Publicis Groupe recently announced an equity partnership with the communications arm of The Troyka Group, the first wholly integrated marketing communications service provider in West Africa, including a total of six agencies: Insight Communications, The Thiinkshop, All Seasons Media, Media Perspectives, The Quadrant Company and Hotsauce.
Publicis Groupe has continuously invested in Africa over the last several years, taking advantage of the strong growth potential of this market. Through this equity acquisition, Publicis Groupe will launch its network in Nigeria from within the Troyka Group, creating a powerful communications entity that will allow for competitive advantage across all areas of operation in the West African landscape.
Founded in 1989 the company has over 300 employees and 6 offices across the region. Troyka companies work with multi-national brands as well as local clients.
Kevin Tromp, CEO of Publicis Africa Group commented: “The Troyka Group communication companies are the gold standard in Nigeria, with a range of long-term blue-chip client relationships, and a portfolio of multi-disciplinary work that is world-class. We are very excited about the opportunities that this partnership presents for our clients, and believe that the combination Publicis Groupe’s global expertise combined with the Troyka Group’s local strength will provide an unbeatable partnership in this challenging and fast developing market.”
The integration of Troyka companies together with Publicis Groupe’s media, public relations, and advertising networks will service a wide range of blue-chip local and multi-national brands.
Insight Communications, the largest and most sophisticated agency in Nigeria, and will trade as the representative of Publicis Worldwide in Nigeria. The agency will work closely with all other Publicis Worldwide network agencies as a fully-fledged network partner.
The Thiinkshop, one of Nigeria’s youngest agencies with a knack for great work that truly moves people, will be aligned into a multi-door operation of Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi in the market. Leo Burnett will operate as a stand-alone entity representing the worldwide network in Nigeria.
All Seasons Media, Nigeria’s pioneer independent media agency, will be aligned with ZenithOptimedia. All Seasons Media leverages deep consumer insights to build and implement strategies that have given it the reputation for providing media efficiencies and strong ROI.
Media Perspectives, one of the top three media advertising agency in billings in Nigeria, will be aligned with Starcom Mediavest Group. The agency uses Nigeria’s first and only cloud-based media ERP, leveraging tech-enabled operations to provide transparent processes for clients.
The Quadrant Company is Nigeria’s first full service public relations agency, offering specialist services with coverage of the West African region, and was honored in 2012 as the Holmes Report Sabre Awards African PR Consultancy of the Year. The agency will be aligned with MSLGROUP.
Hotsauce is Nigeria’s most awarded digital marketing agency and has been named Digital Agency of the Year three years in a row by the Marketing World Awards. The agency will be aligned with Nurun, one of the world’s fastest growing digital networks.
According to the Chairman of Troyka Group, Mr. Biodun Shobanjo, “we are indeed excited with the opportunities being thrown open with this partnership. The choice of Publicis as an equity partner advents a new epoch in marketing communication services in Nigeria as it up-scales the value we currently deliver to clients. Being the first of its kind in the Nigerian environment, the Publicis / Troyka partnership, will avail us access to global tools, process and platforms while helping to redefine route to market for the brands we work for, the ultimate consequence being better outcomes in terms of market expansion and growth.”
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and is predicted to be a top 20-world economy by 2030 according to McKinsey Global Institute. The advertising market in Nigeria is worth approximately $1 billion and has seen a 21% compound annual growth rate in the last ten years. According to ZenithOptimedia, advertising expenditure is expected to generate a 3.9% growth in 2016 and reach 4.7% at current prices by 2017.
Experts share case studies at African marketing summit
The ninth edition of African Experiential Marketing Summit, with the theme ‘The University of Brand Experiences’, was held recently in Lagos. The event attracted many international experiential marketing experts, who presented papers and shared quality experiences and case studies. The speakers include Dan Hanover, Founder and Editor of Event Marketer magazine, published in the United States of America, Noukuthula Radebe, Marketing Manager at Yellowwood Brand Architects and Carol Abade, Chief Executive Officer, EXP Group amongst others.
Presenting his paper on the theme of the event, besides thrilling the audience with emotional driven experiential marketing case studies, Dan Hanover revealed that “Experiential marketing can be used successfully to build relationships, raise awareness, increase loyalty, establish relevance, encourage interaction and product trial, create memories, stimulate positive word of mouth, change the mind of dissatisfied customers, create product desire, verify the target audience and increase return on marketing investment”.
The celebrated ‘Marketing Magician’ who is the world leading provider of experiential content also said “Africa is gradually accepting the model of social media and experiential marketing. Africa consumers have progressed over the last five years and are becoming digital natives using all the forces put in place to evolve quickly over the next couple of years not only to a population super power but a brand super power.”
Carol Abade on her own path explained that “Experiential marketing is about enabling personal connections between brands and consumers by creating real life experience worth sharing. These experiences combine digital and real world connections to create stronger memories and emotional bonds between brand and consumers.’
Carol also stressed that marketing need to shift boundaries. “We can’t develop the right brand strategies without real consumer insights. We must bring back agencies into a collaborative process that focuses on the target.”
Also speaking at the event Nnena Onyewuchi said “the most powerful experience are those that are shared. Experiential marketing is not about PR stunts but about connected experiences that put the user at the centre to not only connect with the brands but also share their experiences through their own social networks.
Noukuthula Radebe spoke on the place of social media in experiential marketing. According to him “Social media is a channel not a strategy. It is a tool that should sink in with brands around the world. In order to stand out and earn a coveted place in consumers’ hearts and minds, brands and agencies need to create viral and lasting impressions through connected, impactful experiential marketing activations.”
The African Experiential Marketing Summit is a brain child of EXP Marketing, an Experiential Marketing Agency with operations in 15 countries across Africa. It is a forum organised to learn, share and discuss experiential marketing trends and strategies in the African market.
Beat FM berths in London
One of Nigeria’s foremost entertainment radio stations, THE BEAT FM has commenced operations in London in yet another pivotal step towards expanding the brand internationally.
The Radio station will be taking over the management of Bang Radio (103.6) in North London, on the 28th of March, 2016 under an agreement with Megalectrics, who will continue to own the station, which has been rebranded THE BEAT London 103.6 FM.
The launch of Beat FM London will took place on March 28, with a reveal party at Love and Liquor Lounge on Kilburn High Street in North West London as The Beat 103.6FM London simultaneously goes live.
The Beat FM London will be projecting African music, Nigerian Music, British music and Caribbean Music.
Commenting on the impending launch, General Manager Megalectrics, Deji Awokoya, said that the expansion of the Beat FM brand into London came about as a result of the opportunities created by the changing demographics and entertainment consumption habits of the UK. In his words.
“This was by no means a hostile takeover, but a long-considered, calculated move because our aim is to globalize local talent. Already, Bang FM is a fixture in the Afro-Caribbean entertainment industry, with close collaborations with radio stations and media in Nigeria. It even has Nigerians in its OAP-mix.
We did our research, and we know that currently, more people are tuning in to the “culture driven” stations. This is corroborated by an entity no less than MOBO (Music Of Black Origin). So for us, this is a strategic move and the beginning of a completely new frontier in the globalization of entertainment.”
Since launching in 2008, Beat FM has grown organically and rapidly, with the addition of two new stations over the years. The station will be the fifth in Megalectrics’ radio division and its first on the brand’s international platform band.