Strategic Outcomes: The Result-Driven Marketing Communications Solution Specialists

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Jenkins Alumona, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Strategic Outcomes Limited

By Tunji Faleye

Of all workplace attributes, Jenkins Alumona ranks passion the highest. Passion, he said softly but stridently, determines the scale of individual or organizational progress and, most crucially, success. Talent, he admitted, is important, but not as much as passion. Where passion exists, he is persuaded, talent will follow.

Passion, in industrial quantities, he said, underpins the culture at Strategic Outcomes Limited (SOL), the umbrella for three Integrated Marketing Communications firms he founded in 2004. The three companies are Strategic Outcomes Limited, SOL PR and Flykite Productions.

“Work without passion is better left undone.

Being passionate ignites the fire and makes us concentrate on what we love, learn more about it and persistently follow our desires and create a productive impression out of it. Being passionate helps in clarifying the most complex of clients’ challenges,” he said.

In 15 years, the SOL Group has built a reputation for running engaging high-profile campaigns that help shift public opinion in clients’ favour and develop supportive relationships through bespoke communications support and advice to clients, based on clients’ needs and objectives. These have seen the group become a big hitter in Advertising, strategy development/execution, media management, crisis management, research, lobbying, event planning/execution, stakeholder management and political communication.

“We offer 360 degrees strategic and communications support, helping to generate media interest and communicating directly to the general public,” explains Alumona.

The team at SOL comprises of consultants, who are experts in diverse fields such as business, politics, sports and journalism/communication. Alumona has been in and around communication for about 30 years much of his professional life during which he has worked with  top-tier Nigerian companies, including The Guardian, TheNEWSGroup, which he first edited the defunct TEMPO Football and later, The NEWS Magazine during the last military era; The Quadrant Company, where he managed the Pepsi Football League and the Seven-Up Basketball League in addition to other blue chip accounts like Econet Wireless, DHL , Benson and Hedges and Smithkline Beecham. He also worked with Econet Wireless Nigeria as Manager (Events, Sponsorships and Marketing); and Globacom, where he was a principal manager in the brand communications department, a position that saw him manage the Globacom Premier League and the company’s other sponsorship assets and events, including the 2003 All Africa Games (COJA).

Alumona was educated at the Anambra State University (now Enugu State University), where he bagged a first degree in Mass Communication; and University of Lagos, where he earned an M.sc in Marketing.

He is a 2006 Fellow of Bucerius Sumer School, Hamburg, Germany; and a graduate of both the Lagos Business School (OMP7) and the prestigious   (OPM43) of the Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON), the Nigeria Institute of Marketing (NIMARK), a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Direct Marketing and Publicity Secretary of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).

  The various competencies within the SOL Group ensure that deep insight and vast knowledge, sharpened by training and retraining to meet the continuously evolving nature of the industry, have impacted the campaigns executed.

The SOL Group has played a key role in fronting the marketing and communications mandate of many brands in the country.

Taxation

The SOL Group can claim, licitly, to be the top tax communication consultants in the country. Its work with the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) in the area of tax education and enlightenment has been widely credited with raising tax consciousness in the state and positioning the LIRS as the premier sub-national tax authority in the country. For years, the revenue collected was grossly disproportionate to vast economic activities taking place in the state. This was largely due low levels of tax education, a development that robbed government of much needed revenue for development and required urgent remediation, which was effectively provided by SOL via a range of initiatives. The outcome was a jump in revenue collection from a monthly average of N4billion in 2006 to a monthly average of N25billion in 2015.

“With all humility, Strategic Outcomes deserves accolade here. In fact, only SOL can claim to sit in the middle of it. Talk about the branding, the new logo and the way people understand tax today in Lagos State is through what we did with the LIRS. Although, we do not believe we’d deserve the accolade if the client didn’t give us the opportunity. We’d will not even be able to claim the achievement if the client did not give us the right information that we needed,” Alumona said with barely disguised satisfaction.

He added that if the LIRS could move from N4billion to N25billion, it stands to reason that a lot of public enlightenment took place. He is, however, quick to state that the success is not totally down to publicity or simply because of the deployment of advertising and communication.

“The success also has to do with the fact that people also worked at different levels to block all the loopholes. However, we can also take full credit to show that this is the way to communicate to make people understand the importance of taxation, the way to pay and to also enlighten them that there are benefits of tax payment. We also know that one of the most difficult things to communicate anywhere is taxation and to have tax jumped from N4billion to N25billion shows that the number of people paying their taxes in the state before was infinitesimal. It means that communication did a great work and based on that, we received invitations from the governments of Akwa Ibom and Kaduna states,” he reasoned.

 At the national level, similar results have been achieved with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the government agency responsible for the administration, assessment, collection and accounting for federal taxes in Nigeria. The FIRS is desirous to encourage voluntary tax compliance as a way of lessening the country’s reliance on oil revenue, particularly in the wake of the drastic dip of oil prices on the international market since 2014. SOL began working on behalf of the FIRS in 2015, assisting the Service, through a series of enlightenment campaigns, to enthrone a culture of voluntary compliance. These have yielded considerable dividends, as evidenced by a leap in revenue collection from N4.57 trillion in 2015 to a record collection of N5.32 trillion in 2018.

“In the heat of recession, FIRS was able to stand and keep its revenue going and continue to improve. There were many campaigns that we designed to improve Value Added Tax (VAT). We took it to the most minimalistic level. We created specific and simple messages to drive home our point. Our messages put into consideration all manner of people that last year alone FIRS was able to rake in N5.32 trillion, which is a good result,” said Alumona.

To raise public consciousness about VAT engender better understanding of the tax type,  SOL conceived and manages the VAT Wonder Goal of the Week. The VAT Wonder Goal of the Week is awarded to the scorer of the best goal (determined through fans’ vote) in the Nigerian Professional Football League on a weekly basis. Winners receive cash awards of N150, 000, with many of them committing the sum to charitable causes dear to their hearts. The initiative, of course, benefits from publicity and has helped improve understanding of VAT and taxation in general.

Having recorded enormous successes in tax education campaigns, it was hardly a surprise that SOL was appointed as the communication consultant to the Federal Ministry of Ministry of Finance on the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). The tax amnesty scheme was designed to encourage voluntary compliance by every taxable Nigerian, but in particular among individual and corporate taxpayers with years of unpaid or underpaid taxes. Considering the widespread indifference to tax payment, only a few gave the scheme any chance of success. But through the deployment of various initiatives to sensitize the public and tax debtors, the programme yielded a bumper harvest of N30billion in taxes owed to federal and state governments within 11 months. In addition, the campaign attracted five million new taxpayers, taking the taxpaying population from 14million to 19 million.

Away from the tax turf, SOL has also worked with other public sector players such as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Films and Video Censors’ Board in addition to being strategy consultants to big-time political actors.

MultiChoice Nigeria

As strategy consultants to the leading video entertainment company in the country, SOL has assisted ensuring greater public understanding of the pay television industry ecosystem, positioning the company as a world class operator, highlighting its numerous Corporate Social Investment initiatives and curtailing adversarial public reactions to its operations. In addition, SOL has positioned MultiChoice as the biggest investor in the African creative content industry through initiatives that have sparked public consciousness of the MultiChoice Talent Factory Project, which is aimed at up-skilling young and talented Africans in film and television production; and the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs), which holds yearly in Lagos since debuting in 2013. The latter has grown to become Africa’s most prestigious awards in film and television, with the ceremony becoming one of the most important dates on the continent’s entertainment calendar. Being a red carpet and celebrity-driven event, the SOL media team ensures optimal pre- event, event and post-event reportage to burn the AMVCAs into public consciousness and affection.

SOL’s involvement work with MultiChoice has seen its DStv platform positioned as the premier pay television service provider in the country, leaving competitors needing binoculars to see it atop the industry pyramid.

 Similarly, its involvement in the popular television reality show, Big Brother Naija, elevated it to a lifestyle choice.

GOtv, MultiChoice’s Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service platform, leapfrogged its biggest competitor within two years of debuting on the DTH landscape and continues to retain its position. This is on account of it being positioned as offering the best value for money packages in the sector as well as continuously offering superior technology.

Insurance

The SOL Group was at the heart of the first phase of consolidation of the country’s insurance sector, working with firms like Central Assurance, Royal Exchange Assurance Plc and many others to become the brand that they were at the time.

Jenkins Alumona (3rd from Left) flanked by other members of staff.

“Both on the Advertising and Public Relations side, SOL played prominent roles. When the story will be told about the first consolidation year in the insurance industry, SOL will be mentioned as one of the agencies that enabled the insurance companies to have a strong foothold,” explained Alumona.

It will be recalled that following the enactment of the Insurance Act in 2003, the first review of the capital base of insurance firms took place in 2005. The review followed hot on the heels of the banking industry consolidation and was kick-started by an announcement by the Federal Government mandating players in the insurance industry to increase their capital base. Further to this, a guideline was issued by NAICOM in September 2005 establishing the minimum paid-up share capital requirement for various categories of insurance operations and setting a period of 18 months between September 5, 2005 and February 28, 2007 for full compliance by all insurance firms. The exercise eventually led to the consolidation of the entire industry. Consequently, the number of operators, post-consolidation, reduced significantly from 104 to 49 insurance companies and four to two reinsurance companies, which were stronger and better positioned to do business.

Sports

It is perhaps unsurprising that the SOL Group has sport as a strong suit, given that Alumona once edited a football publication and was a popular face on television in the 90s, when he presented Master Sports on NTA. The passion for sports led to the conception of GOtv Boxing Night in 2014.

Conceived and managed by SOL on behalf of the client, the show, primarily targeted at reviving Nigerian boxing, has grown to become Africa’s premier event. Each edition attracts over 10million viewers around the continent, as it is backed by live broadcast via SuperSport in 47 countries. Locally, every edition attracts capacity crowd, with figures higher than those recorded at 80 per cent of Nigeria Professional Football League matches. In addition to reviving interest in the sport, GOtv Boxing Night also generates considerable publicity for the sponsors across all media platforms and has translated into the association of the brand with boxing.

SOL similarly initiated and manage GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, a talent hunt programme with the objective of unearthing young and gifted boxers on the verge of turning professional. This has met its sporting objective, providing a conveyor belt of gifted ring artists in addition to engendering a favourable climate of opinion for the brand.

Etisalat (Now 9mobile)

The footprints of SOL can also be found in the telecoms sector with what the agency did for Etisalat. As Alumona said: “We also worked for Etisalat in marketing in some parts of the country. At a point we were in charge of the entire North before we slowed down our activities.”   Etisalat, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, currently operates in 15 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. As of February 2014, Etisalat is the 14th largest mobile network operator in the world, with a total customer base of more than 167 million.

 Philosophy

SOL, explained Alumona, owes its successes to a simple philosophy: Outcomes.

“At Strategic Outcomes Limited, it is not about how much is billed that matters, but results. We are possessed of the right attitude to create strategic outcomes for the brands we are handling. Failure has never been an option, as we ensure that the outcomes are beneficial to all the parties.

“Another value we have imbibed is never to adopt a contractor’s approach. We prefer partnerships with our clients because we believe that it is when the client grows that we can grow. If the client does not grow, we will also be affected. We will rather not take a job if we believe it is not suitable because it is in our DNA that the client gets the strategic outcomes that will promise. If that looks unlikely, we will have to reassess and re-strategise to achieve what we promise,” he said.

Strategic Outcomes Limited

SOL PR

A strategy-inclined public relations consultancy connecting brands and businesses with their target audiences, generating endorsements across media platforms to deliver real commercial advantages for clients. Its work revolves round development and activation of strategic PR campaigns that drive tangible results and business impact for it clients. SOL PR’s services include communication strategy, strategic consulting, corporate communication, political communication, public affairs consulting and sponsorship consulting.

SOL PR has a track record of successful nurturing some of Nigeria’s biggest brands since it was established via the provision of broad spectrum corporate communication services.

SOL PR is also strong in the planning and management of brand building events that produce measurable results through its approach of marrying logistics, production and execution.

The firm is committed to building brands with a focus on multiplicity of brand building activities to expand the client’s brand spirit. Built on strategy, SOL PR has a detailed strategic process to generate and implement creative business ideas rich enough to impact on client’s markets. It implements these strategies using communication as a tool and utilizing marketing communications as a strategic function to enhance client’s businesses.

Flykite Productions

A full-service audio-visual production and sports marketing/and management company, with vast experience in sponsorship management, sports and event management as well as production of media content such as radio jingles, television commercials, documentaries and talk shows.

The production outfit has been playing a key role in delivering top-notch services to clients by developing need-specific initiatives to ensure that clients’ goals are achieved.

Flykite Productions are the promoters of GOtv Boxing Night, Africa’s biggest boxing show. The firm also conceived and manage GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, a talent discovery initiative that has discovered and nurtured over 100 young boxers since 2016.

In 2016, Flykite Productions collaborated in the production of Breathless, a movie nominated for the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. The production powerhouse has also produced radio and television commercials for leading Nigerian companies and government agencies.

Future

The SOL Group aims to be one of the continent’s best brand solutions providers in the next five years

 “SOL will continue to be relevant in the industry by being at the top of our game, delivering strategic outcomes for clients and deploying creative innovations that will put the organisation in a vantage position on the marketing and communications landscape. We will continue to build expertise and competences that will enable us to expand to other areas easily. We want to be a partner providing more benefits, more values to more companies and to the community,” said Alumona.

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