Leo Burnett Lagos, one of Nigeria’s fastest growing agencies based in Africa’s most vibrant city, Lagos has clinched a coveted the Young Advertising Agency of The Year 2019 award at the recent Brandcom festival in Lagos.
The creative agency, which is driven by the belief that creativity has the power to transform human behavior, overcame other young and vibrant advertising agencies to clinch the prestigious award.
Speaking after receiving the award, Esosa Osagiede, Creative Lead at Leo Burnett Lagos said the agency has gradually carved a niche for itself, by winning some of these competitive laurels even though it is still one of the youngest in the industry.
According to her, when Leo Burnett Lagos came on the scene it came with new thinking; the HUMANKIND philosophy; “with this in our focus, we set out to not just create campaigns but transform human behavior. Therefore we have worked on campaigns that have remained memorable with some of these campaigns still running. We might remember the KONGA Christmas campaign, Heritage Bank’s New Kings and Queens of Africa, Maggi Naija Pot campaign, Crusader Sterling Pension MVP and Santa’s Last Christmas, Custodian Insurance ‘TRUST’ campaign among others. These campaigns were conceived to add value to these lifestyle brands.
Asked about the KONGA campaign, she explained the thinking behind that campaign “At the time the Konga campaign was created, the online retail platforms were just growing and then we needed to do something to make Konga become the most relevant and most trusted retail platform hence all the interesting ads campaign that followed.”
On the future of the agency, the Creative Lead believes that Leo Burnett Lagos future in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa is extremely bright. Osagiede said “Every client that comes on board is always eager to do things differently. Some recent clients are Amstel Malta with the recently launched Amstel Malt campaign “We’ve got balls”, Leadway Assurance with the “No more see finish” campaign that caused quite a stir, Page Financials, and a lot more others on the way,” borrowing from what the organizers have said, “real work should be rewarded and awards should not go to the highest bidder”. Leo Burnett Lagos believes strongly that campaigns should not just impact on businesses but also on the consumers.
Osagiede noted that the success of the agency also comes from the kind of talent we keep attracting. Leo Burnett looks for people who have unusual and unique talents; people from different educational backgrounds bringing a potpourri of skills and relevant experiences to the table. At Leo Burnett Lagos, our philosophy is driven by the belief that creativity has the power to transform human behaviour. It is the core of our belief, and what we call HUMANKIND,” she said.
In its short but very vibrant presence within the Nigerian creative industry, Leo Burnett Lagos has won several awards and trophies associated with creative advertising such 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medals at 2018 Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival (LAIF). The agency had previously shown good intent by winning 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals at 2017 LAIF Awards.
Daniel Obi
