Explicit marks 25 years of innovative and client-focused brand management
By Kasim Bakare
It is no mean feat to run a successful business in Nigeria for 25 years. It is even more remarkable to run a creative business in a fast changing world and a developing economy like Nigeria where there are structural and institutional bottlenecks. Indeed, it was a worthy celebration as Explicit Communications Ltd, a leading marketing communications company, rolled out its drums on April 1, 2021 to celebrate its silver jubilee in an industry where the feeble and faint-hearted have gone under.
Having bestridden the Nigerian advertising landscape in the last 25 years like a colossus, surviving many challenges, the foremost agency has ignited iconic brands while running successful campaigns for brands across FMCG, Banking & Finance, Healthcare, Public sectors, among many others.
Going memory lane, the debonair soft spoken CEO of Explicit Communications Ltd., Tunde Thani attributed the company’s birth and growth to what he termed the “finger of God”. After voluntarily resigning from a plum job he had spent ten years on at a foremost agency, CentreSpread Advertising, he was initially at crossroad on his next line of action. Six months after, the young and ambitious Thani decided to delve into a risky terrain of entrepreneurship, setting up his own advertising agency, for as he noted , the only thing he knew he could do was advertising.
Hear him: “I had practiced advertising for over ten years at Centrespread Advertising. That’s a decade of somebody’s life in an agency .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, a good car and considerable liberty.
He continued: “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 for which today I am grateful to God”.
Responding to an enquiry on the agency’s competitive edge among other players in the highly competitive advertising industry, the Explicit boss noted that its uncompromising relationship with its clients has stood it out over the years.
He said: “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 we are like family members. We nurture and sustain our relationship with. We also deploy innovation in our service delivery”
Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 in the last one year, the Explicit CEO noted that the company has been able to survive the impact of the pandemic. He averred that the agency’s five-year projection is to consolidate the restructuring of the business.
“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”.
Lending his two cents on the assessment of the advertising industry in Nigeria,especially at this critical time of the economy and Covid-19 imposed imperatives, the cerebral adman noted that the industry has seen it all having gone through the bright moments, shady and good moments.
His words:” We have had our challenges in the industry. There were 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, 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.
Continuing, he said: “There are so many challenges facing the industry in Nigeria, today. Sometimes, you even wonder if that industry is recognized. Your 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 and standing firm”.
In the course of its twenty five years of existence, Explicit has midwife and broken many award-winning campaigns. The agency has won several awards and recognition locally and globally as various institutions and professional bodies among others have honored it for tasks it has executed through the years of operation.
For instance, Explicit won silver medal twice for the Lonart ‘malaria don pafuka’ campaign. It also won another silver medal for film- Nonalcoholic Beverage Veleta, and bronze medal for Press (Public, Political &Social Communication) among many others.
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