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| Victor Afolabi, MD/CEO, GDM Direct |
Brands
By Tunji Faleye
By Tunji Faleye
Amid fierce competition, GDM Direct, leading
experiential marketing agency and a trailblazer in unbeatable direct marketing
solutions has retained Nestle below-the-line account till 2018.
Information made available to Nigerian Newslive revealed that no fewer than 20-30 respected experiential agencies pitched for
the multimillion Nestle account which was eventually won by GDM Direct.
Speaking on the feat, Victor Afolabi, Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer of GDM Direct said, “what has been really
working for us is the value we offer our clients. No doubt, we are committed to
a continuous improvement. And I think when you begin to retain accounts of that
magnitude despite pitching with an average of 20-30 BTL agencies all known
names, what the client saw is your value. I believe what Nestle has seen, as we
find ourselves in a contract with them till 2018 is that they have seen value
in our operations with them over the years. We have partnered with them in
growing their numbers and businesses, and also driving their product launches.”
According to him, GDM has also diversified its
offerings by moving its competencies and offerings beyond the traditional way
of getting briefs. For instance, one of such competences is its digital
amplification which has positioned quite well a number of brands the agency is
currently work with in their market segments, adding that the agency has given
what a typical stand alone digital agency will give at a price as value adds.
“At GDM, we have grown our competences over
the years. Our digital competence has added value to a lot of clients, and not
only Nestle. It has helped us in securing this account and even across all our
accounts as we grow. We have improved in how we carry out many field research,
monitoring and control with our monitoring tools driven by our investments in
technology in the last 12months,” he said.
Only this year, GDM has won an impressive
numbers of accounts which have added to the agency’s growing clientele base. In terms of the number of accounts and
the billings, GDM is arguably the BTL to beat from the facts and figures
compared to its competitors.
As
at today, Afolabi says, “we are yet to see any agency which has been able to
have as much growth as we had last year, just in case any agency has their
numbers under their pillow, but it so clear with the ones that have been made
available that GDM is clearly leading the industry in billings and the number
of brands.
“Our
profitability was not as exciting as it would have been in a buoyant economy,
however, we are excited about the fact that we have grown top line and sales. We
have grown competence, we have grown capacity and basically, those are the
things that will eventually pay off when the economy begins to go the upward
swing.”
With a vision to be the leading below-the-line
business solutions provider to companies in emerging economies, the agency has
continued to improve on its creativity and innovation.
Also, its mission to partner with businesses
in ensuring overall sustainable and profitable growth by developing strong
sales, marketing and channel strategies focused on the effective and efficient
management of all commercial assets have become its watchword that are
attracting many brands to the company.
Today, GDM Direct has become a leading
below-the-line and online service agency in Nigeria, offering commercial,
strategy and business solutions. One of the nation’s leading experiential
marketing companies is committed to delivering service in a precise,
professional and efficient manner; saving the clients’ time and money while
helping them attain higher human and corporate effectiveness.
Interestingly, at the core of its operations
were the questions – What does the client really want? What is the most
effective way of delivering superior value to partner with clients? With these
questions in mind, the team has focused on delivering value-adding campaigns
through rigorous ideation process which births winning strategies ready to be pitched
to the client.
Till date, GDM has succeeded in building a
result driven culture based on fairness, hard work and equity. The team
comprises young vibrant men and women both frontline and field staff who
passionately plan and execute campaigns, each doing their part to deliver on
the overall objectives.
Closely observing the changes in the industry
and with a mindset of offering experiential content in a timely and cost
effective manner to the clients, the company has transitioned from being
strictly a BTL agency to a TTL agency.
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