PROPAGATING BLACK EXCELLENCE THROUGH ADVERTISING
IN NIGERIA, IT IS STILL INEVITABLE THAT IF WE DON’T MERGE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, THEY WOULD MENTION SOME AGENCIES’ NAME AND THEY’LL BE EXTINCT. PEOPLE NEED TO GET ACQUIRED. NOTHING IS WRONG IN BEING A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND, AND THAT’S WHAT MERGER AND ACQUISITION WILL DO. IT’S INEVITABLE, IF NOT AGENCIES WOULD DIE. COMMON SENSE WOULD PREVAIL EVENTUALLY
thoughtfulness of an inventive mind as he says: “It’s a south-central Africa agenda and we’ll be all over the place. Some of the clients we already work for have footprints in some of these countries. I was in Lusaka two weeks ago and on the billboards were Dangote cement creative material we developed here. Access Bank is also in Lusaka, Zambia. One of the reasons we are doing this is because our clients are moving in that direction and we’ll be living in a bubble if we don’t do the same. I really don’t see the challenge of xenophobia as a big issue. Every country has internal problems to deal with. I’m sure the South African government is on top of those issues. We are comfortable doing business in South Africa or anywhere else because we just need to push the African agenda more. If we want this continent to get better, we need to cross-fertilize ideas. I consider this the beginning of the vision to leave a good footprint across this Africa.” Competing with Big Sharks
Knowing fully well that South Africa boasts of the biggest accounts and advertising agencies, his expansion drive to that region is as though one is swimming in vast ocean filled with the big sharks. Yet, fear is not in focus when Babaeko is expanding his frontiers. He is a game-changer who knows how to negotiate bends and navigate through stormy waters.
In a tone of implicit self-belief, not arrogance, Babaeko notes: “We are already a major player on the continent. Recently, we were in Morocco for the crystal awards and people were asking me what global agency we are affiliated to and I said we are an independent agency. We are competitive and are not looking back. We’re entering South Africa like a major player who has done something substantial in Nigeria. To start an agency five years ago and rank high in Nigeria is not a tea party. We have already left our mark on the market. It’s time to just go big or go home. After South Africa, we are looking at East Africa, and Kigali looks very interesting at the moment. The Rwandan economy has been growing at a steady rate for the past five years and I had the good fortune to meet with some of the Rwandan government officials in a conference in Dubai a few months ago, and they are speaking a language I find very interesting. So, it’s somewhere we are looking at in the nearest future. You’ll be shocked what opportunities lie in those climes.”
Trends and Challenges of Integrated Marketing Communications
Regarding trends in marketing communication chain, especially going digital, the new frontiers and emerging markets pose a challenge as the African population struggle to grapple with the realities of new media communication and poor internet penetration. To Babaeko, that stumbling block seems to be a stepping stone.
He explains: “One thing about Africa is that because I’ve done extensive travelling across this continent. For my family holiday, I prefer to have it in Africa and I’ve been doing that for like ten years now. So, I have a very good overview of the continent. The tendency for Africa to leapfrog is very high. Technology makes it easier for us to pick up.” The Mergers and Acquisitions
One thing the advertising guru strongly advocates is the need for mergers and acquisitions in the advertising space.“Even if we have the south-central Africa project in some markets, we are actually talking to people we want to merge or acquire right now. In Nigeria, it is still inevitable that if we don’t merge in the next five years, they would mention some agencies’ name and they’ll be extinct. People need to get acquired. Nothing is wrong in being a small fish in a big pond, and that’s what merger and acquisition will do. It’s inevitable, if not agencies would die. Common sense would prevail eventually.”
Since starting over five years ago with seven people and now over a hundred personnel across the group, the modest advertiser thinks his firm, X3M Ideas is not big, even though he’s keeping sealed lips over his value and billing. He operates with the mentality of a start-up. To him, size is a matter of the mind. Walls Apart – Nigeria and South Africa
Comparing advertising bodies in Nigeria and South Africa and their roles, he bluntly said that they are walls apart because South Africa is ahead in terms of budget and is already saturated, especially at the level of the multinational players. There are still opportunities though as he ventures into the South African market to feast. Nigeria – Living up to Global Creative Billing
Babaeko does not think Nigerians are not original or lack creativity. On the contrary, he thinks the creative energy level in Nigeria has increased tremendously. In testament to that, before now Nigeria hardly ever got a mention in some of the continental competitions award. But these days, Nigeria is like the emerging power house to watch on the continent. He was a jury at the Crystal Awards last year; so he knows Nigeria is becoming that country to watch out for. The Agency
Babaeko is not frivolous. He is fastidious. He knows where he belongs and he understands the capability of his organisation. He does not flaunt his prowess but he asserts it.
“It has always been there from day one. I told my team from the first meeting I had with them. Anybody that calls X3M Ideas a small, new or a start-up agency would be fired. We are not any of those. We are THE agency. We set the pace already and that was the psychology anybody that works with us must have from day one.”
That explains his mindset too. He does not see himself as competing with any agency in Nigeria. Instead, he’s deep-rooted in the ideology of playing local at the global level with best practices. That single-mindedness defines his obsession to spread black excellence, especially in the field of advertising across this continent. A Fair Appraisal
With advertising budgets decreasing and the clients cutting low on media spend, for him, prudence is the way to go. He has always been prudent which is why he probably doesn’t own houses in Banana Island or drive flashy cars. He believes in deploying the scarce resources to vital areas of operation. He prides himself in taking good care of his staff, which is the backbone of his business. In a fair appraisal of Babaeko’s landmark achievements, he sees the relationship with his clients more important than financial returns. Since he discovered advertising in 1995, he has never looked back –not for a fleeting second. The Autobiography of Worms
In what he will rather keep under wraps –his autobiography – he goes hard and bare on some important women who almost made living impossible for him when he started out.