economic downturn, agencies have been advised to improve service delivery with specific focus on critical aspects of the clients’ business capable of increasing return on investment, ROI.
Ozone Mbenefo, Founder/Provost of 02 Academy, who gave this advice in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE on TV urged agencies to focus on providing business solutions beyond advertising and marketing communications in order to earn the confidence of clients who are seeking ways to increase patronage and organizational bottom-lines.
His words: “A client does not come to the agency just because they want to do advertising or create communication. Clients come to agencies because of one thing which is return on investment. They want to make more money and sales. But when we begin to think only in terms of marketing communications, that is where we are getting it wrong.
“A client is ready to spend a fortune if they see that whatever they spend they will get it times ten or fifty. They will even borrow the money. This is where business thinking comes in. We shouldn’t see ourselves as just marketing experts. We should see ourselves as business solution providers” he stressed.
According to the advertising trainer, agencies should be able to run diagnostic analysis on their clients’ business to be able to identify areas of concerns and advice accordingly.
“We should be able to go ahead and come up with concepts that are beyond advertising because advertising cannot solve all client’s problems. If we notice that they are lacking in the area of distribution, they are lacking in the area of their content of their products and you notice something that is not going right, that is where we come in as experts to help fix what is wrong” he said
Commenting on the growth of influencer marketing, the advertising professional stated it is imperative for professionals to embrace collaboration in order to leverage the platform to deliver on clients marketing objectives.
“Clients are looking for numbers. Clients are looking for where people are looking. So, clients are interested in how many eyeballs are on your platform. We are the experts. Our job is to give the expert touch to it. These guys that are doing it are not experts. They are just trying their luck. They are just everywhere. So, it is for us to harness what they are doing, manage them right and use what we know as an expert which is understanding the consumer psychology and help the brands that need our professional inputs. It is about collaboration and co-creation”.
While acknowledging that the electioneering season had resulted in a decline in advertising spend as brands suspended marketing activities, he expressed optimism that advertising and marketing campaigns will resume but stressed that agencies must focus on delivering well on return on investment.
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