In a bid to restrategise and reposition the WPP brand in Nigeria while extending its frontiers in the subregion and Africa, WPP has finalized its partnership with Algorithm Media Nigeria. This infers that Algorithm Media is now home to WPP’s agency brands such as Mediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker in Nigeria vast and expansive market.
It would be recalled that the WPP, Ogilvy Africa (its lead agency) and Scanad on the one hand, had been enmeshed in a protracted legal battle with erstwhile Nigerian affiliate, Prima Garnet until recently when the parties agreed to an out of court settlement. The settlement which came at a huge cost to the global operator perhaps gave the WPP leeway to sign-on a fresh partnership deal in the country.
WPP, arguably the largest marketing communications company globally and Nigeria’s fastest-growing media agency, Algorithm Media, earlier entered into a deal to deepen their global expansion drive in 2016.
According to Seni Adetu, Group CEO of Algorithm Media, the joint venture conforms to the new reform by Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) on foreign investment in Nigeria, adding that Algorithm Media has a majority stake in the business ownership configuration (75.1%).
In his words: “It was love at first sight with the representative WPP office in Africa as we saw in each other an aligned set of values and connection to the possibilities that this partnership could bring to both parties; most importantly to the clients we were looking to sign up. At the onset, we were looking to do a merger and/or acquisition with an existing local agency, but it didn’t work out, unfortunately, and so we had to start from scratch.
It was highlighted that the partnership has enabled WPP to launch its processes and unique proprietary tools which would help local and global clients grow the value they derive from media significantly.
Continuing, he said: “This is where the headroom opportunity is for Algorithm Media. The company was incorporated in 2015 while the affiliation deal was concluded sometime in 2016. As a full-service agency network, we offer exceptional media consultancy services in the areas of media strategy, planning, buying & control using consumer insight garnered from industry research and reliable market intelligence for our various clients.
“Presently, the group has a number of local and multinational companies as clients including Nokia Mobile, P&G, Canon, Shell, Colgate Palmolive, Facebook, British Airways, GB Foods, Flour Mills of Nigeria, among others. Algorithm Media is now part of the WPP group conglomerate, which has in its fold – Mindshare, MediaCom and Ogilvy, noted for innovation, speed and excellence. The affiliation discussion started in 2015 and was concluded sometime in 2016.”
He further explained that the team at Algorithm Media was obliged to operate at the highest level of governance and service standards that the world has come to associate with the global giant – Group M/WPP.
“We have an expectation that our clients would be delighted to see those global standards applied to their businesses consistently. That is the headroom opportunity for Algorithm Media.
“Algorithm Media has placed industry experts at the helm of its various businesses: Fiona Uwagwu as MD of Ogilvy Nigeria, Buki Osunkeye as General Manager of Mindshare and Soji Olaogun as General Manager, Mediacom,” Adetu explained.
In the same vein, Buki Osunkeye, the agency’s General Manager, shared her excitement at delivering on a global promise, locally. She has an expectation that their clients would be delighted to see those global standards applied to their businesses consistently.
“At Mindshare Global, one of our key philosophies is staying agile. I am excited about the level of training and structure we will be investing in our people, processes and strategies to ensure that the level of innovative thinking & expertise our clients’ offices receive from our sister companies abroad is exactly what they can expect in Nigeria; together with deep local insights and market capabilities,” she said.
