Agency wins African Cristal Award, marks five years in business
Etu Odi Communications a Lagos based agency, recently won a African Cristal Award becoming the second Nigerian agency to win the international award which is in its 13th year of operation.
The award festival stands as the first “Summit for Media & Communications” dedicated to the African continent. The African Cristal which holds in Marrakech, Morocco brings together the entire media and communication industry to network and to promote regional culture through dedicated competitions, conferences and debates.
According to the founder/ Managing Director, African Cristal, Christian Cappe, the festival has become necessary in a region undergoing such tremendous changes and where brands are becoming an essential part of the African identity.
Nigeria’s Etu Odi won a “Emerald” in the Outdoor Cristal Category in the 2014 African Cristal Festival which held between October 1 – 3, 2014. The agency won the award with its entry ‘Big Time Beer”, a creative material for Consolidated Breweries’ “33 Export” lager beer.
Speaking on the award at an interactive session with the media today, Uzoma Okoye, CEO, Etu Odi said his agency and team are excited about the award. According to him, the essence of our Agency is Creative Effectiveness: generation of powerful ideas, which when effectively communicated builds brands. That is, creativity that has shown measurable and proven impact on a client’s business by affecting consumer behaviour, brand equity and profit. We have seen that in the unparalleled success of 33 Export this year, Uzoma added. He added that the Consolidated Breweries team has been fantastic to work with and over the last couple of years, they have seen the benefits of doing things differently”.
“The African Cristal Award is a recognition and reward for creative work and it’s just the beginning for us; we are building an agency that is every bit as good as any international agency”, he said.
On the agency’s 5th anniversary, Uzoma says that despite inherent challenges in the industry and the economy as a whole, we have done relatively well but “we will continue to be motivated by our vision to be the foremost agency in Africa at delivering creative effectiveness for our clients and brands
Uzoma studied Mechanical Engineering from Birmingham University, UK and added a Master’s degree in Design to become an ambidextrous mind, demonstrating the art and science that is needed to build winning brands.
He started Etu Odi Designs in 1999 in the UK, the name Etu Odi meaning “The Way It Is” was stylish and exotic as it was quite differentiating in that western environment. The agency at that time worked on global brands such as Peugeot, Orange, Esso, HP and IBM. He returned to Nigeria to join Troyka group’s FKG2 as Creative Director where he worked on Becks, BAT, HP, Samsung, Dangote and First Bank.
He left FKG2 in 2009 to set up Etu Odi Communications in Nigeria, as a full service creative agency combining insightful brand strategy, creative communication and engaging experience in helping organizations chart the course from awareness to loyalty in the minds and hearts of its customers.
Etu Odi’s growing clientele includes leading players across industries such as Banking and Insurance, Oil & Gas, Breweries and Online Retail. Among these are Consolidated Breweries, First Bank, TradeStable, Sahara Energy, SUNMAP, EAN Aviation, PTV and Cata Hotel. Etu Odi also works on charitable projects such as the Down Syndrome Foundation as a way of giving back to the society.