‘Innovation without direction usually dissipates into yesterday’s world’ – Medife CEO
Ifeanyi Asiodu is the CEO of Medife Consulting Ltd, a company founded in 2015 with a division dedicated to media and technology. He is pioneering archecturual media in Nigeria. In this interview, Asiodu, who had worked for Fingal communications and Haymarket Media Group, managing brands from FORMULA 1 and Silverstone race track to Sky Sports Magazine and the English FA including Classic and Sports events spoke on a number of issues in billboard advertising. Asiodu who believed media can be used not just for advertising but to create moods said his objective is to create a new generation of architectural media designers. Excerpts
Assessing Out-of-Home industry, what gives you confidence on its survival in 2016
Looking at the industry as whole, media supports competition. With competition comes a brand. The key factor for brands will be how they differentiate themselves. Advertising and the OOH industry will be integral to that. So I am convinced the more competitive the Nigerian consumer industry becomes the more OOH will thrive provided it adapts and positions itself accordingly
It is said that companies are going to experience hard times which will necessitate Ad budget cut, how will OOH cope under this scenario?
OOH like every other industry will need to evolve. The industry will need to become more creative. Prove that they can engage an audience and produce quantifiable results for Brand Managers to utilise in their marketing strategies
Media agencies have engaged in early business prospecting to survive the year, what and where are the new opportunities for OOH?
Well dare I say, Medife Media is developing the opportunities. Our Ad-glass solution is evolutionary. I say this because it’s creating Media from Real Estate in a form that has not been seen before on this continent. Our translucent technology merges with the architecture to create aesthetics that are not just pleasing to the architectural purist but also creates high impact advertising and branding opportunities through animation, video and imagery.
Could you tell me about your agency, when you started and the gap you have come to fill
I launched Medife Media in 2015. Medife Media is focussed on developing and demonstrating new technologies that are aimed at changing the marketing, communication and advertising landscape. We feel that is important to create and not imitate. Yes, there are forms of media that are still relevant but we aim to stretch the boundaries using the principals of engaging content with the flexibility of technology. We have various other products that we shall be launching this year that range from Proximity marketing vehicles to NFC enabled furniture.
You are pioneering architectural media, what is it all about it?
There are many beautiful buildings in the world. What architectural media aims to do is merge media with that beauty,making the building reactive and responsive. Media can be used not just for advertising but to create moods, broadcast important information and ultimately serve an integrated purpose with the people that interact with it. Our flag ship product, Ad-glass is the first LED display technology which offers up to 80 per cent transparency that allows windows and building facades to be used as high impact visual display platforms while preserving the view from within the building.”
How does the architectural media compare to the current billboard on wheels. Is also motion picture billboard
As highlighted earlier it’s transparent. It creates depth through its translucency which allows content creators to fashion high impact 3D animations and visuals. A standard ‘billboard on wheels’ cannot do this.
What gave you confidence of launching the innovation in Nigeria
I am Nigerian, if you cannot innovate in your country then where else? It’s been an aim of mine to make statement about capabilities of our people. We are enterprising and talented. Where I think we need more international recognition is in media and technology. This is just a small step. I want to create a new generation of architectural media designers that look at buildings as not just functional pieces of steel, brick or glass but see them as part of the environment. Observe how they can add value in terms of media and information to the public not just from a consumer and brand relationship but in terms of societal advancement.
Tell me why an advertiser, say MTN or Unilever will choose architectural media for products advertising than other digital/led billboards
One word..IMPACT. They use this word a lot but innovation without direction usually dissipates into yesterday’s world. The brands that seek to make a lasting impact through creativity will see value in this product. There’s no doubt it’s a high-end product but that value will also be reflected in terms of brand amplification.
What are the challenges and prospects you see introducing the new innovation in Nigeria. Tell me other markets where the innovation is used?
The biggest challenge is power and electricity. Running costs of electricity-based technology is always higher in this country. However with challenges comes innovation so solar inverters and other battery powered solutions will synergise with media technology to create sustainable marketing and information solutions. Asia, America and Europe don’t have the issues we have with power and indeed human resource however those markets also have their challenges. Ironically sometimes the established markets become limited by their complacency so growth of enterprising solutions can be stunted, limiting the possibilities of new technology.
From your research, what is the value (total worth) of billboard advertising in Nigeria?
Very hard question..Our metric system is not very advanced. When I worked in publishing we had ABCs in the UK. A resource and registration system to which publishers subscribed, this helped regulate and evaluate industry. The billboard Advertising industry is still in its development stage. We have many other states in this country that have yet to develop their advertising strategies and industry however the potential is great.
Digital/Online advertising is growing; do you see this as a threat to static billboard advertising?
Digital/online Advertising is growing and will continue to, however there still is much to be said for making too much noise without saying anything. Billboards will always have a place in advertising but where agencies will succeed is by merging the billboards with digital technology. Medife Media shall be launching Ad-glass+ towards the end of the year. This will be a billboard with inbuilt proximity marketing servers that allows anyone with a smartphone to interact with the content on the billboard.
Who are your clients currently?
Guarantee Trust Bank is our first major Ad-Glass client in Nigeria. World-wide the Ad-Glass Group manufactures technology for commercial buildings and department stores in Holland, Czech Republic and China.