Friday, August 5, 2016
In today's digitally
connected world, more brands are putting purpose before products and consumers
are increasingly embracing experiences over exposure as a more impactful means
of connecting with the brand.
This development among
others, reveal one basic marketing truth, that when it comes to connecting with
consumers, there is nothing like a real life experience, the overall essence of
experiential marketing.
In Nigeria, like the
rest of the world, the importance of experiential marketing is on the rise as
many big spenders are leveraging on this all important platform to stand out
and earn a coveted place in the consumer's hearts and minds, through connected
and impactful experiences that create lasting impressions.
The Place of awesome
ideas and brilliant executions
The marvel of creating
real life and connected experiences that put the user and consumer at the
centre, calls for nothing short of breathtaking ideas crowned by appropriate
executions. Interestingly, one of Nigeria's most qualified and successful
Marketing communications expert, Mr Kehinde Salami, MD/ CEO of Ideas House
Marketing Communications Limited, summed this up succinctly when he said
"in the business of experiential marketing, the Idea is king, however in
order to achieve its purpose, an idea should be followed by the right execution
to adequately enable personal connection between brands and consumers".
Determined to make a
positive difference in the evolving practice of experiential marketing, Salami
who is presently the General Secretary of the Experiential Marketers
Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), founded Ideas house an agency that has since
grown to become one of the country's most reputable BTL agencies and a
reference point for some of the best ideas and campaigns in Africa in just over
seven years. Speaking about the vision of the agency he said "when we
started we intended to create a highly distinctive brand that will
revolutionize the way agencies are perceived, are structured and operate"
"In line with
this, our vision is to be the number one ideas factory of reference, so what
does a factory do? It churns out products. We want to churn out highly
impactful and extraordinary ideas that can be measured. Salami further revealed
another uniqueness of the agency, he said "Ideas House primarily is not
your typical agency, typical BTL agencies and most marketing communications
agencies are suppliers of service, we are not. We are more than suppliers of
service, we are true strategic partners and in being a strategic partner we
need to operate at a different realm. We are an ideation agency and within the
realm of ideation, we then have a whole range of techniques to execute the
ideas, BTL being just one, that's why we spend more time to understand the
market, gather the necessary insight and turn those insights into opportunities
on behalf of the clients and prospects". He concluded.
Motivation improves
work and ideation
Around the world,
companies and employers are discovering the great value that comes from
investing in their employees through skill development and providing the right
motivation. Many experts agree that providing an enabling environment for
workers especially in integrated marketing communications hugely supports the
free flow of creative ideas without a box. Speaking on the role of motivation
in the improvement of workers ability and capacity, Commonwealth Scholar and
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences, University
of Ilorin, Dr Tella, Adeyinka, maintained that the right motivation can greatly
improve the performance level of employees especially people in the discipline
of creativity. "The tireless thinkers at the agencies who consistently
churn out mind blowing ideas need to be motivated through a deliberately
designed mechanism to make work convenient and enjoyable" He added.
It is against this
backdrop that Ideas House revealed among other resolutions at its just
concluded 2016 half year retreat, a plan to embrace the four working days a
week system along with the 36 percent of organizations that have done so
globally. Speaking on the rationale behind this decision, the agency boss,
Salami said "With the announcement of our four day working week, Thursday
now becomes our Friday. Why did we do this, it gives some people the
opportunity to have useful time to themselves, to take part in some of the CSR
initiatives and to go into the field and do some quality research" he
said.
"When you have
almost 75 percent of your monthly operational cost going to salaries, it then
immediately tells you one thing that you are a people's business and with
people you have to manage relationship for value. This means that you must have
a highly motivated team that are effective, that are fulfilled and that are
extremely happy doing what they do". He concluded.
Sustaining excellent
activations and continuous improvement
Without a doubt, brand
activation is one of the most important metrics for measuring how many users
take a specific action to get value out of a product. Many experts however
agree, that making the activation more about the consumer than the product is
an important way to achieve the desired result.
Perhaps one of the most
successful and visible activations to have been recorded in Nigeria is the
unique Guinness Ref In-Bar activation created by Ideas House to drive
sustainable conversations among football lovers in the on-trade environment.
The strategic intent was to drive the sales for Guinness Stout and brand
connection during the World Cup season and beyond, whilst reinforcing Guinness'
positioning as the official supporters of the Super Eagles.
Promoters, who dressed
as Referees, were deployed across bars to tests consumers' football knowledge
with the opportunity to win prizes. Monthly draws were also held across bars
with exciting giveaways for consumers. The activation was a huge success with
900,000 consumers engaged across 9,000 bars within a 3-month period pan
Nigeria.
Commenting on the
Agency's culture of excellence and the environment for continuous improvement,
Account Director Ideas House marketing communications limited, Oyepeju Adeyinka-Adebayo, explained that a positive
work environment and strong team spirit have contributed to the agency's
success overtime "working for Ideas House is an experience like none
other. The agency's vision really comes through in every way. I've seen myself
grow over the years with each New Year promising to be more intriguing than the
other. The expectations from different Clients with different outlooks have
offered me the opportunity to continually task myself to be better and raise
the bar as I go" she said.
Indeed, the marketing
communications industry is becoming more engaging and to remain relevant in the
ever changing market, brands need to find new ways to extend and enrich their
campaigns by hugely translating the value of their product or service into an
engaging brand experience for the individual customer, the type that
experiential marketing provides. In the end, as research proves, a customer is
much more likely to buy a product if their experience with the product is
memorable and meaningful.
SOURCE: VANGUARD