Following close to a decade of successfully pitching its tent with one of Nigeria’s leading creative agencies, Noah’s Ark, the Airtel creative business which has been on review since the last quarter of 2023 has finally sailed and berthed at The Hook and Insight Publicis as new roster agencies for the company.
Little-known, young but highly revolutionary and nimble Lagos creative shop, THE HOOK shocked bookmakers as the agency may be leading the Airtel Nigeria creative advertising arsenal as the new lead roster agency for the telecom brand owing to observations by keen watchers of developments on the business.
According to findings, the pitch which lasted for upwards of six months saw several leading shops submit credentials to be considered for the main pitch, unfortunately, a handful made it, which eventually narrowed down to these two.
The final announcement which sources close to the business confirmed was made two days ago, BrandCrunch gathered, will see the hook playing the lead role as the Lekki-based agency has been apportioned a sizeable portion of the business owing to its revolutionary ideas and disposition during the pitch while Insight Publicis will also be very active on the business.
On the media front, the review also saw highly successful mediaReachOMD giving way to Seni Adetu’s Algorithm Media which prides itself as ‘the media advocate your brand needs’. The Victoria Island-based media specialist agency will henceforth handle media planning and buying functions for the Airtel brand as soon as the handing-over process is concluded.
The list of winners also prominently features MediaTrak, one of the country’s leading media monitoring agencies. The company which has been on the Airtel business for a while, as incumbent, was found worthy and, therefore, retained to continue with the client in that capacity.
The incumbent agencies, Noah’s Ark for creative and mediaReachOMD for media planning and buying, were said to have been issued their letter of severance of contracts just about two days ago. According to the source, agencies working on the business get letters of their end-of-contract tenure at the end of every contract term.
They have gotten this, either they are going to be renewed or extended, is another kettle of fish, the source said.
This will of course, clear the coast for new appointments to fill the roles although, an internal source has yet to confirm the authenticity of the appointments as calls and messages to Bolanle Osotule, manager, advertising/marketing communications, Airtel were yet to be acknowledged or responded to as at the time of filing this report.
Noah Ark has done marvelously well for itself, and the Airtel brand for almost a decade in which Lanre Adisa and his team have been the custodians of the brand’s creative advertising. The agency which unilaterally handled the entire creative portfolio for upwards of 9 years changed the direction of Airtel advertising via relatable and deeply engaging content which has become instructive and defining for others to follow. Overwhelming local and international awards and recognitions for the Airtel brand attest to the agency’s proficiency, savvy, and contemporary creativity.
Similarly, mediaReachOMD has been great on the media front for the brand, saving costs and cutting through the clutter for impact and an enviable share of voice and pockets.
Having recorded such great feats, the onus rests with newly signed agencies to prove their mettle and justify the new business. The challenge is not only living up to expectations but surpassing the impressive record already set by the outgoing creative agency.
Good enough, the business which was hitherto consolidated into one agency, is now a split, to be anchored by two shops of different generations. Is this a case of two heads (good heads) being better than one? Well, the next few months will tell.
