Tayo Oyedeji, the new CEO of Media Perspectives, has linked the low digital media spend presently at about 4.5 percent of the entire annual N100 billion clients Ad budget to lack of prerequisite expertise by the Nigerian agencies.
Oyedeji, who comes from analytical background and continues the management of media planning strategies for MTN, Procter and Gamble, and other clients at Media Perspectives, told BusinessDay that “Nigerian media agencies have not built the prerequisite expertise to challenge many clients’ apprehensions about the digital space.”
He believes that the industry needs to do a better job of selling the value of digital media to clients so that more budgets can be allocated to that space. “For example, Nigeria has one of the highest Click-Through Rates (CTR) in the whole world. So, it is absolutely important for any campaign with a call to action of any sort to harness that tendency in the digital space,” he said.
Oyedeji, who had worked at various media agencies both in Nigeria and abroad, regretted that Nigerian agencies had not fully plumbed the depth of digital media in Nigeria, saying “we are still dipping our toes in it. But we (Media Perspective) hope to lead the industry towards a holistic approach to media planning that recognises the increasing importance of the digital ecosystem to consumers.”
On his media spend outlook for 2014, he projected that media spend will increase by about 25 percent relative to 2013, attributing the core drivers to be Nigeria’s participation in the World Cup and a slight inflation in media rates.
Assessing the relationship between below-the-line (BTL) and media planning business, he said category leaders build brands while strivers focus on promotions, saying “in the 80s, a particular soft drink brand (name withheld) focused almost entirely on promotions at the expense of above-the-line (ATL) brand building advertising while its major competitor focused on building its brand.”
He said the promotions yielded short-term sales that seemed to justify that strategy, but 20 years later the brand was struggling while the ATL-focused brand was still as strong as ever. Advertising theory and market realities are clearly on the side of brand building.
By: Daniel Obi
