Imuzeze: Weak Regulation Killing Marketing Communications Industry
Managing Director, Permutation Media Concept, Charles Imuzeze, in this interview speaks about the place of digital and specialisation in today’s marketing communications industry. Raheem Akingbolu provides the excerpts:
Media buying, advertising and public relations used to be in one basket until specialisation crept in. As a player in the media buying arm of the industry, what value has it added?
It’s a two-way thing. At that time of unbundling, it was a blessing because if I don’t want to use your creative agency, I can use media buying. After some time, you should have observed that everything seems to be going back to where it was. Everybody is going 360 degrees. So invariably, it appears nothing was professionally done that time. I think those that drove the idea had a good intention but our market interpreted how the intentions will be beneficial to the individual agencies.
As a practitioner, who has traversed a few agencies over the years, how has the experience been?
It has been a challenge and a blessing. Those in our business see the best side and the worst side. I would say it has made me a better person. I believe there’s so much you can do with a client with your integrity, and strength. And if you are not a ‘show man’, you can do much for a client with very little.
Generally speaking, what’s your view about the growth of marketing communications industry in Nigeria?
I think it’s growing but I think the regulation is weak. Where there seems to be regulations, it’s not done in such a way that will benefit those that are truly willing to be regulated. For instance, if I play and align with the laid down rules of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) or Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), are there benefits as a member agency that others don’t get? Unfortunately, while we are growing, we are not being regulated. There’s no barrier as anybody can enter the industry. The only thing is for you to get registered with APCON and start running campaign. No scrutiny!
What do you think government can do to this, bearing in mind that for the past four years, President Muhammadu Buhari has not appointed Chairman for APCON?
If we are regulated, we won’t be asking for a chairman. How do fake products enter the Nigerian market despite the regulatory bodies? The regulating bodies are there, but are they doing what they are supposed to do? I think the role of the government is to build a structure, make it effective and efficient. Then to move it forward, we will be thinking of the empowerment. No mater how powerful APCON is; it’s not a police officer. There were days APCON tried to enforce regulations; visiting agencies and all. How long would you keep doing that? With the way things are going, very soon, agencies will run without an office.
What are those things you want to do differently at Permutation Media Concept?
We want to be a touch point connection agency. What I mean is that anything that brings the consumer and advertiser together is a touch point -that is our focus. Whether digital or mainstream, we want to pride our self as touch point. If the sky is the touch point, we want to make sure we are recognised for that. That’s our drive. Agencies collapse because they want to start big and remain big. But what people are interested in is your ability to do the job and add value. We are not going to carry unnecessary overhead. I pride myself that there’s nothing I cannot do as far as media buying is concerned. So why bring in ten people for that? I have a five-year plan of where I want to be. And within six months, we’ve achieved 80 per cent of that.
Many believe the advent of digital media has weakened creativity, while some believe it has enhanced it. What’s your position?
Straight and clear, my position is that it has enhanced it.
What about the criticism of copy and paste?
Even in our creative agency, is there anything that is not cut and paste? One thing is that if you cut and paste in digital world, in the next five minute, someone will tell you that you’ve done plagiarism. Now, when your creativity is not strong enough, people will know. So digital is playing a supportive role to how good you are. It means you are to do more in order to be ahead.
What advice can you give to government on the use of quacks in communication industry?
The first way to approach this is to look at the foundation that has been laid. Until we start using professionals in key designated areas, those things will never change. Until those people holding strategic positions are professionals, we will find it tough to get it right. I say this because it is from them that things will permeate down, and people begin to take professionalism serious.
Can you think of one major campaign you done that you are proud of?
I think it is the Emirate Airline campaign, which was executed during my days at Verdant Zeal. Not that we created the campaign, but we recommended the platforms to use and it resonated with the target audience, and we got recommendation for it. Beyond that, there are campaigns we handled in the past and at times when I look at some things happening now, I say with pride that we were the first to do it.
What was the message of the Emirate campaign you spoke about?
It was just about holiday and movie was an upcoming platform. We felt that the way people come to watch movies, it’s important they see something that connects to them. So we positioned it to movie places.
Looking back, how did you find your way to Media buying industry?
I finished at the University of Benin with second class upper in computer science and later did my Master in Business Administration at the Lagos State University. I also acquired some training in Lagos business school in between my days at places where I worked. I started my media buying career with MediaCom and later joined People Media shop. From there I left for LTC JWT before joining Verdant Zeal where I worked for ten years during which we were able to make the media buying business profitable as it were. That led to the establishment of Great Measure Media Network which became the media buying agency of Verdant Zeal. At that time, we had technical relationship with Advent Media which did not materialise into full relationship. Sometime in December 2018, I decided to leave Verdant Zeal group to float my own agency; Permutation Media Concept Limited.
Why was the attraction to marketing communications industry, given your background as a computer science graduate?
Back then, it was more of how can you make computer science relevant in any industry you find yourself. That was the attraction of taking the job as media executive at Media Comm. That time I was dealing with numbers and felt I needed to do more in data analysis given my background in data and numeric. I discovered it paid off in the end.
How has Permutation Media Concept fared?
Communications Media Concept is six months old, and we are glad for the calibre of clients that we are working with. What we are doing is to make sure that the client feels we are adding value with the very little they give to us. We’ve had the privilege of working with top brands in the market. Beyond media buying, we are also into other services, like recommendation of idea tools or approach to clients if what they need is not advertising alone.