Noah’s Ark: Relentlessly Pursuing Excellence In Africa’s League Of Most Successful Brand Builders

-‘Creative Advertising Agencies To Watch In 2025, How They Shaped 2024’ Series

Noah’s Ark, a Full-Service Marketing Communication firm is one of Nigeria’s of Africa’s most awarded agencies. From the cradle, the focus of the agency was to be that “agency that adds immeasurable value to every brand that seeks its haven from the stormy waters of ordinariness, while being the navigation light that shows forth dynamic professionalism out of the African continent”.  

This creative brand occupies a top spot among the agencies that are already shaping the IMC industry in Nigeria. Certainly, an agency to watch this 2025, Noah’s Ark is not your regular agency. Its works which are globally acclaimed have set it apart as one agency that has its sights on best global practices and excellence.

As an imaginative powerhouse, Noah’s Ark’s operational processes and philosophy are hinged on the fact that creative ideas are the currency of the advertising business. Therefore, well-researched insights were the springboards that guided Noah’s Ark’s turbulent navigation to growth and survival in 2024. This often ensures tailor-made marketing solutions that impact clients’ business.

Its tenacious steps towards resolving a client’s marketing challenge involve deploying tools aimed at establishing clear directions to overcome the challenges of last year; finding the brand’s purpose and of course, this yields profound insights that lead to an engaging idea (s) that resonates with the audience of the client.

It comes as no surprise therefore that its mix of insight, creativity, and technical innovation has seen the agency grow into an award-winning creative agency that delivers solutions that meet the business needs of its array of clients across various industries where it delivers creative business solutions in sectors such as FMCG, Telecommunications, Mobile technology, Government and nonprofits, Hospitality & Tourism, Pay-TV/ Entertainment, and financial services.

At the heart of Noah’s Ark’s workflow is the strategy for brand-building. Strategy is the soul of everything the agency does. Other instincts that make the agency tick include the uncanny use of audience insights, business insights, research, experience planning, and information architecture. 

Noah’s Ark has always had the vision to be one of the most successful brand builders out of Africa. This goal has helped the agency over the years, build sustainable and well-accepted brands through the power of insightful storytelling.. The company’s mantra holds, “We go wherever the idea takes us” and as such, its aspirational and overarching drive is guided and anchored by this.

Noah’s Ark owes its greatness principally to its founder, Lanre Adisa, a man who has been a force and a strong leader in the evolution of the agency and by wider implication the advertising landscape in Nigeria.

A leader who will proffer performance instead of pronouncements; expertise and competence instead of titles and positions. Over the years, Lanre Adisa has been involved in pioneering bold and innovative initiatives towards the development of creativity within Noah’s Ark Pen and the advertising industry where he currently leads the Association of Advertising Agencies in Nigeria.

Lanre started his career as a Trainee Copywriter at MC&A: Saatchi & Saatchi in 1990. He also worked with some notable marketing communication firms like Rosabel Advertising, Franchise Communications, and  Insight Communications up to TBWA\Concept where he left after five years as an Executive Creative Director in 2008 to start Noah’s Ark Communications.

Speaking recently to Brand Communicator on his company’s experience in recent times and how the team is warming up for 2025, Adisa said “The interesting thing is, at the onset, we set a vision for ourselves, we wanted to be in a league of the most successful brand builders in Africa. What that means is that one does not necessarily have to be on top of everybody at all times.

 “One will face challenges, so the league is an analogy, a football for instance will always have certain people who are consistent at all times in doing what they do and earn people’s respect over time. This is how we look at this, you’ll be challenged and tested but can you stay with the cause, can you stay within the league of those people who will say yes, these guys know what they are doing and they do great stuff? We’ve been able to do that to a greater degree, otherwise we won’t be talking about what happened last year.

So, we did have some challenges in terms of account wins and losses which is what agencies face anywhere in the world but we were able to bounce back from it and do what we are best known for. We were still number three on the table at LAIF awards last year.

Despite the challenges, we were still able to maintain our position as an agency. Beyond that, it’s the culture that drives us, which is still very strong in terms of where we are,  and who we are. When things happen, they test you and bring out the best in you and you decide how you want to move from there.

“For us it’s also a testament to the strength of the agency, the people here make the difference, there’s a whole lot of strength coming from our people and what they believe in,  as well as certain clients that saw even more reasons to partner with us.

All these have given us a lot of courage as regards 2025 because some of the things that we were able to do then are the things that we’re carrying into 2025. So, we are open to more opportunities this year.”

 In his advice to young professionals, Adisa said,  “You have to think long-term, it’s a long-distance game. You have to love doing this, you have to be ready to face all sorts of challenges.

“I always say that it’s a thankless job sometimes at what we do. But it’s the whole joy in terms of what you’re able to create and the results one gets for different brands. But you must have a thick skin in the industry. You have to be observant, curious, and ready to make a difference by what you bring to the table. You have to be authentic and you’ll enjoy it.

“Someone once said that advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on and I agree because it’s never a dull moment. Today you’re doing this, tomorrow you’re doing another exciting thing and you have fun doing it. But you have to think for the long-term, it’s not a sprint but a marathon”.

Noah’s Ark might not have the biggest team in the industry, but the team is always precise in its delivery and always on point. Creativity is truly the agency’s currency. This has led the agency to become the first Nigerian Advertising Agency to be featured in the prestigious Lurzer’s Archive.

 It has the mission to be an Invaluable extension of its client’s Marketing Departments and the vision is to be among the top 4 Marketing Communications firms out of West Africa. Looking at the historical trajectory of this unique agency, the team is already living its dream. From all indications, Noah’s Ark is one agency to watch out for in Nigeria this 2025.