Africa's leading marketing services group, Scangroup an associate of WPP, in partnership with Ogilvy, also part of WPP, have announced the launch of two advertising firms in Ghana. The move is aimed at expanding Scangroup and Ogilvy operations in the fast-growing continent and serving existing demand for marketing and communication services.
Scanad Ghana Limited and Ogilvy Ghana Limited have been established to take over the existing advertising and promotional business of Media Majique & Research Systems Limited which has traditionally traded as MMRS Ogilvy and Ogilvy Africa Media Ghana Limited (OAM) respectively.
Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and Scangroup Limited have agreed to create a Pan-African joint venture via a share swap transaction, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, in order to strengthen a common expansion and growth strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa. Scangroup is an associate of the WPP Group. The Sub-Saharan Africa joint venture, Ogilvy Africa, is borne out of a shared vision to ensure Ogilvy & Mather and Scangroup's African operations are well positioned to offer real breadth.
The company will initially focus on serving the East Africa region from its head office in Nairobi.
Smollan East Africa will be offering field marketing services, market intelligence and brand activation. "This expertise will offer our multinational clients an opportunity to outsource their field marketing services in the region to ensure adequate stock levels in all retail outlets and supermarkets. This will reduce out-of-stock situations and ensure superior shopper contact in order to boost sales," said Bharat Thakrar, Chief Executive, Scangroup.
Communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton won two key awards at the 2009 Public Relations Society of Kenya Excellence awards, just six months after the agency's launch in East Africa. H&K fought off strong competition to secure the Best Consumer Campaign Excellence Award for its Bra Campaign for Woolworths, the retail chain owned by Nairobi-based Deacons. The agency also won the Best Media Relations Excellence Award for its work around the arrival of Seacom's fibre-optic cable in East Africa.
Nairobi, 20th November 2009: Communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton won two key awards at the 2009 Public Relations Society of Kenya Excellence Awards, just six months after the agency's launch in East Africa.
H&K fought off strong competition to secure the Best Consumer Campaign Excellence Award for its Bra Campaign for Woolworths, the retail chain owned by Nairobi-based Deacons. The agency also won the Best Media Relations Excellence Award for its work around the arrival of Seacom's fibre-optic cable in East Africa.
The Woolworth's Bra Campaign, an integrated campaign run in partnership with sister advertising agency Redsky, generated a sales increase of lingerie across Woolworth's stores by 204% during the campaign and increased footfall to its stores.
H&K's media relations campaign to support the arrival of Seacom's fibre-optic cable in East Africa has been widely credited as being the technology story of 2009 in the region. H&K's campaign emphasized the potential for social and economic development in East Africa as a result of faster internet speeds made possible by Seacom's fibre-optic cable.
George Godsal, Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton East Africa, said, "We're immensely proud of securing two Excellence Awards so soon after H&K's launch in East Africa. The public relations sector in Kenya is vibrant and competitive, and to receive such recognition by our industry peers in two key areas is a huge credit to the H&K team for delivering innovative campaigns that demonstrated clear business results."
Formed in May 2009 through a joint venture with Scangroup, the leading sub-Saharan African marketing services business, Hill & Knowlton East Africa advises a diverse range of business sectors including financial services, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), technology, retail and travel sectors amongst others. It also works with clients in the public sector as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Hill & Knowlton has a comprehensive network of 81 offices in 43 countries worldwide.