Eleven Years of Never Backing Down: Intense Group Sets Its Sights On Bigger Challenges & Bigger Wins
As Intense Group marks its 11th anniversary under the theme “11 Years of Never Backing Down,” the Lagos-based marketing, technology and media group is looking ahead to a new phase of business growth, with a stronger focus on digital innovation, emerging opportunities and solutions that address the evolving needs of brands and industries.
For the group, the milestone represents more than another year in business. It reflects an ambition to build beyond traditional agency services, develop capabilities that respond to changing market demands and create businesses positioned to take advantage of opportunities across the digital economy.
According to Leye Makanjuola, Founder and CEO of Intense Group, the company’s attention is firmly on what lies ahead.
“We won’t be taking too much time to look backward because the future is already with us.”
That future is taking shape through the group’s expanding digital capabilities, investments in new business ventures and an approach that places technology, creativity and commercial thinking at the centre of its growth strategy.
Building for the Next Wave of Digital Opportunities
One of the clearest expressions of this direction is the launch of Stardust Creator Network, a platform designed to strengthen the relationship between brands and creators while providing the infrastructure needed to support the growing creator economy.
As creator-led marketing becomes an increasingly important part of how brands connect with audiences, the platform addresses the need for more structured, effective and scalable ways to manage creator partnerships. It connects brands with vetted creators and manages campaigns from briefing to results, helping businesses execute more purposeful campaigns while giving creators access to meaningful commercial opportunities.
The initiative reflects a wider ambition within Intense Group to identify emerging markets and develop solutions that can operate beyond the traditional boundaries of marketing services.
Kemi Fabusoro, Chief Operating Officer at Intense Group, describes the thinking behind this direction:
“Our focus is to build businesses that define industries, solve future problems, and create new markets, turning emerging opportunities into scalable ventures that deliver lasting value and position Intense to lead, not follow.”
This ambition is also shaping how the group continues to evolve its digital and marketing capabilities. As businesses contend with changing consumer expectations, increasingly fragmented digital channels and growing pressure to demonstrate returns on marketing investments, Intense is focused on developing solutions that bring together strategy, data, technology and creativity to address these challenges.
A More Connected Approach to Business Growth
At the centre of Intense Group’s next phase is a recognition that the future of marketing will require more than isolated campaigns or individual creative solutions.
Brands increasingly need partners who understand how different parts of the marketing ecosystem work together, from audience intelligence and content to performance marketing, technology and measurement.
Through Intense Digital, the group continues to strengthen its capabilities across digital strategy, performance and growth marketing, content marketing, marketing automation, data activation and measurement, search engine optimisation, conversion rate optimisation and AI-driven solutions.
The objective is to help businesses make better marketing decisions, improve how they engage customers and connect their marketing investments to measurable business outcomes.
This requires continuous investment in people, processes and technology, as well as the ability to adapt as the industry evolves.
Samuel Sokale, Marketing Strategist at Intense Group, sees this shift as an opportunity for Intense Digital to rethink how businesses approach marketing and the value they expect from their investments.
“The future of digital marketing will be shaped by how well businesses connect data, technology and creativity to solve real business problems. As the industry evolves, our ambition is to stay ahead of that change, continuously strengthen our capabilities and help businesses identify opportunities they may not have considered before.”
The opportunities ahead extend beyond the group’s existing services. From the creator economy to the growing role of artificial intelligence in business and marketing, Intense Group is positioning itself to participate in markets where technology and changing consumer behaviour are creating new possibilities.
The group’s approach is rooted in identifying problems early, understanding where industries are heading and developing the capabilities to respond. Rather than simply following established market trends, it is looking to build solutions that anticipate what businesses will need next.
For Makanjuola, this willingness to confront new challenges remains central to the company’s identity.
“Being intense makes you know something about problems. They don’t stay down for long.”
It is a mindset that continues to influence how the group thinks about innovation, business development and the opportunities it chooses to pursue.
The Next Chapter Is Already Underway
As Intense Group enters its 12th year, its ambition is to build a stronger portfolio of businesses, expand its digital capabilities and create solutions with relevance beyond individual campaigns or immediate market demands.
The focus is on developing ventures that can scale, strengthening partnerships with brands looking to compete more effectively and investing in the people and technology needed to deliver increasingly sophisticated solutions.
The 11th anniversary theme, “11 Years of Never Backing Down,” captures this outlook. It speaks to a business that remains willing to take on difficult challenges, question familiar approaches and pursue opportunities that demand new thinking.
For Intense Group, the next stage is not about repeating what has already been done. It is about recognising what is possible, building the capabilities to pursue it and creating businesses ready for the opportunities ahead.
“As a group, we are looking forward to the next decade of working with brands that are ready to win in their various markets,” says Otibho Okharedia, Chief Growth Officer at Intense Group.
Eleven years in, the ambition remains to think bigger, push further and never back down.