UWG Chair advocates for Pan-Africanism to signpost local ad agencies globally
By Oghale Mafuru
Against the backdrop of the rising concerns over the under-representation of black creatives in the global advertising industry, Monique Nelson, Chair of UniWorld Group (UWG), the oldest and one of the largest Multi-cultural advertising agencies in the world has urged African agencies especially the black community in diaspora to work assiduously to signpost local creatives on the global stage.
Speaking to MARKETING EDGE in an exclusive interview, the UWG Chair, stated that Africans in diaspora have overwhelming amount of knowledge and skills to provide the required solutions that guarantees the success of brands in the marketplace adding that local agencies must collaborate to drive the vision of inclusivity.
Her words: “Right now, it is really clear, that the fastest growth is going to come from communities of colour and to be brutally honest, the fastest growth is actually coming from the black diaspora. Now we are taking about the black diaspora. Most importantly what do we talk about with respect to Pan-African in diaspora? How are we really empowering the fast-growing continent in the world, the youngest in the world and most culturally diverse with over two thousand languages? That is about the one we recognize. They have tremendous amount of richness that ultimately, we know has not been celebrated or even explored in the way that it will be an opportunity. So here at UWG, we look at how we can connect the diaspora and how we can begin to empower them as unserved, overlooked and undervalued community.
According to the UWG Chair, Multi-culturalism is expedient for the growth of the global advertising industry as it brings in different perspectives which is essential for a culturally diverse ecosystem.
“It is very important that we think about what are the cultural norms that a brand needs to impact a new group of humans and a new group of products and sometimes believe that the product that we need has not even been invented yet but you won’t know that if you are not talking directly to cultures that are moving in that direction that you may or may not be aware of. So, it is very important that we listen to especially what the future is looking for and ultimately bring our brands along that journey so they know what they should be producing, what they should be innovating on and ultimately what they should be creating for the future.
“So for our brands, it may not be right in front of you right now, but we are talking about how do we bring brands along the journey and maybe how can we introduce new brands from these existing cultures and then be exported and more in ways that are more impactful and more engaging to the communities in which they come from and what they serve.”
The UWG Chair decried that despite efforts to drive the growth of local agencies globally, reports have shown that black agencies are not well represented in global advertising spend. She urged local agencies to leverage the multi-faceted relationships in the industry to innovate solutions that are borderless.
“I want to show and demonstrate that it is possible for black owned agencies and black owned organizations not only survive but strive and grow. To understand that partnership and collaboration is the key to win globally and we too have to find that collaboration for us to scale and grow. So, it is very important that we don’t forget what the rules of engagement are and how we can position ourselves to be a global answer to clients not only on the continent but beyond”.
While disclosing that UniWorld Group is committed to accelerating the needed change through calculated steps to galvanize support and partnerships, Monique Nelson stated that the agency is leveraging relationships within and outside the African continent as well as maximizing its vast wealth of experience as the longest standing Multi-cultural advertising agency in the world.
“So what we are hoping to do is to bring some of that skill that we have as a long standing minority black run agency to the continent to kind of show that here is fifty-three years of experience. Here is some of the things we have done so well and here are the things we could have done better. we would love for you not to make those mistakes. We want to build agencies not only to survive but to thrive and grow through this process. Our idea is to grow more black owned agencies as we have grown over the last Fifty-three years.
“Coming into the continent is looking at the possibilities of how we can see and grow the opportunities that is within the continent and move the team to the global stage” She added.
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