ADVERTISING
More than before, policymakers and brand owners are waking up to appreciate the importance of advertising, public relations and other legs of marketing communications and businesses because of the intervention roles played to stimulate the economy in recent years. In this interview, the Chief Executive Officer at Modion Communications, Odion Aleobua, speaks on the various stages of evolvement of the industry and how the digital revolution has impacted the practice in recent times. Raheem Akingbolu brings the excerpts
What can you say about the challenge of talent retention plaguing the PR and Marketing Communications landscape?
The challenge is not peculiar to the PR and Marketing Communications industry, although it can be more pronounced in some industries compared to others. One of the multi-faceted effects of Covid-19 and its attendant economic contraptions and health challenge is the increase in talent attrition. Our most valuable resources at Modion Communication are our people, and despite the economic conditions during the pandemic, there were pay increments rather than employee retrenchment. Beyond the economic dynamics, we pay meticulous attention to their overall well-being. Businesses must look after their people.
The evolvement of social media and advancement in technology seems to have dealt a great blow on creativity. Do you subscribe to the view that social media or technology is a threat to the creative growth of traditional marketing communications?
Technology has truly revolutionised consumer behaviour as well as how people interact with and consume media. It has broadened access to creative communications and enhanced creative output as well. With technology, we are fusing Computer Generated Imagery (CGIs) and special effects into the creative spaces with more intensity and high-definition output that allow us to come close to reality with our creative storytelling. We are creating magic, and digital technology enables the target audience to experience immersive interactions and engagements. Digital technology has also democratised and expanded the creative boundaries and won newer tribes of the community. There are young creative renegades out there equipped with the latest tools and developing mind-bending videos, animations, and music that brands are happy to jump on for consumer engagement. Creative agencies and consultants have to accept that the space is democratised and fashion ways to incorporate them into integrated and comprehensive strategies for brands.
What is your view about affiliation, and are you looking towards that direction in the future?
Affiliations are pivotal for global integration and business growth. It is a nice-to-have arrangement that must be approached with a clearer understanding, mandates, and contract sanctity. We indeed look forward to an affiliate arrangement in the nearest future.
COVID-19 and the lockdown that characterised most of the year 2020 appears to have changed the way things are done in the industry; how did you adjust to it and moving forward, what advice can you give the marketing communications practitioners?
The PR industry was not exempt from the economic realities that indeed coloured the year 2020.
The diversity of our client portfolio helped the agency navigate the pangs of the pandemic. Going into the future, practitioners need to pivot towards a hybrid of new and mainstream platforms, which should be value creation and solutions-led.
With your years of experience, both at client and agency sides, how would you evaluate the practice of advertising between the 1990s and now?
The practice of advertising in the 1990s has been completely disrupted with the recent digital explosion. The adverting messaging then focused on their understanding of the consumers, but today, the consumer leads the conversations that ads have adjusted to ensure they get their mindshare. Today’s consumers leverage digital technology to instantly engage or cancel brands based on their social sentiment rating.
Ads promoting product offerings alone, as was the locus in the 1990s, are no longer compelling enough. Today, infusing social impact messaging or aligning with a social cause are powerful adverting tactics that get the consumers interested in your product or services.
New media platforms have also provided more accurate tools to target consumers with ads and the metrics to measure performance and conversions. These capabilities have attracted ad spend as more brands get attracted to these tools to precisely reach their targets.
One outcome of the many media consumption patterns is the ‘fleeting attention span’ occasioned by the volume of information available in a matter of micro-seconds. Hence, today’s advertising message needs to be kept simple yet leave consumers with an impacted value. The underlying principles of advertising still hold; technology has only led to incredibly different ways of thinking and doing.
When Modion Communications was established, one would have thought the agency would find it tough competing with bigger agencies, but it started going to pitches with the so-called big agencies and won in most cases. What is the strength?
The agency is peopled by creative people whom I can beat my chest are the best in the world; young men and women driven by a sheer passion for redefining what marketing communication is and how it will continually impact our world today and in the future. These values are a big draw for the clients we currently work with or those that are referrals.
In recent times, your agency has become one of the most celebrated within and outside Nigeria; considering the number of awards it has raked in, what are you doing differently?
In our six years of existence and indeed from our first year, we have had the opportunity to provide creative communications solutions for brands that are way older than our young existence. Our diverse portfolio has expanded our strategic and creative insights. The Agency’s innovative solutions are guided by thorough insights and a series of iterations and think tank sessions that tagged the ‘ideas refinery’ to interrogate and arrive at the most compelling results and solutions for our clients.
Beyond the award, if you are tapped to name one campaign you have handled in recent time that excites you most and impacts the bottom line of your client’s business, which one will you single out?
In arriving at the superior results, we envision for our clients, the campaigns, and communications solutions we proffer are tailored to the core objectives hence a diversity in our execution.
We love the gripping “See Finish” teaser campaign for Leadway Assurance, but the story of Dele Fathia is intensely inspiring. Dele’s determination to achieve success through education aligns with the Nigerian Can-Do spirit, so it is a relatable emotional and social cause worthy of emulation and reward. We leveraged our understanding of cause marketing and using the power of one person’s story to illuminate a broader issue to build a winning campaign.
Conceptualising a PR strategy for Lumos Solar to light up Dele Fathia’s home after a picture of the schoolgirl doing her homework at night with illumination from an ATM facility went viral on social media is our Agency’s ultimate fulfilment. It is also a tactic that won the first-ever Platinum Saber Award for Nigeria and qualified Modion Communications for the Global Sabre Award Finale.
