By Azeez Disu
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BWL Agency, Ronke Bamisedun has urged public relations practitioners to develop cut-through campaigns that will help brands grow tremendously, adding that such disruptive campaigns will invariably help reposition the industry as a go to place for disruptive concepts and campaigns.
Bamisedun explained that many clients and potential clients see Nigerian agencies as copycats that do not propose new creative solutions for marketing campaigns differently from what they have been getting from other agencies.
She made the disclosure at the June 2019 edition of Lagos PR Clinic held at Elomaz Hotel, Lagos where she spoke on the theme, “Developing Cut-through Campaigns: Getting Through The Noise”
She stated that traditional PR is losing its relevance and so it is imperative to be disruptive and continue to disrupt the market with new ideas and initiatives different from that of competition. She added that disruptive campaigns is about knowing the market and the industry and what competition is doing and not doing and taking advantage of that.
Bamisedun pointed that the components of a disruptive campaigns include approachability, affordability and curiosity. She, therefore, urged all to come up with daring campaigns that will change the public relations landscape.
In addition, she said the ways to develop disruptive campaigns include “Understand your industry, understand your customer, do the unexpected, be relevant, use unusual combinations, breach the boundaries, be humorous.”
She therefore tasked PR practitioners to be more analytical and scientific in their approach because marketers and brand owners are often concerned not about the numbers of media mentions but what the impact of a campaign on their sales and return on investment.
Similarly, to be in tune with what marketers, marketing managers and brand owners want, she urged practitioners to master the language of the industry where a brand operate and tailor their campaigns in line with that. Giving examples how its agency has been deployed disruptive campaigns which has made it gain significant market share for Jameson, of the brands it is handing. “We need to be more analytical than anything else,” she said.
Interestingly, Bamisedun’s agency was announced as the winner for the Media, arts and entertainment category and were also awarded a certificate of excellence for the Gold Sabre, Western African for their work on The Homecoming, a four-day cultural exchange founded by Grace Ladoja MBE, Skepta and BBK Africa.
Also, in 2018, it won the The Gold SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation & Engagement) Award for Public Relations campaigns in Western Africa. The company’s unique disruptive campaign for Jameson Connects Nigeria earned them the award and also put them in the shortlist for The Platinum SABRE Awardfor Best in Show, alongside some of the largest brands and agencies in the world.
Bamisedun was also listed in the 2018 class ofForbes’ 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa.
Over the years, the PR Clinic has featured several notable speakers and has proved a valuable resource for Public Relations practitioners, communicators and journalists.
Lagos State Chapter is the flagship branch of NIPR, the umbrella body of professional public relations practitioners chartered to regulate as well as direct its development and the practice.