Two of the most lucrative public relations businesses in the country recently made the headlines. MTN pitched tent with two new PR agencies, DKK Associates and Brooks and Blakes. Etisalat is set for a big decision in July.
Senior Correspondent GODDIE OFOSE reports.
June 4 was one of the most challenging days for workers at Etisalat Nigeria headquarters in Lagos. It was not because the business is looking down but because the pitch management team had a big decision to make about five public relations firms invited to pitch for the company’s brief.
The multimillion naira business is currently handled by The Quadrant Company (TQC), led by Bolaji Okusaga.
Those angling to dislodge TQC are Chain Reaction Nigeria, headed by Israel Opayemi; Xlr8 (Calixthus Okorouwa); C&F Potter Novelli (Nna’emeka Maduegbuna), and Mediacraft (John Ehiguese).
It was learnt that Sola Fijabi’s Brooks and Blakes withdrew from the pitch after it was announced co-winner of the MTN contest last month.
Chronicle of telecoms PR business
Telecommunications public relations (PR) business comes with a banana peel. MTN Nigeria first opened practitioners’ eyes to the lucrative nature of the industry when it awarded the PR side of the integrated marketing communication (IMC) to Corporate and Financial (now CandF Porter Novelli).
Airtel (then Econet, Vmobile, Zain) berthed at TQC.
Suddenly, telecommunications PR became the most lucrative, dethroning fast moving consumers goods (FMCG) such as tobacco and beverages.
The stake was raised when Etisalat joined the fray on October 23, 2008 with CandF Porter Novelli considered as the best agency to work on its account.
CDMA firms added pep as Starcoms, Multilinks, Visafone, and others engaged PR outfits such as TPT, Mediacraft, Sesema PR with mouthwatering retainers.
Glo is the only GSM company in Nigeria that has not ceded its PR to an agency.
PR firms on Telcos briefs
The PR agencies now enjoying the booty include TQC (incumbent Etisalat), CMC Connect (Airtel), Brooks and Blakes and DKK Associates (MTN).
After 12 years of managing the corporate and product side of MTN, Akin Adeoya’s MarketingMix winning caved in and lost the most lucrative IMC business in Nigeria.
MarketingMix had dethroned CandF in 2003 and controlled the account for eight years before it was split into two. In 2011, MTN awarded it to Xlr8 (60 per cent) and MarketingMix (40 per cent).
However both Xlr8 and MarketingMix lost ground recently to PR naivete DKK Associates and Brooks and Blakes, an agency with little or no experience in telecom PR.
DKK Associates and B&B defeated JSP, Lead Communications, Soulcomm, Mediacraft, and Black House Media to clinch the business for the next four years.
Agency tangle
On June 4, all roads led to Etisalat headquarters on Victoria Island, Lagos when five PR agencies, including incumbent TQC, presented to the management the value they would add to the business.
A source disclosed that all the agencies performed creditably well, causing headache on which to pick. High wire lobby is being mounted by agency top shots who flood the residents of Etisalat’s senior managers and directors.
CandF
It was a huge surprise to other agencies that CandF was included at the last minute. The agency was the first PR outfit to have a taste of the Etisalat’s business in Nigeria but lost it to TQC not on the grounds of poor performance, according to sources.
The latest pitch by CandF brought its experiences in the account to bear, having also managed MTN. Sources said it was evident that CandF knows what Etisalat is looking for.
Chain Reactions
Chain Reactions, which recently relocated from Allen Avenue to a posh area in Ikeja GRA, looks set to manage its first major telecommunication PR business.
Sources at the pitch said the agency, very experienced in digital PR, brought a new dimension when it unveiled its plan for the brand.
Unlike other competitors, Chain Reactions fully relied on its performance at the pitch. “They performed very well and some of the panel of judges were forced to make gestures , which is not allowed in an exercise like that,” an Etisalat source disclosed.
Xlr8
Xlr8 has cognate experience in telecommunications business. Prior to the set up of the A-lister PR outfit in 2008, Okorouwa was the foremost PR Manager in MTN Nigeria.
The agency has managed several other ICT businesses and has what it takes to handle a brand like Etisalat.
Xlr8 recently lost MTN, one of the most challenging PR account in the land. But that loss was not as a result of incompetence, according to sources in MTN.
It was learnt that if the Etisalat account is to be won by pitch presentation performance, Xlr8 would be the first to get it.
Mediacraft
Besides running Mediacraft as CEO, Ehiguese is also the President of Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), which is supposed to be an added advantage to any business his company has interest in.
But this may not true as Mediacraft was recently outwitted at the MTN PR pitch by B&B and DKK.
It was learnt Mediacraft, having managed Starcoms in the past, has the knowledge and experience to handle Etisalat.
“Mediacraft did well and it deserves the business too,” sources told The Niche.
TQC
TQC, as an incumbent account handler, the pendulum could have swung its path. But MarketingMix and Xlr8 lost as incumbent handlers.
Though the performance by TQC was reportedly excellent, a pitch is not won and lost at the presentation alone.
Verdict
Etisalat is the highest retainer PR account in Nigeria, hence the rush by agencies to grab it. It is also the brand with highest volume of activities and engagements.
It was learnt that the business will be divided between two agencies this time, unlike the previous practice of warehousing the account in one agency.
A reliable source said the pendulum may swing in a different direction this time despite the high level lobby going on.