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Page 1 of 3 By Kabir Alabi Garba
NEARLY a decade ago, he and some his colleagues within the same age bracket bestrode the marketing communication industry in a manner that could be described as 'rebellious'. They were more or less challenging the status quo. With their intellects as the major ammunition, having acquired experience from some of the big advertising agencies around then, coupled with the high educational certification, their song was that advertising enterprise should be done differently, albeit creativity and value added. They labeled themselves strategists. They exhumed passion and vibrancy preaching the gospel of brand management philosophy from the purview of consultancy services.
There and then, new marketing communication outlets began to spring up and foremost of them is Adstrat with Mr. Charles O'Tudor as the Principal Consultant. Seven years down the line, O' Tudor reminisced that the risk embarked upon then had opened up new vista of opportunities in the marketing communication sector. And to mark the accomplishment so far, his firm, Adstrat will certain roll out the drums on May 31, 2008 "to celebrate success, to celebrate seven years of brand excellence, brand strategy and to celebrate the future we are prospecting.
"It a well-known fact that without the future there is no today, without yesterday there is no tomorrow. We have gone seven years into market and research has also proven that most entrepreneur efforts do not go beyond the first four and five years of existence. In fact, 50 to 60 per cent of most enterprise does not survive the first four years. We have done four, five, six, and we are now doing seven. So for us, it's a landmark year. Seven is also very significant. For us, it represents perfection, refinement. And we are really doing a lot to re-verify our own belief that we are here on the long run, and here to celebrate our achievements in retrospect, and using them as a case study to propel us to achieve better, because our major competition is ourselves. If you don't retrospect you cannot accomplish."
To him, repositioning the brand as number one marketing communication firm with exceptional bias for consultancy, it is a mile-stone, and a cause for celebration. "We started in Surulere, later moved to Anthony Village, now we are in highbrow GRA, Ikeja, we have a bigger office, we have world class facilities, we have everything you expect to have in a global brand, we have them here... facilities, human capital, everything in place. On top of this, we are also celebrating the fact that we are opening up our Calabar office. What that does is also giving a stand in brand repositioning. We also celebrate our membership of the Independent Networks (IN). It is a network of brands, brands consultancy, communication agency and PR services that have come together to create a global network of professionals, professional agencies and consultancy that has a presence in 90 countries and all continents. What that does for us is exposure to best of standards, best of training, best of experience and of course, the exposure in terms of the brands you are going to work for. It goes more global than local. We have access to the brand we work for, any brand coming here must automatically pass under the network, but it is not a normal relationship that is why it's being called the independent network. You keep your operational methods, you keep your name; but any global brand you work for, you have to standardize in terms of the global approach. So we are now global. The head office is in UK while the operational office is in Paris."
But most company celebrate 10, why the choice of seven? "Seven is a perfection. It represents perfection, regeneration. For us, it's a landmark because it's happening at a time when everything is working out in favour of the brand now and the future."
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