How did the music start?
I have been doing music for a long time and I have just released a new single titled: ‘‘Follow me,’’ It’s about 10 years since I started performing music professionally. I started in school but I am trying to exhibit it to everyone now. I was in Osun state College of Technology, in Esa-Oke. I was reading Mathematics’ and Statistics. My friends used to come and see me in my room and then I was always singing for them. While I was in school, I had many friends partly because of my father’s legacy. People were drawn to whatever I say, they laughed even when it wasn’t funny. Many people thought I would go into drama and not music actually but I have always loved music and I have to do what I love. Even my father thought I was going into drama I am good in acting but for now, I want to focus on music and then may be later on, I will go into drama. I do not want to start drama first because if I do that I will not be able to go into music.
It is not that music is easier. In fact, music is harder and much more challenging. You have to create a sound, that many people would love to listen to all the time. In Drama, if you can act most of the works are already done. All you need to do is to pick up your script and get on set. Music on the hand, takes a lot from you. You need to do everything yourself, especially in Nigeria where we do not have proper recording companies. You have to do all the aspect of the business yourself.

How about Funding?
People have argued that I should go into Drama first and then branch into music later or do both, side by side but I tell you., it is not that easy. My father started as a musician but he has to abandon music for king sunny Ade. He could not combine it. The moment he realized that he was good in comedy and he was making it, he became distracted; you just have to face one. The argument that I should go into drama and used the money there to fund music is not acceptable to me. One will always find a way to make it. I have a good direction of where I am going. Look at Wasiu Alabi Pasoma. When he started acting, all the Yoruba actors began calling him to come and act in their movies, his fan base in the music scene began to decline. You se, he had to go back and re-focus on his music. Anything that we need to do that is great, require focus and determination and most of the time it is not easy.

What do you have to say about your father?
I want to say that I am very proud to be his son. He is truly a legend, an icon and he got to the peak of his career. It was not easy for him though. He suffered in the hands of piracy and he almost commit suicide but for the intervention of people like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Olusegun Obasanjo, and many eminent Nigerians who stood by him. It was then, that he released Mosebolatan. That was the movie that consoled him. It was well received despite the fact that Orun Mooru was pirated. I am glad that he was able to survive that era although he sold some choice property to settle the loan that was used to finance that movie. Piracy remained one of the great problems of our nation. We cannot fold our hands and looked and allow it to destroy our entertainment industry. You see, my father took great pains in producing his movies, if you put any of those movie to the cinema today, people would still rush to see them because of the kind of quality and technology that went into the production. He took a huge loan from the bank and piracy dealt with him. Tunde Kelani, in the UK shot the movie. It was a great one. I am happy that he survived that period.
What I admire about my father is his humility. He became so famous and he made money but you cannot see any sign of pride in him because he never allow those things to get into his head. His humility is very profound. We never had any security guard at home when my father was in active entertainment. He is a very simple man because; you never know how rich or how poor he was. He took life simply.

His new album, Follow Me,
The hit song is Hip Pop, it is a very danceable, club and party song. It has some very serious local percussion and it talks about the beauty of Nigerian ladies. We have been working on it for about a month now and now it is out, It is currently enjoying airplay on radio stations across the country. I have a management company in the United States. They saw my single on You tube and they loved it. I released two singles last year and so this is not the first. I also did a collaboration with a group based in the US. I have not been discussing with any Nigerian record label. I am still on the look out. I am looking for a label that loves my work and is passionate about promoting it. Look at Mo Hits records, they do quality music and everything they release is superb because they do their home work . My father used to say that the next generation would see his movie and that they are evergreen. This is because the movies are well produced and they do not use foul language. Every song cannot be about women. We need to sing songs that add values to the society. I love Michael Jackson because of this. His lyrics are good. They have deep meanings. If you do a song and three or four years after, people cannot relate with it and love it you did not do a good job. My father said when he wants to shoot his movie, it cam take a whole year and sometimes two. Orun Mooru was shot by a film company in the UK. They used to study the weather before they go to locations in those days. They were experts. I appreciate King Sunny Ade too. I was with him at his home once. He hosted me. I always call him on phone. He accommodated me and he encouraged me.

Message to His fans.
I want to tell my fans that they should watch out for me. Follow me is hot. They should expect more from me. I will not let them down. I want to thank all those who believe in me.

Tell us about this new company?
Solution Media and Infotech limited is a Professional, Interactive, Creative and Hi-tech multimedia company, which uses informative presentation such as light, sound, graphics and laser light effects etc to achieve an excellent result. We make use of an attractive and technologically advanced approach for all our clients through an optically pleasant and impressive technological environment. We endorse the principles of corporate responsibility through our sustainable-development strategies and the policies affecting our employees and the community.
Our Philosophy is to create an exciting and new spectacular entertainment experience for our clients by bringing together cutting-edge product with latest technological contents and services. We are committed to developing a wide range of fresh ideas and multimedia services that challenge the way people access and enjoy entertainment, by ensuring synergy between businesses and their respective organization.
We are constantly striving to create an exciting new world of entertainment that can be experienced on a variety of our different services.
We believe in the “WOW” factor for every project we undertake. Our team’s diversity and wealth of experience, combined with our abundant creativity, ensure our clients receive a professional and reliable service with the best possible end product to represent their business.

Why the combination, Solution Media and Infotech?
There is a media aspect of the business, which goes into cinematography, documentaries, post production and also the infotech which is the IT aspect of the lazer, but all of them are all linked to entertainment. This indicates that what encompasses solution media is the pure entertainment in a new innovative dimension.

How do you hope this will influence the market or industry based on what is hitherto on ground?
Although, the industry is doing well at the current level, however, what we have done is to play the game at a high-tech level by bringing in innovation into the marketing, advertising and media industry. By this I mean, we support the advertising agencies and the industry at large with the latest technology and world class equipment that they can get anywhere in the world. We are a solely indigenous Nigerian company with expertise in various areas of specialization, which includes Cinematography, Media & Post Production, 3D Laser & Multimedia Displays, Music Water Fountain, Projection Screens, Digital Large Screen Prints, Mobile Smart stage T180, Grand Stand ( bravo pro 122).
Our experience of human potential in combination with the latest technology and our big circle of collaborators in the field of multimedia make each project a unique piece of art.
We pride ourselves on developing strong and long-term relationships with our clients, as well as responding to their individual priorities with solutions that are tailored to their requirements, time-frames and budgets.

Can we say solution media is ready for the task ahead interms of acceptability in a competitive market like ours?
I don’t think Nigeria is not ready to the level of seeing an advanced equipment at their door step and ignoring or not ready to accept it. Before now, quite a number of things have taken place in area of production, most of the adverts, especially electronic commercials are taken out of Nigeria for production in South Africa, sometimes Europe, even in Kenya, using equipments that they claim are not available here. What Solution media has done is not to be on the same level with them, but to surpass them. By so doing, people don’t have to go to these foreign countries anymore at least for pre or post production and the likes. For instance we have available here Phantom flex, an American camera tagged ‘what the eye cannot see’ used for commercial production. It is only available in seven places in the world, with Solution Media having the only one in Africa. This can be checked online. Phantom Flex is not available even in South Africa where our people run to for production. What they have is “Phantom Gold” and they used it for the World Cup. It is lower in grade compared to Phantom Flex. So, there is no reason not to call this camera, ‘what the eye cannot see’. With these kind of machines, the clients and agencies have no further reasons to take all the commercial advert out of this nation into another country all in the name of production. Of course, such attitudes generate employments for the foreign country while it further create and aggravate unemployment in Nigeria.
Just another example on the innovative angle, we have the smart stage. It is a mobile stage measuring 50metres x 12metres x 10metres. This type of stage is only exists in three places in the world – two in Europe and one in Nigeria. That is what we set up and used for our launch event last Wednesday at the TBS. Those who were there could attest to it’s beautify. Right from the minute it was set up, enquiries has been massive. The event was aptly tagged “a glance into the 22nd century.”

Nollywood shoots hundreds of films every year, what would be your solution to this?
Our system in Solution Media is such that will not have to produce quantity but quality films, documentaries that can compete at the international level. What we see in Africa is the Whites/foreigners telling our story from their own perspective, while we fold our arms. Solution media has decided to tell these stories themselves in documentaries, which will be acceptable on CNN and other international stations. We have a Sony F35 which is a Cinema camera with 5K resolution and a Sony F3 – a digital camera with very powerful lenses that gives a clear picture as a processed film without editing. Of course, we have EX3 which is the high end camera which everybody has in Nigeria. All these powerful equipments will bring the Nigerian stories, festivals and events better than or as good as theirs. Good stories told about the country will encourage tourism, differentiation and branding.
What do you say about the costing, some claim it is less expensive to shoot commercials abroad?
That is very incorrect and it is not an excuse for taking jobs abroad. Talking about the available manpower, cameras, and other equipment, Nigeria is likely the cheapest compared to what they have abroad. A cameraman in Europe earns nothing less than 500 Euros per day with other expenses. But here, it is not as expensive despite using the same quality equipments and highly trained and skilled man power that we have onboard. The European standard we need is now here in Nigeria at an affordable rate.

One thing is to have powerful equipments on ground, another thing is for these equipments to be handled by professionals; what do you have to say to this?
Nigerians are very intelligent, despite this; we have invested in human capital development. We give lots of training to our staff who are already certified operators by the manufacturers. A total of 32 staff of the company have been trained abroad in areas such as camera handling, editing, directing, and the likes. The training is also a continuous one both in and outside the country. We have equipments and competent men to handle them. You could see them demonstrate their competencies at our launch event.
How do you manage the beautiful sceneries for the commercials that mostly take agencies abroad?
Beautiful sceneries are available here. Those that are not, could be created using the high-tech system at our disposal. They are there and plenty of them too. I can put you in a green studio and you will be amazed of the outcome. The clients should not be worried

Wildfusion recently held its quarterly brainstorming and knowledge session on the Role of Digital in a Dynamic Media Landscape. Abasiama Idaresit, CEO, Wildfusion speaks with Blessing Nwobodo on Digital Marketing and the opportunities therein.

The Role of Digital in a Dynamic Media Landscape
That was the theme for our last quarterly brainstorming section that held recently, we do this because there is a need to keep educating the market. We need to bring people, decision makers together, we need to tell them what needs to be done, how it should be done and why it should be done. The reason is because people will not adopt what they don’t understand, nobody will. The level of understanding is not where it should be yet but has grown tremendously over the past years. We want people to understand technology better and how to deploy them strategically in a very cost effective way, it should cost the brand manager, the media manager a lot less to achieve their consumer engagement objectives by strategically deploying technology.

Awareness/Acceptability
The level of acceptability is growing every day, it’s amazing. Nigerians are early adopters. We adopt technology easily. This is Africa’s biggest mobile market, Africa’s biggest online market; it is the 10 largest internet markets by country in the world. So it shows that we are very open minded people when it comes to technology, we are early adopters. However it is one thing to accept this technology and another to understand how to deploy this technology strategically to help you the brand manager achieve your objectives of engaging your prime prospects, measurements, convert traffic into customers and the tracking your efforts.

Impact/Reach
I will give you a classic example, if you look at the top TV stations in Nigeria or Lagos for example, if you look at the top seven, from the statistics we are getting, Youtube.com will be among the top 5, most watched TV channel in Nigeria, even with the slow bandwidth. What you pay for TV time, as a media buyer are the viewers or eyeballs of your target. Youtube for example is the second largest search engine in the world and among the top most visited sites by Nigerians both on desktop and mobile according to Alexa ranking and Opera State of the mobile Web report for 2011. What are these people doing on Youtube.com, what are they doing online? They are on Youtube from their mobile, they are searching for Youtube on the desktop, what are they doing there? Obviously they are being engaged, obviously there are opportunities out there for them to consume contents on this platform. So if you are looking at this from a Reach perspective, Youtube can be rated as one of the top most watched TV channels in Lagos and Nigeria but Youtube doesn’t get 1 percent of digital budget even when it can deliver a lot more reach at a less cost. So this why we are informing brand managers, come lets us show you the opportunities that are out there. We believe it’s our responsibility to continue to educate the local market.

Statistics/Alignment
Your placements, your advertising has to command attention or capture the prospect. I will give you an example, there is a campaign we are currently running for Gillette, we are looking at people downloading a theme song for the product. We have been blown away by the amount of downloads we have gotten just in three weeks. So that shows you that your prospects are out there if your content aligns with their preferred online experience, they will consume it. According to Google, over 60 per cent of all search queries from Nigeria, are coming from mobile devices. What has given us this large number in terms of people online is actually the mobile phones. So many Nigerians are accessing the web with mobile devices. Mobile devices are becoming a lot smarter, cheaper and the access fees from the operators are reducing. With a thousand naira you can get on the web on your mobile for a month. These are some of the opportunities that have been created in the eco system. So you are thinking of going online, think about how do I reach people on mobile and how do I reach people on desktop.

Measurement
Measurement is a very interesting part of digital marketing, because if you do not measure what you are doing, then you will not know if you are achieving your objective or creating the right impact. It’s through measurement you know whether a digital campaign has been successful. There are different ways to measure, you have Google Analytics, Reporting tool, you have Facebook insight. These are some of the digital tools we use for measuring. Some of them are too advanced for people who are not technology savvy but again we can actually translate measurement to off line platform, e.g., you can, put a dedicated phone number for consumers to call in to learn more, or invite them to send a text to the number, with that you can measure how many text messages you received, how many phone calls you got towards the campaign and then estimate the impact. Like in the case of Gillette, we can tell by the number of people downloading the theme song, we can tell by the number of people that have join the facebook page, we can tell by the number of site hits we have gotten on mobile and also on the web.

Cost Implication
I can tell categorically that right now, that the platform that is the most cost effective and delivers more is the digital platform. The reason being that, you don’t need a very big budget for doing digital especially when you don’t have it, but if you do have the budget, you are going to get more value. I give you a perfect example, the amount of money you will spend on let’s say the 7th most watched TV channel in Nigeria, if you spend 1 percent of that on YouTube, you are going to get much more value or much more reach than you will get spending it on the 7th most watched TV channel. So these are the kind of comparison you need to make.

Industry Assessment
It is deepening every day, at a very good rate. It is very impressive. A lot of media agencies are adopting digital marketing, a lot of clients are asking for more to be on the web. A lot of people are getting it right, but we can’t stop here, we need to continue educating as events unfold in the digital space. Give it a try, try social media, try mobile, try search, try display, whichever works for your brand you can then focus on the platform that delivers more value to you as an advertiser.

Challenges
It is the same challenges we face every day, a perfect example is the bandwidth. If we have enough bandwidth, there is a lot more we can do, eg, we have limitations with video applications. We have a lot of clients that want to serve video applications, TV commercials but there are bandwidth restrictions. And so you have to resize the video to 15-20 seconds so you can stream properly on mobile phone. Another challenge is the low level of understanding of how digital works so we have a responsibility of deepening understanding among stakeholders in this market.

About Wildfusion
It is an internet marketing company; some of our services include online media sales, internet marketing services, mobile marketing and social media services. We have noticed that a lot of clients are requesting for more every single day, so we try to align technology in this respect to ensure that we achieve their objective.

Can we meet Bolaji Eso?
Am from Ilesha in Osun State, born in Lagos, graduated from the University of Lagos and studied Insurance. That is why I advise everybody I know to insure their life. Insure your wife, insure your cars, insure your property, insure even your dogs and cats, although the ultimate insurance and security is in God.
Let’s talk about your lifestyle?
My lifestyle is simple. Am a workaholic; am into hospitality business and I own Eldorado. There is Eldorado Club in Ikoyi and there is Eldorado Club in Elegushi Private Beach where we constructed a swimming pool 500metres away from the ocean, incase you don’t like to swim in salty water or you are scared to swim in the ocean in order not to get drowned or swept away by the waves. I socialize with my close friends and I read almost every newspapers and soft-sell magazine.
What is the meaning of Eldorado?
Eldorado means a beautiful place of wealth.
What kind of club is Eldorado?
Eldorado is quite different from every kind of club you see around Lagos. There is a kind of aura you feel around you when step into Eldorado. It is a place where people who appreciate a good taste of wine would love to be.
How has hospitality business fared in Nigeria?
Well, Nigeria is the freest country in the whole world but hospitality business, hotels, nite-clubs, restaurants are expensive to maintain in Nigeria. We pay double taxes and yet there is no constant electricity so we burn the money we make from our business on diesel and fuel. We spend almost two thousand to five thousand naira everyday on diesel and fuel to supply light for customers. If government can find a lasting solution to electricity, a lot of business will do very well in Nigeria. When we were growing up there use to be light everywhere; from Ikeja to Ojuelegba, to Ebute-meta, to Isale eko, to Ikoyi, to Victoria Island, to Lekki. Then Lekki used to be called Maroko. These days, never expect power always, that is NEPA, please let them improve on their performance to help our business grow.
What is your philosophy of life?
Help others grow.
Favourite Meal
Only my wife can answer.
Best pet.
Dogs. I have dogs with very big wild heads that can scare a lion.
A lot of people know Eldorado but they don’t know who you are.
I don’t expect everybody that comes to Eldorado to know me personally because I don’t promote myself. I promote my business.
What are your views on tourism in Nigeria?
I think the Federal Government should invest more money in developing tourism to make foreign exchange from it. Apart from our oil money, tourism can earn Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange if only the government can harness what we have. We have vast land, we have the finance; then why can’t we have a film village in Nigeria for instance?

Choice of copywriting
There wasn’t any special love for copywriting. In fact I don’t know the word when I left school. It was in the process of looking for a job that I realised that I could do what these guys do. When someone saw me making gift cards and writing the lines inside it, the person asked me if I was a copywriter. I was like: ‘Is that what they are called?’ I specialise in playwriting, so I joined the NTA and was earning ten naira per line. Way back then, there were no home videos and so what would a scriptwriter do? You have to be a salary worker at NTA. So I started looking for a job as a journalist which seems closer to scriptwriting. Along the line, someone called me for an interview to write adverts and felt I was good enough.
That’s how I came on board. Since then, it has been promising and wonderful. The only difference from then to now is that what I leant in five years then can be learnt in six months now. For example, there was no GSM, no internet and so on, research was slower and there were no books to read so learning was slower too. The reason is that we did not have as much brands in the market place as we do now. Then, CocaCola will do one TV advert and air it for two years. You learn based on the number of briefs you are exposed to. If you work on 50 briefs in six months, you’re likely to develop your professional muscles. Unlike somebody who works on 10 briefs in two years.
So that is the difference between the slow career path we had in our days and the opportunities the guys here now have. They have been exposed to lots of brands and briefs in addition they have structured syllabus training which is what we provide. Otherwise they are at the mercy of the kind of brief the client brings. That means if the client brings radio copy always, they will not be good in TV.

Launch of Copy Coach
We like to call it the Copywriting School. We registered the name of the school as The Copywriting School and Copy Coach will only be a synonym. The school was registered in 2007 but we began operations in 2009. The idea was conceived ironically in 1992 when I was at Rosabel. I felt there should be somewhere I could go to learn. Seniors then didn’t have our time and when they did, I felt they were telling us three, four, different things about the same subject matter. We were also victims of no syllabus training. I did some mushroom experiment without charging, in order to develop syllabuses. However, as a business, or a structured organisation, we registered in 2007 and took off in 2009.

Impact of the School on Students
For now, probably little but the bright side is the prospective impact, which is really large. We’ve only just started and out of about twelve major courses, we’re running only three for now. For those who have taken our courses, they’ve been well grounded and they need to be exposed to the additional syllabuses before I can confidently say that this person is a good copywriter. Here we combine practical with theory backed by local and international case studies.

Kinds of Copies
This takes me to a broader definition of copywriting that we are teaching our students. When we advertise beginner’s programme 1, we always say study copywriting, the art and craft of advertising or the art and craft of advertisement writing. The superior definition will be above the head itself for newcomers. When they spend few weeks, we initiate them into the new definition based on the current roles of copywriters which is an art and craft of marketing communication messaging. This is because you can be with an event company and be a copywriter. All the word on any branded thing you see on the table when you go to eateries, are works of copywriters. Basically, 50 percent of a copywriter’s job is idea generation while the other 50 percent is copywriting. So a copywriter can work in any area of marketing communications. That is why the definition has evolved to the art and craft of market messaging.

Making Copywriting School one of the Best
Well, the syllabuses are ready as well as the tutors. We call them copy coaches. All we are waiting for is the students. That means we need to advertise and make people know that copywriting is a career. We have twelve courses on ground but we can’t stock the market with them right away. We have to start from the beginner’s programme. For instance, you can’t do the course that is meant for your sixth year in your fist year and those who are due for the course are top managers in current advertising firms but many of them tend to scorn local training because they want to travel. They may also have inferiority complex. They’ll say, I want a white guy to teach me but we are dealing with facts, raw syllabus and while they are making up their minds we were busy taking up the young ones who don’t even have any clue as to what advertising is. We know it takes time because we are building an institution not an overnight business. We deal with the young graduates and introduce them to the basic principles. They grow their muscles gradually but the big boys may realise at some point that they are strong in one aspect of copywriting (i.e. press and radio). Maybe I should go and take an elective in that school to improve my TV but we can’t force them. They want to go to South Africa, Germany and their bosses are not paying for their trips. They may eventually end up waiting for seven years for a training that will not come, when they can spend about a quarter of that amount and get it here. It is a perception thing.

Challenges
I already mention perception by middle level professionals who feel they do not need training since they’ve been working for some years but the thing is you can be working for five years with only one year experience. The second challenge is not peculiar to the Copywriting School. So I won’t bore you with those ones. The other challenge we have is our own mind, as the facilitators in terms of structural and infrastructural thinking. We have to build a physical school for the school to take off. That’s why we registered in 2007 and took off in 2009. We were thinking conventional, we would build a school, employ this one or that one but we eventually discovered that the most important thing is not the physical school but the syllabus and the availability of professional teachers. It’s just like a wedding; once the pastor is there, and couples are there the rest people and things are by the way.
Now that that is clear, you need to see the kind of support we are getting. You know how difficult it is to get the crème of the industry in a place on a workday but the absence of learning and development is so bad that any small improvement will get people applauding. Like Udeme Ufot said on the graduation occasion, there is room for more players in the industry, especially in the training of marketing communication professionals whether or not our professional bodies create academies. It’s just that professionals need to wear an entrepreneurial hat otherwise, they will give up.

Professionalism in the Industry
We don’t command the kind of respect that professional Accountants command. And 50 percent of the reasons are ours because we don’t package ourselves properly. Secondly, it is difficult for the client to measure the impact of the work we do. So when you air a commercial TV for six months, what you’ll be hearing is ‘I am not even sure if the commercial brings about sales or merchandising. If they can measure, then they’ll be respected. You don’t go to a doctor and make a complaint and you still tell him what he should prescribe for you for treatment. Clients tend to complain, prescribe and tell you how to treat the ailment. If you complain, they’ll shut you up and ask you to put it there. That is where I feel APCON should have come in but I can’t completely say that because of the perception in the result.
The client will respect you more when his losses are measurable anytime he doesn’t take to what you say. You can make all the rules in the world, nobody will follow them. Even the Constitution is inferior to the will of the people. If you make your law and it is inferior to the will of the people, what happened to Ghadaffi will happen. In summary, APCON alone cannot do it, of course they will create the enabling environment like now they have a School of Marketing Communication. We don’t have to leave it for APCON or AAAN alone; we the experts have to come in.

Copywriting School Certificate versus APCON Certification
APCON is compulsory but Copywriting School is not. APCON is a Council. It is backed by the law. So if a prospect asks me that question, I will say please go and get your APCON first. Maybe somewhere in the future, collaboration can come in. By law, a student cannot practise advertising without registering with APCON. We are postgraduate and we see APCON as mandatory.

Can you please introduce yourself?
My name is Richard Robaix. I’ve been in this industry since 30 yrs. I started my career in West Africa, to be precise in Côte d’Ivoire. I worked in Nigeria previously and I’ve been back since 2006. Before I started managing Ibis Lagos Airport, I was managing The Moorhouse Hotel in Ikoyi for four and a half years and I moved to open this Ibis at the Airport Road, the first of it’s kind in Nigeria and many more to come.

What Nationality are you?
I’m French by nationality. I was born in Cote d’Ivoire and I worked a lot in West African countries in both English and French speaking countries so I can add that I am multinational now.

Can you tell us briefly the history of Ibis Hotel?
Ibis is part of the portfolio of Hotels of Accor. Accor was founded by two French people in 1967 and since then it has grown to become one of the largest hotel companies in the world and manages 4,400 hotels in 147 countries worldwide. To talk about Ibis, Ibis Hotel is internationally known in 45 counties worldwide, we have over 900 hotels worldwide. The extension of Ibis is very big because the Ibis Chain is planning to open 70 hotels every year for the next five years, worldwide of course. Ibis is part of the portfolio of Accor Umbrella since 1984.

What makes Ibis Hotel different and unique from other three stars hotels in Nigeria?
We are actually rated three stars. We are different from other three star hotels because: firstly, we are internationally branded. Secondly, all our hotels are the same; we were the first hotel to get ISO 9001 certificate and Ibis is different because it gives all what a middle class business traveller needs – a nice room in a safe environment and at a very reasonable price.
We have come down to Nigeria with the best value for money in terms of hotel rooms of that category. We have reception operational 24 hours a day, we have and we serve food 24 hours a day, we serve drinks 24 hours a day and we are always guests satisfaction minded.
We have a very important value which we put in front. We have what we call the 15 minutes satisfaction guaranteed: if a customer has a technical problem in his room or any type of problem which is genuine, we at the Ibis management or staff have to sort out that problem within 15 minutes otherwise he will not pay for his room, it will be free of charge. This is our commitment and having that commitment makes us to always be at the edge in serving our customers.

In terms of security, how secure is Ibis Hotel for travellers who are lodging in the hotel?
In terms of security we’ve been audited by many companies in Nigeria and overseas who has given us a certificate of satisfaction that we are secured enough. We have organized with the Nigerian Police around us for regular patrols and we have fences surrounding the hotel at about four metres height, we have CCTV all over the hotel inside and outside, we have lights on all night long around our premises and we have security patrol going on all the time for 24 hours.

What are the facilities in your rooms?
We can say that all our rooms are only one type of room. In a standard room we have a bathroom that is fully finished with hair dryer as well, we have a large bed, we have internet facilities in the rooms, we have 20 TV channels, French and English operating 24 hours a day. Our rooms are equipped with individual air conditions which are self adjustable and they are sound proof, all our linens are fire retardant, likewise our mattresses, also our doors are 2 hours fire retardant as per Ibis requirements.

How do you intend to establish your brand in the Nigeria economy?
For now we are targeting individual clientele and corporate bodies who have a lot of people coming into Lagos for one, two, three days. We are mainly targeting for short stay people but we have noticed that as we are getting known more and more, we are getting a lot of long stay customer. It means that they find everything good and accessable in our rooms because they have access to the internet and TV, they have food available all the time so more and more companies are asking guests to be long stay customers.
We have 3 conference rooms, very cosy and well equipped to accommodate 12 people and one large room for 24 people. People can ‘Meet and Fly’ i.e. many people can come from all over the major cities in Nigeria, meet without having to face the traffic to go down town and once the meeting is over, they go back to the airport and fly back to their hometowns. They save time and money.

Do you have airport shuttle buses that pick your customers from the airport?
We are implementing it and before the end of the month that facility will be implemented and we will have free shuttle to pick customers from the airport. It is part of our price at no extra charge to customers.

How affordable are your hotel rooms with all these mouth watering packages?
It’s very affordable because we have a rate, inclusive of Lagos State tax, Vat, service charge. Breakfast is at a rate starting from twenty one thousand, seven hundred naira according to the booking status and few conditions till twenty eight thousand naira, all inclusive. We are considered an economy class hotel even though we look so luxury.

How soon do you intend to open branches in other states of Nigeria if you intend to do that?
In terms of development, Ibis is a very dynamic brand and it’s not static. We intend to open many more Ibis in Nigeria within the next 2,3 years in major cities such as Ibadan, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, e.t.c. Those are the places where we wish to establish our international brand because we believe that this is what the usual traveller needs. Safety, security, comfort, hygiene, at a reasonable price.

In which other countries in Africa does Ibis Hotel operate aside from Nigeria?
In Africa, Ibis is at the moment in Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Madagascar and Guinea Equatorial. We are opening a new one in Dakar, Senegal. We have many Ibis in Morocco, Algeria and we are really expanding our brand, we are opening another one soon in Ethiopia and Tunisia.

What entertainment package do you have for customers who are lodging?
Of course, we have some entertainment package to keep our customers happy because when you are stuck here in Ibis we need to keep you busy. We have a swimming pool with very big area perimeter and we are planning to organize a barbeque package by the pool side for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays to attract people here so they can ‘Dine and Dive’ – to come and enjoy the swimming pool and at the same time eat in a very quiet and clean environment at affordable prices.
Why not ‘Dine and Fly?’ in the sense that a passenger come and spend the afternoon here at the Ibis and then go directly to the airport and fly home. Also, we are planning to have a live band to entertain our customers in the evenings from 6pm to 9pm on a daily basis. We are also planning to have a Suya Spot by the poolside so that our customers can come and enjoy the cool breeze at the poolside, eat some Suya and enjoy the music with a chilled drink.

Lastly, what message do you have for potential customers?
Simply, I will tell them that we will like to make them feel at home in Ibis Lagos Airport, so whenever they come they are most welcome and we will pamper and cherish them. They will have a very good treatment at an affordable rate. It is a very good place where they can come and spend their weekend whether you are outside or within Lagos. You can really enjoy the quietness of a 2 day retreat. We are also targeting to reach the airlines because they have a lot of crew lodging here in Lagos and we do believe that we have the right product that is affordable to them at a reasonable price specially so close to the international airport.

You have an academy in South Africa, why do you still rotate your workshops across the world?
It is part of skills transfer. Since we won’t be able to take everybody to the academy because of logistic issues, one of our ways to do it is to book some of the sessions meant for the academy for the markets so that the wider public and stakeholders take part and benefit from it. With that, the immediate constituency, which is the agency, has a lot of its people involved. More so, there will be more participation from the clients’ side. By that we raise the bars in what we do across the markets and in the economy.

Are the workshops restricted to clients? Do competitors and other aspirants have opportunity of participating?
For starters, I must say no. Charity, they say, begins at home. We have to fix our immediate constituency first. We get them to understand where the entire crew wants the network to be. As soon as that is settled, we can then extend some aspects of the training for everybody to benefit from. For the industry at large, I can certainly say to you for instance that MIPAN has requested Carat Media Perspectives to nominate a resource person from the network to impact some skills on the industry. We shall be nominating resource people that will deliver lectures at MIPAN workshops from now till the end of this year. By so doing we are building skills up and helping in moving the industry forward because you can’t act in isolation. You’ve got to get people to subscribe to what you’re doing. You know when sleep gets good, people begin to snore. So when it gets to that aspect, we can begin to ask people to set up a market specific academy; it may not be in all the markets in West Africa, it may just be in the hubs. The academy today is in South Africa because it can be referred to as the marketing communication hub in Africa. So what happens next is to begin to move through other African sub-regions and Nigeria is a major hub. At the moment, it has to be one step at a time.

Asides having a chance to send more of your people to participate, which other benefits does hosting the workshop bring to your company and to Nigeria?
Benefits of hosting the workshops are same to the country and the company. To the company, it would be skills upgrade in marketing communications. When you have the skills of your people upgraded to world standards, it will make a lot of people look for you, you earn more money and repatriate what is earned, it will translate to more business which will translate to more taxes and funding to support our corporate social responsibility initiaves. For instance, the Ikoyi Rotary Club during their investiture wanted to fund the installation of a cervical cancer detection equipment and it was going to cost them about N80m and Carat Media made a contribution to that. To the industry at large, we have raised the stake of the people who have left for the client’s side. Even if we don’t set up the Carat Academy to train in people in the industry, our people will leave to the client’s side or to the competition. In one way or the other, they will share the knowledge that they acquired from this place and by so doing we also raise the stakes of practise. By that we earn enough respect and recognition. We will find a way to collaboratively move brands from where they are to where we want them to be. The media is so relevant and more than what it used to be especially in marketing communications. For example, we have Google, Facebook and other media brands ranking high in the world. Every good brand has the media to thank.

How do you manage to empower people and still retain their loyalty to the organisation?
It is a function of leadership style and approach. You either lead from the front or from the back. When you lead from the front, you just go, expecting people to follow you but when you lead from the back, you are quick to see their mistakes and you will be quick to correct them. If you don’t empower people to take decisions and responsibilities for their actions you will find yourself micro-managing. That way, you’re looking backwards. Here we treasure empowerment. You can’t move away from empowering people when you find yourself in business. Desire a challenging personality with superior skills. We need to continuously empower else we cannot breed entrepreneurs who will create sub-sectors in the industry.

How do you balance the intricacies of empowerment and retention?
Empowerment is synonymous to continuity and when you find rare breeds like you, a company can only be as progressive as the leadership. If your system is breeding a generation of hyper-ambitious people, it becomes the responsibility of the leader to take action. Everybody is playing their role and what you want is results. Sometimes, some will grow bigger than the team; it becomes the responsibility of leadership to ensure that something is put up that will keep accommodating them. What do you do? You realise that systems evolve and it keeps evolving. Media independent agencies are beginning to have specialist services and agencies attached to agency services. In other words, media independent services is unbundling itself. Carat Media turned out to be the first ever media independent agency network in the world and has been in the forefront of reinventing itself, its businesses and its brands. It creates opportunity for stars to shine. What the system then does is that it empowers the guy to do more instead of asking him to report to you as a mere unit head. Most group heads here fire and hire without recourse to me. All I get to see is that decision to hire. The least I can do is to delay. Today, the print media has evolved likewise many others because the industry has created opportunities for several chief executive officers.

Carat is a global leader. Does that place a burden on Carat Media Perspectives as a member?
Trust is a burden because for you to marry a lady, you must have some qualities she desires. Where the burden is is in trying to convince the lady that you’re as good as the rival. We don’t see it as a burden. It is a relationship that has been in courtship for long before being consummated into marriage. We have done things together, observed each other for a long time, been in workshops together, managed crises and done several other things together. We both work together to ensure that the brand remains consistent wherever we operate. We don’t have one Carat that is not one together. It’s like the history: Carat is a British company registered in France. The assimilation principle of Carat could be traced to its birth place. Carat and Aegis are companies that started in France, even though the founder was a German, who due to some technical issues could not start the company in Germany. The company started from France and was later hijacked by the English, which makes it an English company. So we have the best of the two worlds – the English diplomacy and the best of the stylish French. So we see it as a challenge not a burden and also we see it as an opportunity to correct the impression that all Nigerians are crooks.

With this synergy you’re drawing to position for Africa, how do you groom global champions out of Africans?
I’m looking forward to something in the not too distant future, that somebody from Carat Media Perspectives in Lagos or Carat Adams in Ghana or Carat elsewhere could go to head Carat sub-Saharan Africa. In ensuring that skills upscaling is at the same scale globally at a period of time, we put in place a scheme that will make our people work in different other offices globally to fasten skills transfer. We call it skill exchange. Chief development officer of Aegis Media Middle East and Africa, Duncan James, said in an interview that part of the skills transfer is that Carat does not buy into companies or have affiliations with Carat Europeans or Americans to come and head operations. What they do is to take the local people, embark on program exchange with them and return them to the market.

Is there a way someone can leave Carat Media perspective and go to UK to work?
Yes. It’s at our call. If I make a request to Carat North America, I can tell you that by the end of today, I can will get a feedback. However, there are conditions, like Carat North America will be able to look after the accommodation, you the local partner who is sending that person will continue to pay his salary back home. We are already on that part. It’s just that the problem in the industry today is losing people to the client’s side. It happens in Europe and everywhere. In such situations I would put all the guys around me like leeches to surround the European on skills exchange and tap from him.

What impact is the unbundling of media independents having on the industry?
In the next 12 to 24 months, I pray we would have succeeded in shifting thinking about the media. The media should be deciding the kind of creative content that will suit a particular target audience. It’s one of the things we pray we would have achieved. We have so many constraints in terms of infrastructure, forensics etc. At the sectoral level, MIPAN is trying its best to deploy and encourage media planning services. The first was the meter project, but for the people’s meter to run, they will need electricity. Unavailability of electricity hikes the cost of production. We also need generators, inverters to ensure that the meters pick up information from the collation centres. These are the few constraints we may have. These are part of the things we want to do in the next few days or years.

Nigerians now have access to information courtesy the FoI Act. What does this mean to us?
With the Freedom of Information Act, it is good news but it is not time to celebrate because it means that we have now opened a new chapter. Firstly, we need to look at the nitty-gritty of all the pages. When you talk about FoI, you are talking about the availability of information that is a lot more difficult than even getting the bill itself signed even in some advanced countries. With so many disastrous happenings everyday such as collapsed building and arson, documents are not safe. Such occurrence will render information that is not automated or computerized unavailable. The availability of information is still an issue that the government needs to face. It is not about passing the bill into law because there are still many laws in Nigeria that are moribund. It is not about the law itself, it is about implementation. Then, we will get to the level of celebration.
For me, it is not a call for celebration yet. What this development has called for is calculation, thinking and planning not celebration. We should be concerned with how the law is going to work otherwise you are going to have it there and it is just going to be there. In some cases, the court will help. For example, if ADVAN wants to have the number of newspaper circulation and the paper says no, ADVAN can go to court because the body patronizes the newspaper and feels that it is obliged to it for this information. Therefore, in my opinion, a lot of it is going to require investigation basically on the part of government to make the information available and on the other hand, the man looking for information to be able to use it objectively and constructively. If you say this state government spent this amount money on this project, what does it mean or what is the implication? What we often hear is, ‘according to reliable sources.’ I hope that will now reduce in the media because to me it is garbage. You read a whole magazine or newspaper and discover that almost all the stories and revelations were built based on unreliable sources. What is reliable to you may not be reliable to me. So, we now need to understand that according to statistics gotten from the office of the establishment or ministry of education, certain things have happened. And this is the implication because it means that the problem of agriculture that ought to have been addressed has been moved to this area and this is how it will affect our target and objectives on agriculture. The enactment of the law shouldn’t be an issue but whatever the implementation of this law should be our greatest concern. How people are looking for information, manage and interpret it would pose a major challenge in the implementation of this new law.
Let me tell you, if you say somebody has done something this week and it makes headlines and later on nobody hears anything about it then it does not make sense, it is not a cause. What you are doing is just trying to sell your paper for that week. However, if you provide a follow up, it then means that you are actually pursuing a cause in the interest of the general public. So how you are able to use the information is very critical and you should not abuse it. I think a lot of our information practitioners need new training, orientation and mindset on this new opportunity.
If what you are saying is adhered to, what becomes of protection of sources in journalism?
When I say ‘a reliable source’, I am not saying it (terminology) should be thrown into the dustbin of history but there should be a drastic reduction. If you are talking to me and I am going to be making business decisions or decision for government, I should be able to know some of your sources because it is not just beer parlor discussion. So, where I am going when I say it is not time for celebrations is that looking at Vision 2020-20, it is not about creating document. The law that we have in our hand right now is not too different from other laws in existence. It is not significantly different from those things that have happened to us in the past. The important thing for us is how will it happen and how will it become a part of our lives.
For instance, you hear that somebody refused to sign the bill because it was titled Freedom of Information and said it ought to be Right to Information or whatever you may want to call it. A military ruler believes everything is right. They know how to manipulate rights. So even if that kind of person had signed it, there are so many rights in the constitution that have been violated on daily basis. So, if they violate that one there wouldn’t be any cause for alarm but this one is freedom and you can’t gag it. That is why ADVAN members have a right to information from anybody that is a key party to their businesses and those people also have right to information if it is for public consumption but they don’t have right of information on my personal life. So, it is about how we implement it. However, there are challenges.
Let me tell you, information is a very critical element in our daily activities so it has to be automated; that is, confirmation and computerization. For example the civil service. If by tomorrow ten media houses go to one particular ministry demanding information for different reasons, where will they get it? Are they going to visit the bureau room where nobody has visited in the last three years? We need to start thinking because the man that signed this bill into law should understand that in his own time it wouldn’t have been possible and because of that he should start putting in place processes that can ensure the availability of information and its full implementation.
You seem to dwell so much on the private sector. What should be the concern of the public sector?
No, don’t let it look as if we are looking at the private sector alone. The bulk of this thing is going to be from the public sector. The private sector in the last three decades has ascended to organised private sector. Nobody has mentioned organised public sector. So, they need to now achieve the aim of the organised public sector.
Do you know how long it took the private sector to be known as organised? Remember at one time or the other when the expatriates were on ground, you know the knowledge they had impacted considerably on you and I while we were working here or there. The transfer of knowledge, skill, capability and technology would have to happen in governance as well otherwise we will never be able to achieve that objective or it will lead to multiplicity of cases in court. Thereby asking for something that probably was never in existence and then punishing innocent people who probably just took over the job will be very detrimental. It is not just information on Dimeji Bankole or David Mark that is necessary, somebody may want to know about something that happened 10 years ago; where is the information? The issue is a procedural thing. How the information be made available is very key. I am not saying that they don’t give information but we need to now understand that it is a Herculean task to make information available. There has to be reorientation in places where information has to be. There has to be a reconstruction of the structure for storing information. There has to be a reorientation of the people saddled with the information too to be able to use the information objectively and use it to fight causes in the interest of the general public.
In practical terms what are the major challenges confronting this law?
You can actually help me by answering the question. What prompted the non-implementation of the numerous laws that we have in our constitution? I think the answer will help our understanding a lot on how I can make recommendation or what the causes are. I think there should be a change in terms of implementation. We can’t afford to do things the same way and expect different results. We’ve got to take it a lot more serious this time because you are the gatekeepers. You are responsible for the task of championing the cause of information. So, if you are giving false information you can imagine the likely problems this may create.
The same thing that happened to other laws may happen around here. We need bold people who can fight causes to champion this cause.
There should also be a lot of dialogue and enlightenment. They need to know that they are not doing anyone a favour by providing the information. For instance, the information requested by ADVAN would have actually helped the media such that the best marketing brains would gather to offer advice where necessary.
The information would further go a long way in helping planning and campaign. Whether you like it or not, media is actually the number one in opinion shaping. So, in essence we should be ready to provide facts whenever it so demands. We need to be able to change the mindset and create a new society where people understand.

The Corporate Games’ story compared to other major sporting events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.
Corporate Games was conceived in San Francisco in 1988, with a worldwide appeal. It has held in such diverse places as Budapest and Bilbao, Johannesburg and Geneva, Malaysia and Hawaii, Stuttgart and The Hague. The games grasps the spirit of earlier times in sport when the key was playing for the very joy of it and winning was not everything but just an important part of the whole. It is similar to the original vision of Baron de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games but in a different age, where the games respects the participants as much as the winners and seeks to provide a memorable and worthwhile experience for all entrants regardless of age or ability.
Objectives of the Corporate Games
The Corporate Games was created to provide an opportunity for athletes of all ages and abilities to experience and play in a worldwide multi-sport festival. Until its foundation in 1988, participation in such events was restricted to a select elite athlete, representing nations or states. The games encourage individuals to become fitter and healthier. They increase and enhance company spirit and morale. They also enable the individual to take pride in the organisation as self. The games generate a large and immediate economic benefit and establish an annual high profile multi-sport event with remarkable return on investment.
The host destination becomes recognised as the capital of corporate sport for the region, increasing awareness of regional enterprises to all participating companies and creating new business opportunities for all. It also encourages local participants to become active in sports, provides options for local administrators and officials to gain experience in a multi-sport festival.
Games Targets
As the largest multi-sport festival in the world, the Corporate Games has allowed over 18,000 unique companies and organisations to compete across a number of sports for the past 20 years. It brings organisations together, irrespective of what business sector they are from, their share price of annual turnover, whilst providing outstanding networking and promotional opportunities.
There is no limit to the number of people who may represent an organisation; nor to the number of organisations entering the Games. Multinational and national corporations, medium and small businesses, partnerships, agencies, societies, clubs, institutions and organisations are eligible to enter the games. Full and part-time employees, members of the Board, managers, retirees, consultants, agents, clients, families, friends and guests may be members of the team. This is why we often say that Corporate Games provides an excellent means of building team spirit, enhancing company morale, reducing absenteeism and improving the fitness of management and employees.
Some games featuring in the tournament and prizes available
There are 54 sports to choose from across the Games projects worldwide. However for the Lagos Corporate Games West Africa, we are proud to host badminton, basketball, beach soccer, golf, running, soccer, squash, table tennis, tennis, swimming and volleyball. Games Medals are awarded to the first, second and third place finishers in each event to recognise personal achievement. Organisations are also competing for games points, which determine the winners based on the organisation’s overall team size. Sport Championship Awards are awarded to the organisations with the most games points in a sport. Championship Division Awards winners are determined by the number of games points based on the organisation’s overall team size. The Medallist Award is presented to the organisation winning the most medals. The Sport for Life Grand Award is presented to the organisation entering the most athletes. This award recognises the organisation’s leadership in fitness, team-building and company excellence.
Countries that have hosted the Games and success rate
The Games have been successfully hosted in five continents, 25 countries, 53 cities with over 18,000 organisations having competed across the globe.
Countrieswith the largest number of participants in the Games
The largest Games by far took place in Melbourne, Australia. The first Melbourne Games took place in 1997 and had nine sports, 73 organisations and 2,119 participants. By 2009 the Games had grown to 20 sports, 371 organisations and 12,010 participants.
Composite benefits of the Games
The Games offers various benefits to different categories of participants. To the employee, like I said earlier, it builds confidence and fitness and also enhances internal and external business relationships. To participating corporate organisations, it is a fantastic way to reach new clients, new businesses and new customers; and also to enhance awareness of the company’s brands. The Games also helps to bond and develop the organisation while providing networking opportunities among organisations on a level playing platform irrespective of what sector they are from, their share price or annual turnover. The Host City or Country also benefits from the Games because it generates immediate economic impact and can be leveraged for worldwide promotion of the Host City to brand itself as a centre for corporate sport, fitness and healthy lifestyles.
Is the Corporate Games open to sponsorship? And what benefits are there for sponsors and brands that wish to participate in the Games?
The Corporate Games offers rich and varied opportunities for sponsors and supporters of every type, size and interest. The Games will have thousands of competitors and hundreds of organisations participating. The organisations include some of the most famous multinationals, the largest and most powerful of the national companies, and many others of all kinds and sizes.
Support for organisers and the host country
We support the organisers with training and provision all of a bespoke software system that has been designed uniquely to coordinate the Games at the push of a button. We have a design office that is on-hand to support with the design of all marketing materials and at intervals throughout the year, our experienced staff visit each host country to monitor and support the partner offices – particularly across the Games weekend, where expertise can be provided if required.
Efforts to have the Games in more African countries
Our flagship project, the World Corporate Games travels to a different global city each year. In 1994, the World Games came to Johannesburg and were held very successfully as the first multiple-race multi-sports festival since the democratic elections, with over 10,000 participants participating that year. We would be very happy to see further projects established with African countries and we are currently discussing possibilities repeating Corporate Games in South Africa.
Preparations for the success of the West African edition
As I speak, activities are already in full gear to mobilise corporate bodies across West Africa for the Lagos edition of the Games. Recently, a stakeholders’ forum which convened top brand custodians, and major stakeholders in Nigerian sports circle has held in Lagos to reaffirm our readiness for a successful tournament in Lagos, from June 16 through June 19, 2011.
Projected success rate for the West African edition
The success of an inaugural Games is one where companies of all shapes and sizes are able to come together to celebrate Lagos as the newest addition of the Worldwide Corporate Sports Community across a mix of sport, business and tourism. It is difficult to quantify a success rate for the West African Games as it is the first of its kind in Nigeria – and as with all projects hosted in different parts of the globe, it will have its own set of conditions that makes it unique within our sports community. Certainly the first year of the West African edition will create a valuable platform from which to build the Games in subsequent years.
Choice of Lagos as host
The World Corporate Games is a prestigious title and a fantastic opportunity for a city like Lagos to host. Lagos has fantastic international links and great sports facilities. The Lagos Corporate Games West Africa could provide a fantastic platform for a World event in subsequent years.
The Games impact on individual lives
The Games provides new opportunities for individuals and businesses alike all over the world. It is sometimes difficult for us to hear about all the individual stories on a day to day basis, but we recently received an email from a previous participant who informed us that he met his wife at a Corporate Games event in 1997. There are other similar testimonies of participants who made significant business progress and organisations that successfully launched new products during the Games.