Advertising professional Lanre Adisa said he is honored that his agency has been elevated to the status of a global competitor in the advertising industry, he said in an interview with The Punch, Nigeria’s most widely read newspaper.
As CEO of Noah’s Ark Comm Ltd., Adisa helped his brand become the first West African advertising agency to get its work published in Luezer’s Archive, a premier archive for international advertisements. Adisa expressed his feelings about being featured in Luezer’s, which he described as being “the ‘Bible of Advertising’ globally.”
“The thing about this Archive is not so much about your work coming out there, but the fact that some group of people see that your work is good enough to inspire other people to do good work,” he said. “It’s like for the first time, somebody somewhere outside this environment can attest to the fact that we are doing something fine. For our industry, it also means that Nigeria can actually produce an advertising agency that can compete with other renowned agencies in the world.”
Adisa went on to speak highly of the level of talent within Nigeria’s advertising market, but criticized the caliber of leadership within the agencies, who are needed to direct the talent. He urged those within the Nigerian community to drive themselves to match the industry level seen overseas.
“Perhaps, we are not ambitious enough. Perhaps, we need to get over whatever limitations we have. We need to tell ourselves that we can do it because we have seen other markets rise up to the occasion,” he told The Punch. Noah’s Ark has experienced success under Adisa’s leadership, providing a successful model for African advertising agencies hoping to expand beyond their own borders.
“What has always driven us as an agency is that there is no limit to what we can achieve as a team. We don’t see the competition as only being restricted to Nigeria,” Asada said. “Yes, the work can be directed to the Nigerian audience, but the quality of work should be something that can compare with any agency anywhere in the world.”
