The Chief Executive Officer of X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko, speaks to Raheem Akingbolu on the evolution of the Marketing Communications industry and the need for local agencies to deepen their creative ingenuity to be able to compete maximally with global firms.
How would you evaluate the practice of advertising between 1990s and now?
There has been an impressive transition. I believe we are heading in the right direction, though there are still a lot of challenges ahead for the industry because fragmentation keeps happening. In the early 1990s, advertising agencies were able to put PR, events and media services under one roof. So, what was supposed to be a problem is fast becoming a blessing in disguise because, with that out of the way, it is easier today to focus on brand solutions, creating strategies and developing quality work.
Expectedly, this has made advertising agencies become specialists and more focused. What we need to do now is maintain the momentum and find a way for clients to pay premium for the top-class creativity being witnessed across board. The future is bright for the industry without a doubt.
How will you describe the journey that started back in 2012?
It gladdens my heart that X3M Ideas is 10 years old. It just shows us the value of time. Sometimes you loose track of time, when you are busy building for the future. At times, I reflect on what would have happened if we didn’t take the bold step to start X3M Ideas 10 years ago. No one knows what the future holds. Whether or not you take intentional actions to set yourself on the path of greatness, time will still pass, so make the best use of the time you have now.
My team and I are super grateful to God for backing us to achieve this milestone and reap the rewards of our hard work and dedication to excellence. To have built a solid organisation within the marketing communications industry in this country with peculiar challenges is no mean feat.
Have you achieved some of the goals you set for X3M Ideas when you started?
Right from inception, we set out to be the number one in the industry. We wanted to lead and I strongly believe, after 10 years of exceptional practice, that we can unequivocally say that X3M Ideas has attained that lofty position today.
We also set an ambition to own a world-class facility within the first five years of operations and that became a reality in the first three years.
Part of the goal was to also be able to spread out our tentacles beyond Nigeria within the first five years. That target was met within the timeframe and as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we can proudly say we are an international agency operating in different markets in Africa and across the globe.
What I am most proud of is the quality of our work and the value we add to our clients. In the last decade, X3M Ideas has provided exceptional value to all the great brands we have been privileged to work with. That was an important goal we set for ourselves when we decided to embark on this journey.
What operational philosophy drives X3M Ideas?
Excellence is a major driver of everything we do. Whenever we conquer a challenge, we are immediately motivated by the next big thing. We set our focus to the next level to take our creativity and execution. By doing this, we find ourselves breaking new ground in our utilisation of cutting-edge technology to drive set goals.
What are the achievements you can say X3M Ideas has achieved in its 10 years of practice?
The biggest achievement for me will be the quality of our team. We have a diverse team of exceptional talents who are motivated and passionate about doing great work. It is a huge satisfaction to have these phenomenal talents in our rank, considering that we have had to overcome many obstacles in putting the all-star team together.
Secondly, I take pride in the quality of creativity and strategies we have been able to deploy in support of the brands that our clients have magnanimously put in our custody. There is a special sense of accomplishment when we see our work impacting a brand’s growth. This validates our approach to work.
What is the staying power of X3M Ideas that has made it dictate the pace for a long period?
We don’t like to rest on our laurels. While it is common for people to win this year, go to sleep and become complacent, at X3M Ideas, we see every accomplishment as the beginning of a new journey.
One needs to understand that in this business, there is always a new level to conquer. We never lose sight of that and every day we strive to be better than yesterday. It is this constant quest for excellence, new achievements and new records that keeps us going.
It helps that it is the type of mentality that I have, to keep pushing and never lose focus, as the team has been infected with the same energy.
Can you tell us some of the CSR and sustainability initiatives X3M Ideas has undertaken?
We have done quite a lot across Africa. Regardless of where we operate, it is a culture that is ingrained in our DNA. The team in Zambia is doing its CSR while here in Nigeria, education has been a paramount focus for our community development activities.
I believe education forms the perfect foundation for a bright future. This is why, every year since we set up our business, we have always renovated a government school before handing it over for further rehabilitation that may be required. We have also gone to Chibok in Borno State to make contributions to the development of schools there.
Recently, we extended our CSR strategy to include climate change initiatives like all the trees we planted in about 1.5 Kilometres stretch along Lekki Expressway, Ibeju Lekki axis.
We take this upon ourselves as responsible corporate citizens to give back to the society that allows our operations to thrive.
What other exploits should we expect from X3M Ideas?
There is a lot to come from us and we are beyond excited.
We look forward to being able to, sometime soon, partner with global agencies to take our business to a new level. By this, I mean intentional partnerships that are productive for our staff, clients, communities, and people. This way, we can build and progress the conversations about the greatness of the African continent.
We also have plans to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. We hope we can do that. Already, we have built a foundation for success and we think we can give more Nigerians the opportunity to buy into the dream of the level of greatness we can attain.
At the end of the day, entrepreneurship is being able to create opportunities for as many people as possible. We think this is a good ground to share some of our good fortunes.
After expanding out of Nigeria to Southern Africa, are you targeting any other markets in Africa?
In the past three months, we expanded into three new markets. We will soon make a formal announcement about that and unveil the new operations. In total, we are in about six markets, including our recent move into the Middle East.
We will not stop expanding because Africa offers great hope for us. We know this continent like the back of our hand and with the successes we have recorded in Nigeria, the only thing we can do is to share that platform with our fellow Africans.
Frankly, one of the ways we are inspired is by moving in the same direction as existing and potential clients who also continue to expand within and outside the continent. With these moves, we are well equipped to attend to their needs when they eventually arrive in the markets where we already operate, or we’ll be in a position to provide quality service for them where they currently exist.
Can you share some of your experiences in advertising over the years?
The most exciting thing for me is how we have surpassed all the goals that seemed impossible to accomplish a few years ago.
I can attribute my success and valuable experiences gained over the years to my time at 141 Worldwide, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am grateful to my boss Mr Akinwumi for giving me the opportunity to be the creative director, for 7 years.
Interestingly, being a Creative Director is different from being a CEO where you have to be in control of the steering wheel and lead the organisation in a much more forward-thinking way. But I can boldly say that my previous experiences became a valuable strength as we embarked on our vision at X3M Ideas.
Now, we can attribute all these innovations and the energy towards excellence to our utilisation of past experiences and desire to do things differently.
Can you also tell us some of the excellent works that you have done?
We have quite a number of them. Our Creative Director just came back from Dubai where we won gold for Globacom in one of the international awards in the United Arab Emirates. We have also executed a number of Pan-Africna projects for DStv, Showmax and Lacasera. Recently, we won awards for Flour Mills at the Dubai Festival as well. We have also done a lot of outstanding work for Peak Milk.
Generally, X3M is known for delivering quality work for its extensive client base.
How close is X3M Ideas to Cannes Lions?
I told my people that there is a huge amount of money on the table for any creative team that wins Cannes. Although I am not going to mention that amount, I can only motivate the team.
I am aware that we are not the only agency in the country that is making an effort toward winning Cannes, but I am confident that my team has what it takes to compete with the best.
I believe sooner than later we will become the first agency to win it.
What are your projections for the agency in the next 5 or 10 years?
It is just to continue to fly the flag for Nigeria on the global stage. We are doing a lot of that already with several international awards and we will not relent.
We won one in Switzerland late last year. We also won the Lisbon Advertising Festival. So, we just want to continue making our team stronger, to improve on our processes in making sure that our works come out better and to continue to provide unmatched support for our clients.
I can say for certain that we will continue to deliver great work to get the clients to a very comfortable place where they are winning in the market. When we do this consistently, there is a guarantee that we will also continue to win.
