Insight Communications Limited demonstrated its dominance of the advertising industry in Nigeria with a strong showing at the 2015 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards held recently in Lagos. It emerged the most awarded company for the year, going home with 25 awards, comprising five gold, ten silver and ten bronze awards respectively.
However, relatively new but vibrant ad agency Noah’s Ark emerged the overall winner by winning the onl grand prix medal on the night. DDB Lagos came second because of its superior numbers of silver medals-eleven against Insight-eight.
It would be recalled that the agency had never fallen below second position since the inception of the awards 10 years ago.
An elated Feyi Olubodun, Chief Operating Officer at Insight Communications Limited, was quick to dedicate the awards to the clients who continue to entrust the company with briefs over the years. “The successful execution of these briefs,” said he “has given birth to these awards.”
He gave kudos to the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) for initiating and sustaining the awards, which according to him have improved the practice of advertising in Nigeria.
The secret behind the company’s consistent strong professional performance is the hunger to satisfy clients so it looks forward to measuring itself against other competent professionals regularly. Olubodun disclosed that “the LAIF Awards is something we look forward to every year. It affords us the opportunity to have the industry undertake an independent assessment of what we have done for clients, thereby measuring ourselves against fellow professionals.”
He explained that each work entered by his company for the awards must first pass the critical test of public acceptance, then client satisfaction and approval.
According to him, “clients’ endorsement of ideas and creatives is very complex, as clients trust you with their brands and pay for services. To earn formal approval of services from paying clients would always be tough, which is why I also commend the employees who give their all, functioning as a well lubricated machine on daily basis to achieve these.”
Recalling that his company has consistently emerged the most awarded company at the LAIF Awards for ten years running, Olubodun attributed it to a strong system put in place by the founding fathers of the company – Biodun Shobanjo and Jimi Awoshika. This according to him “has evolved into a functional system where everybody is aware of his/her roles and delivers on them for the common good of the business. The creative team, the account management team, the strategic planning team, each department brings value to the table to make Insight a great company. This is what reinforces our confidence that this dominance is sustainable.”
Similarly, Chima Okenimpe, Executive Creative Director at Insight Communications Limited, while applauding the LAIF and its contributions to the advertising industry in Nigeria, counselled the organisers to strive to encourage creativity with a view to “identifying and celebrating adverts that showcase true Nigerian narrative, so as to gain global recognition for the Nigerian ad industry.”
He traced his company’s consistent performance to a culture of institutional excellence backed by a creative philosophy that has the consumer as the chief executive officer. “What we have at Insight is a system that watches out for excellence right from recruitment. This is further strengthened by our human capital development strategy that spares no cost. With this culture, each employee is trained and carries about his/her duties with the understanding that the consumer is the reason for the brands we work for and our existence as a business. Now these are beginning to yield results,” he said.
The Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) is the brain child of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), with the maiden edition held on Friday 26th, 2006 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos State.
The LAIF seeks to recognise creative excellence; help improve the quality of creative craft and promote the spirit of healthy competition by applying global best practices. The LAIF is also aimed at promoting excellence in brand development, while showcasing and celebrating Nigeria’s creative potential globally.
