Quadrant explores new business frontier in quest for growth
The Quadrant Company, a leading Public Relations agency in Nigeria, is exploring new frontiers of growth and profitability in a quest for resilience against economic uncertainties.
The PR firm is now reinforcing and monetizing its competences in areas such as advisory and media monitoring, which are believed to be outside the domain of traditional PR agencies in the country.
“Over time we are beginning to win businesses more in the area of analytics and media monitoring,” the Chief Executive Officer, Quadrant Company, Bolaji Okusaga, told MARKETING EDGE in Lagos. “Not just basically in the area of activation which is more like a red ocean for our business. We are beginning to see our digital income pushed up. We are beginning to see our analytics and media monitoring income increasing.”
The repositioning efforts began last year following a major shake-up, midwifed by PWC which led to the dismissal of many experienced hands from the agency; they were later replaced with younger staff with digital and research capabilities.
The purging took place shortly after TQC’s holding company, Troyka Holdings, entered into an equity based relationship with Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest agency networks. This paved the way for an operational alignment between TQC and MSL, Publicis’ PR agency network and was the beginning of an evolution at the agency.
The decision by TQC to diversify its offering is designed to make the agency more resilient to the economic crisis, which has shaken the marketing communications industry, especially the PR industry, in Nigeria to its roots with most agencies unable to meet up to routine obligations.
Though these new streams of income presently account for only a small fraction of the agency’s revenue profile, Okusaga is confident that the offering can become a trigger for bigger growth and profitability in the near future.
He said, “We are prioritizing advisory because we see that the potential for growth is higher. And we are building capacity in that area.”
According to analysts, Nigeria’s macro-economic environment, since 2016, has been volatile as a result of the economic recession which has had negative impact on the performances of businesses. Many of them have introduced cost-cutting strategies to survive the bad times.
One aspect of the economy which market watchers say has been affected the most is marketing communications, with many agencies reduced to working on shoe string budgets, while others are sacked by clients citing lack of funds. A lot of the local agencies have now been forced by the macro-economic situation to retool and secure new skill set which are likely to shape future operations.
Okusaga said, “As we begin to get on the way to recovery as a nation, these new competences will begin to define our business and begin to make us more resilient, times the like of this.”
For now, despite the positive impact that analytics and monitoring maybe having on TQC’s bottom-line, its core business of media activation, media relations, media event management and crisis communication still remain the income leader, but that may not be the case for long.
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