Leftfield secures R100-million account in Nigeria

FrieslandCampina WAMCO, the multinational manufacturing company is the Nigerian affiliate of the global dairy cooperative namely, Royal FrieslandCampina of The Netherlands. The ten-man strong team beat other agencies in Lagos to the account after an extensive and rigorous pitch process.

"Peak and Three Crowns are iconic brands in Nigeria. It is critical that the guardianship of these brands is of the highest level. As a practice, FrieslandCampina formally reviews its agreements with the creative agencies every three years.

We are happy to say that after a rigorous and closely fought competitive pitch, we have retained Leftfield. They have displayed a robust understanding of our business and the opportunities that lie ahead. We believe that with their strategic and creative potential, combined with market insights, they will be a potent partner for our ambitions in Nigeria," says Shraman Jha, marketing director at FrieslandCampina WAMCO for Nigeria and West Africa.

Newly appointed managing director of Leftfield, Jason Cumming attributes the success to the agency's proven track record in Africa and specifically to the creative director's international experience in countries as far afield as Thailand and Indonesia. Their recent, well-received work on a "Drink Milk Everyday" above-the-line campaign, brave creative and superior strategic plan presented in the pitch itself, also played a significant role.

"As an independent, South African agency based in Cape Town - we were up against bigger, established, local agencies with global alignment, who we felt might have had the advantage when it came to local relevance and resonance in creative execution come pitch time, we had to show we could outshine all agencies in the area of consumer insights, despite the fact we're based in Cape Town," says Cumming.

Dairy - a challenging market

"This win is huge for us. The Lagos agencies, as with pretty much everything in Lagos, have improved significantly and are headed up by expats from SA, Australia and of course Nigerians returning from London with world-class skills, so we are pleased to have won the pitch so we can focus on the new challenges arising in the market," adds strategic and creative director, Jono Swanepoel.

As it happens the challenges in the market are enormous - the dairy category in decline and increasingly having to fight for its share of wallet against indirect competitors such as soft drinks, flavoured drinks, fruit drinks and mobile companies selling airtime, not just competitors in the dairy nutrition segment.

As Swanepoel explains, "Our new challenge is to make milk one of the world's most generic commodities - more aspirational for young consumers and more valued as a form of nutrition for consumers of all ages. Secondly to increase frequency of consumption as a lifestyle habit - the challenge is massive but we love a good fight."