Forces Behind the Brands

In a recent write up, an industry analyst and strategic marketer colleague, Mr. TomiOgunlesi, reminisced over the changing business landscape. In his usually rigorous manner, he made an allusion to the postulation once propagated by a futuristic adman on the agency of the future. According to the postulation, “the advertising agencies to reckon with in near future would essentially have to incorporate the SYSTEMATIC and INTELLECTUAL RIGOR of an ACCENTURE, the DEEPLY CONCEPTUAL CREATIVITY of a TBWA/Worldwide alongside the (expected) INTEGRITY of a Deloitte, all of these rolled up into one efficient creative solutions powerhouse”. Considering the ever changing global landscape and the reality of the Nigerian market, the opinion espoused in the postulation cannot be easily wished away.

In the days gone by, creative agencies and marketing services providers have seen themselves largely as professionals ensconced in the four walls of their corporate offices churning out strategic proposals on creativity and other marketing solutions initiatives. More often than not, they did this without taking cognizance of the market situation nor the changing needs of the consumers. All that mattered was returning strategy for a brief. All of these have since changed as agencies have become part and parcel of the brand building process. It is not just about creating the good old copies, it is about supporting the brand towards the routes to the market. The agencies of the future and of course of the moment are the ones that are leading the agitation and engagement with the consumers with a view to achieving requisite bottom lines and brand objectives.

To the uninitiated, agencies’ new approach on business solutions could be nothing but normal. While one is not disputing the fact that it is a normal thing to do for the agencies, but a deeper introspection and assessment of the general economic situation in the country would reveal that this new approach is indeed a conditional situation. It is something that the marketing services providers had to do in view of the dwindling fortunes and shrinking business opportunities. The national economy which has suffered a great setback due to recession is still being calibrated and yet to fully emerge from the recession imposed shocks. This has advertently or inadvertently impacted negatively on businesses, many of which have locked shops while those who could weather the recessionary storm cut down drastically on marketing and advertising budgets.

The difficult economic situation has forced clients to jettison agency retainership, a partnership that had hitherto worked in favour of brands. In its stead, brands now hire agencies on an ad hoc basis. Realizing the client’s predicament, marketing services providers have gone back on the drawing board to up their games. They have become more strategic in determining the routes to the market than being the old creative agencies that create the Big ideas and win awards. Since the beginning of the year, not much has been done on the marketing and advertising front. Aside the fact that most clients carried out a review of agency partners, they have been cautiously working on marketing budgets. Now that the Federal Government has finally passed its 2017 budget, client companies are now rounding off plans on unfolding their marketing budgets. In other words, some of the agencies that just got hired have been playing the waiting game all this while. Even