DDB Lagos: Boldly Lifting Nigeria’s Advertising Industry Into Global Stage

Wins 31 LAIF 2014 Awards, Five African Cristal Awards

NIGERIA’S most globally awarded Agency, DDB Lagos of the CASERS Group, celebrated more wins at the 2014 Lagos Ideas and Advertising Festival (LAIF) which took place at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on November 30, 2014, hauling away 31 awards including the prestigious and most sought after Grand Prix award.  DDB Lagos also carted home five awards in three different categories during the African Cristal Awards held in Morocco this year. These stellar performances both locally and internationally continue to reinforce DDB Lagos’ reputation as Nigeria’s leading agency.

  The LAIF Grand Prix was awarded to DDB for the MTN Saka Ports Campaign of last year. Many will remember this particular campaign due to the unprecedented talk value it generated when it was launched. Never had such a thing been done in the Nigerian advertising realm where a renowned celebrity, who earned his popularity by featuring in various advertising campaigns for a rival network, ported to MTN. Newspapers and the social media instantly put out stories and speculations about how the campaign was conceived and executed. It was simple, yet ingenious, and had all the elements DDB Lagos is famous for when it comes to creative communication solutions – simplicity, surprise and a smile.

  For a little background, the Grand Prix historically is awarded to the ‘best of the best overall’ and is the most respected award amongst professional advertising bodies.  To win a Grand Prix, a piece of work must have been judged to have advanced the frontiers in its category. Gold winners in any given category automatically qualify and on the rare occasion where one meets such standards, a Grand Prix is awarded. 

  Other than the prestigious Grand Prix win, DDB Lagos proudly walked away with seven Gold, 12 Silver and 12 Bronze awards all in different categories. These include: Best Use of the Media Online —MTN Ludo (Gold); TVC (PPSC) — MTN Can You Hear (Gold); Press (Food & Consumables) —Royco Real Beaf (Gold); Outdoor Miscellaneous — Mouka Barber (Gold); Press Miscellaneous — Mouka Singer (Gold); Radio (Telecom) —MTN I Don Port Jingle (Gold); and TVC (telecom Services) — MTN (Saka port) (Gold). 

  In the Silver category, the Agency won Best Use of Original Photography — Mouka Singer; Best Use of Music — MTN Saka Ports; Best Use of Photo Illustration — MTN Arsenal vs MAN U; Press (Miscellaneous) — Mouka Don’t Sleep; Press (banking & Investment) — Sovereign Trust (‘If it is precious); Press (Food & Consumables) — Royco Horns; Outdoor (Corporate Image) — Mouka Barber; TVC (Corporate Image) — MTN Can You Hear; Press (Telecoms Services) — MTN The Other Steve; TVC (Ads that never ran) — MTN Smooth Talk; Radio (Telecom Services) — MTN Xmas Trick; and Outdoor (Miscellaneous) — Mouka Judge. 

  In the Bronze category, DDB won the Press (Ads that never ran) with its Omo Dirty, Dirty Couple advert; TVC (Corporate Image) with MTN Places; Press (Corporate Image) with DDB End of the Epic Tale; Press (Telecom Services) with MTN Migration; Press (Promotion) with McVites Plus One; TVC (Telecom Services) with MTN Project Fame; Outdoor (Miscellaneous) with Mouka Driver; Outdoor (Telecom Services) with MTN Port; Press (Miscellaneous) with Businessman; Outdoor (Promotion) with Omo Value Extra Power; and Outdoor (Telecom) with MTN Port. 

  The African Cristal Awards show in Morocco was no less eventful as DDB Lagos made the roll call as the 8th ranked agency in all of Africa, proving once again that the agency’s brand of creativity is of international standards. This is not the agency’s first win at the international event as just last year, DDB Lagos won laurels at the maiden edition of The African Cristal, picking up Sapphire and Emerald Awards for their work on Girl Hub and Durex, respectively. This year, ‘MTN Saka Ports’ and ‘Mouka Active Rest’ campaigns brought the wins home.

  Over the last 13 years, the Cristal Festival had set standards for creative excellence in Europe and the Middle East. The African Cristal stands as the first “Summit for Media & Communications” dedicated to the continent, celebrating African creativity in advertising and media through a regional award with international recognition. This event aims to bring together the entire media & communication industry to network and to promote regional culture through dedicated competitions, conferences and debates.

  For 2014, DDB proudly celebrates the following African Cristal Awards: African Cristal (Best use of Branded Content) – MTN Saka Ports – 1 Sapphire (Silver Equivalent); African Cristal Press – Mouka Active Rest – Two Emerald (Bronze Equivalent); and African Cristal OOH – Mouka Active Rest – Two Emerald (Bronze Equivalent). 

  These wins continue to strengthen DDB Lagos’ reputation as Nigeria’s most awarded agency as the list of accolades continue to grow with recognition from the Marketing World Awards, and the Nigerian Telecom Awards where the agency won multiple awards in various categories and industries including Best Creative Agency of the Year and Best Telecom Advertising Agency of the Year for 2013.

  DDB’s wins at international and local level with consecutive wins at not only the African Cristals and LAIF but also the Loeries and the Epica International Awards further proves that Nigeria’s foremost advertising agency for the last 26 years continues to demonstrate its drive to push creative excellence to the next level both locally and internationally.

  DDB Lagos, was founded by the visionary Enyi Odigbo, the Chairman of Casers Group and a former President of AAAN. The Agency is currently steered by Ikechi Odigbo, who has a mandate to transform DDB into the biggest and best builder of brands in Africa.